Yep, there's a 'Part II'. And next week will be the final installment of this little series.
As much as you've heard me complain about teachers represented by unions that still have the right to strike, I still respect those entrusted with the burdensome task of educating our youth. Because they care about the education of our children...not about the benefit package or paycheck.
So much so, that these words by a student to a teacher can cut like a knife:
"I'm thinking of quitting".
School.
My mind flashes back to eighth grade in junior high school. I remember a young man named Jon. I call him a young man because he looked like he had repeated at least couple years.
Our teacher, Mrs. Lyle, had asked around the room at the start of the school year what we wanted to do with our lives after school. Apparently Jon wanted to get a head start on the rest of us with that very statement.
Mrs. Lyle gasped. She said pleadingly 'no, don't say that, Jon'. She had hoped that she would change his mind and maybe get his progress to improve.
She didn't. On his last day, she pleaded with him again to reconsider, imploring him that dropping out would come back to haunt him in time, and that he would have it hard for the rest of his life. It didn't seem to faze him.
No one but Jon and his family and closest friends know the reason of why he didn't finish school. I still think about him every now and again and wonder how his life turned out. He's not the only one.
No parent worth his or her salt should ever allow their child to quit school. "What can I do?" a frustrated father exclaimed to me one day. "I can't make him go after he turns 18!"
I asked if the lad still lived at home. He did.
If the kid felt he had learned everything he could from school, then he learned enough to set off and live life on his own. That meant packing his bags and moving out.
The father, whom I'll call Don (not his real name), was appalled. How heartless could I be?
Not heartless. The toughest form of tough love there was. Try it, I said.
With some reluctance, Don did just that.
The kid reconsidered his game plan. He did graduate...and just a few GPA points short of the honor roll. He enlisted in the military after that.
Results not typical, by the way.
Others still drop out and move out. They struggle for awhile, but then get their GED, and either continue to struggle or go to college or trade school afterwards and change their lives for the better.
Most people don't realize they've screwed up until they're 40 or 50. If ever.
The lessons school teaches you aren't just academic in nature. They give you a crash course in the school of hard knocks too.
If you're studying to be an architect, do you REALLY need Gen-Ed classes like philosophy, world cultures, or psychology?
Probably not. But that's not the point.
Adversity is one of those things that can't be directly taught in school. Thus, it's learned indirectly through jumping over hurdles to get to the ultimate goal...that little piece of paper. Ever so more important than ever in a rapidly tightening job market.
The point is, nothing truly earned is ever easy. Life is not meant to be easy. That's for your retirement years, if you're fortunate enough to live that long. And the quality of life in those years will depend on how well you planned for them earlier in life.
As I alluded to last week, you too are a teacher.
Teach your children the value of education.
They not only need it, but it's your responsibility.
And it's their right.
NEXT WEEK: Teach by Example
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