Newell-Fonda High School
Newell, Iowa
Teacher: Connie Doonan
America’s Youth
By Jason Bjorklund
12th Grade
One family member leaves the house as another enters, the dinner table has been replaced as the area where families meet at night by stacks of unread mail and papers, and quick microwavable meals have taken the place of home cooked family meals. Does it have to be this way? Do families have to return to the days of old for the youth of America to become more successful in their adult lives? Many wonder if the children of today would become more successful if they had more interactions with caring adults, instead of the common activity of kids raising themselves. It would be excellent if that were possible; unfortunately, it is not and people must face the fact that kids must learn to be independent as a youth because they learn how the real world operates. In society today too many people have the belief that kids must be assisted in everything they do, are being neglected by a lack of attention, and must not be graded in lower level education because it can cause damage to one’s self-esteem.
It has been heard many times before that the parents of today’s children need to assist their kids in their day to day lives to give the child’s life structure and meaning. The so called “experts” say that if today’s youth are going to be tomorrow’s leaders, the children are going to need good parenting, which is at a loss in the eyes of some. This is true to a certain extent, but children must learn how the real world functions at an early age. How can a child develop itself for the adult world if a parent hides the world from the child by stepping into the child’s life everytime he or she comes across a problem? The real world doesn’t have people to step in and solve everything that is going wrong in one’s life. Life is full of problems and confrontations that everyone will encounter. That’s a fact of life. How these situations are handled is the difference between success and failure in the real world. Children will have a much better understanding of things if they have an adult figure who is there for them, but realizes when to let the child learn from his/her mistakes. Humans make mistakes to learn from them. The truly successful people in life learn from their mistakes. There is a thin line that separates the situations that call for assistance and those that do not, and then there are obvious situations that every child needs assistance, but the guardian of the child must understand this fact and realize that sometimes it is better to learn from experience rather than advice.
Another fact that is heard way too often is the statement that kids are being neglected by the lack of quality time they share with adults each day. This also may be true to a certain degree, but the world is changing and more and more families must work more hours to live in this world. Parents are working more, kids are working more, and as a result families see less of each other. This doesn’t mean that kids are becoming neglected and sent on the fast track to failure. It doesn’t mean that parents care any less; furthermore, kids should realize that their parents do care for them by working large amounts of hours to provide for them. If parents make that clear to their children and continue to show interest, the kids are not being denied the opportunity of success.
The last concept is becoming more and more present in the world today, especially in bigger cities and schools. Adults seem to have developed the idea that kids will have a better self-esteem if they are not graded. This concept extends from studies to sports. Teachers hand out papers with “stars” on everybody’s paper, and every athletic event ends in a tie as everyone is told they played well. This is the worst thing that can occur to a child. What will happen when the child grows out of this program and fails in the world for the first time? How is the child going to handle it? Definitely not as well as the child who has learned from their mistakes and knows how to bounce back. How can one possibly expect a child to make the transition from not having to face failure to having failure stare them directly in the face? The real world operates at the exact opposite of this theory and for kids to become successful adults, this theory must become extinct.
Society is definitely correct, kids should be an object of concern for the future, but they are almost creating more of a problem by trying to offer solutions that are not helping. Kids must want to succeed in life in order to succeed. The parents can do everything correctly in the adolescence, but if the child has no inner drive to succeed it is nearly impossible. Success is self-driven. The fact that success is self-driven makes this country a wonderful place to live. Success isn’t guaranteed, but success is obtainable to those who wish to hold it. It is clear that a rite of passage is not needed in today’s society, in a way success is the rite passage that some pass and some fail. It is a good thing that success isn’t guaranteed because if everyone was equal in the world, it would be a very boring place.
Answers To Questions From Required Reading
A-1 Margaret Mead is saying that many people fail to reach their potential in life; thus, she is saying it is important to be all you can be like the Army says.
A-2 I think that all four options are still issues today. The importance of language in the home is still an issue, familial pressures on children are increasing, misconceptions about race are as strong as ever, and the effects of artificially separating children from the knowledge of birth, love and death are all issues. I think these are all issues that will always be present in society.
A-3 Yes, I do think culture is somewhat man-made. I believe culture is the way of life that one leads their life in. People do control how they live their lives most of the time.
A-4 Mead is advocating greater knowledge and control over the civilizing process. She is saying it is time to control how we civilize ourselves and not let the surroundings civilize us.
A-5 Yes, I think all kids want to know they are succeeding for themselves as well as those who care for them. Kids want to know that people do care about their actions and accomplishments.
A-6 I see kids who use such substances and I can see how it affects their lives; they are not living up to their full potential. It is also very easy to get access to such substances throughout the school and I believe that must stop. I also know that kids who use these substances at times are just using them because they want to experience what everyone has been telling them to “just say no” to their whole lives.
A-7 I don’t believe there is a solution. I would say he must live his life in the way he
believes is correct and not worry about what others are thinking. He will be a better person than the ones who judge.
A-8 Yes, it would be much easier if all I had to do was just go to class and learn, but I wouldn’t want to be home schooled or placed in a private school because you lose valuable lessons that wouldn’t be learned otherwise. The business world of today isn’t just a matter of “go to work and get your job done.” It also takes people and survival skills to become successful, which I believed are valuable lessons learned at public schools like the one I attend.
A-9 No, I do not feel like schools are like prison. Kids are given elective choices and many other options. I believe that people who are dulled by the remoteness of the real world at school are having problems in other areas besides the school they attend. Life is what you make of it in my opinion. No, I don’t think incorporating community-based learning would be more helpful. I feel kids who want to succeed are going to and those who don’t, probably won’t. That is the way the real world is and everything can’t be handed to everyone in high school.
A-10 I believe all kids do need a mentor of some type to motivate them and guide them to some extent. I believe kids try harder and care more if they know it is important to someone other than themselves.