ALL KIDS ARE NOT BAD, LAZY, OR STUPID!

I was compelled to comment on this brilliantly written commentary…entitled “Stop Complaining About Kids Today” beautifully written by Gary Cole.

Mr. Cole is a teacher in a rural high school in Tennessee.  If you don’t think that options exist here to help students find their passion, take a look at some of their afterschool activities…“we have Planet Club, Scholars Bowl, Health Occupations Club, Future Farmers, Future Business Leaders, Christian Athletes, Key Club, and Military Club to occupy their time. We have football, baseball, soccer, volleyball, tennis, wrestling, golf, and bowling teams. There’s cheerleading and marching band. And our carpentry class builds houses: three-bedroom residences from the ground up, roofed and sided, just ready to be sold at auction and moved onto someone’s land. (And did I mention that they build two a year, and that the money they raise by selling the houses goes to help the school?)”

Bottom line…the community needs to come together to ensure that options exist for these students…we need to provide as much as possible so that they can experience, dabble, get their feet wet, try things out, fail a few times, and build their interests for the future.

I find it quite interesting that Mr. Cole seems to blame himself…“Maybe I don’t do a good job of selling my kids. Maybe I just let it go, when one of my 30-something friends says that kids today are getting worse and worse.”   Mr. Cole there is no need to take on this responsibility on your own, in fact you are not to blame.  If our communities are not providing these outlets, then kids, as resourceful as they are, will find outlets on their own good or bad.  It’s our job to get those in place and leave it up to the kids to create their own.  You just continue to do the good work that you do…other schools and communities will follow your lead!