Youth's Education Compromised

Since the early 60’s, our educational system for our children has been slowly eroding.  Our government has been notorious for promising better education, not one child left behind and yet in 2009 many college students and high school graduates are unable to pursue a higher education due to the horrific increase in cost. 

High school graduates are faced with several complex problems and at this time no relief is in sight.  Job availability this summer for this age group is a farce – the few jobs available are being snatched by the middle class who is in a survival mode trying just trying to exist.  

The  American dream of getting a college education for many is just a dream; colleges throughout the Nation have raised tuition fees once again and of course the economy is getting all of the blame. 

Possibly colleges have become strictly bottom line institutions and like many corporations those in charge can’t budget or utilize their monies in a responsible manner.   

High school drops appear to be increasing at a rapid rate, not because our children are stupid but these children are pretty logical in their decision.   College education for them would only come via a very expensive loan and even if they received a diploma that still wouldn’t  guarantee employment in their chosen field. 

After talking with several of these students, I realized they have analyzed the employment playing field for young people their age; regardless of education there’s a good chance that they’ll be flipping burgers and pancakes.  Our youth refuse to buy into the “what if” or “maybe” promises of what a college education will do for them.  

Our dropouts are aware that during the difficult economic times, there is a huge increase in the unskilled labor market.  Some of these jobs do pay well and our youth have decided to dominate the unskilled markets. 

So when and how did Americans allow their children’s education to be compromised?  There are more than a few factors that have contributed to the rapid decline or our educational system.  Here are but a few contributing factors.

The new child psychology started back in the good old days with Dr. Spock and friends – parents were criticized, made fun of and bashed for being the heads of the household. 

Over time the children became the dominant figures in the household and the parent/child relationship was weakened.  Discipline, guidelines and responsibility were relegated to the ancient history shelf. 

At the same time, “they” and I use this similar to Glenn Beck when referring to groups of people who worked 24/7 to change our educational standards.  Parents turned into their child’s best friends and along with that new role, discipline, respect and student responsibility evaporated little by little from the schools. 

Schools, teachers, superintendants were put in the line of fire via lawsuits and the media crap.  We stripped our school system down to nothing but a few pieces of scraps.  

Teachers are expected to raise our children, but lord forbid if they discipline Johnny or Susie!   Why did we decide it was the teacher’s job to mentor, counsel, comfort and raise our children?  Where is it written that our children should be in charge?

So we’re faced with an educational system where the children rule, make out on the campus, wear clothes that don’t cover bosom, crotches or butt cracks because parents have relinquished their “God” given rights. 

Morality is no longer dominant on our horizon.  The bottom line remains the same, “Our children need us – not the gifts and material junk we extend to them. 

Why are we allowing our school curriculum to slip below the norm of many other countries world-wide?  Frankly, I believe our curriculum has taken a beating in order to appease a very few – words removed, paragraphs eliminated and many books removed from the shelves just because of a small group of misinformed people.  “They” have peddled, meddled and taken control of our children’s education. 

Our Nation’s education should always be a priority for it is the backbone of our country!  America can’t raise their hands on educational excellence anymore –other countries are leaving us in the dust.  This isn’t acceptable and hopefully parents will return to a few basics.

Fathers and mothers can return to their homes as head of the household, mentors to their children.  Know where your child is, who she or he is hanging out with, restore order to your homes.  The child is a member of the household who needs guidelines, rules and structure.  

It’s unfair to ask teachers to take over parental tasks – you are the parents and if you can’t assume that awesome responsibility therein is the problem.  

Teaching should be one of the highest paying professions in our United States – along with higher pay; discipline should be restored to our educational structure.  Curriculum needs a heavy overhaul at the same time …

Over the years, we have seen a few bad teachers, just like bad cops or bad parents, but the majority remain good moral people so we can’t let the liberal news media turn our heads.  Quit babying your children; give them the tools needed to become young responsible adults with high self esteem and many beautiful dreams in their hip pocket. 

May God Bless America and help all citizens return our Nation to a strong foundation.  As Always, Annie

Watch the video related to youth mentoring

www.MentoringAssociates.com Mentoring inner city at risk kids in Fallbrook (San Diego Co), or any community, volunteers make a difference & high school grad rates soar. Info on free videos.

Help answer the question about youth mentoring

The effects of youth mentoring?
What are some of the positives that mentoring has on the children and students being mentored?

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9 Responses to “Youth’s Education Compromised”

  1. peaches7160 says:

    I lost my job 6 months ago, but I've finally found something I can do at home to make some exta money to help make ends meet. By no means am I rich, but every penny helps. Try it yourself. http://www.goodinternetdeals.com/Work-At-Home.html

  2. JungleJane says:

    I've volunteered with several youth programs, and I've had some pretty positive experiences with all of them. I currently work with several programs. I am an active "Big" in the Big Brothers Big Sisters organization:
    http://www.bbbs.org

    I'm on my second match, and it's been a lot of fun. Even though at times you may not realize the impact that you are making, it's all of the little moments that make it worthwhile.

    I also volunteer through my volunteer center to tutor children at the library and work at the local children's shelter. I've found the most variety through the volunteer center:
    http://www.handsonnetwork.org/our-network/
    http://www.pointsoflight.org/c.....center.cfm
    http://national.unitedway.org

    It all depends on the type of time commitment, and what you are looking for in a program. If you are looking for a one-on-one match, then I would suggest that Big Brothers is a very good program. If you are looking for general mentoring opportunities, I think your volunteer center may be able to help you find stuff that will have a shorter time frame to get started. In both cases with Big Brothers, it did take quite a bit of time before I was matched, and a longer time in order to build a relationship with my match.

    Good luck!

  3. hockeydude45 says:

    you can make them an exact clone of you!
    Watch the new episode of Clone Wars, on Cartoon Channel!

  4. Dannie says:

    Big Brothers/Big Sisters is a great mentoring program.

  5. gfcinc2006 says:

    I would start by going to a city hall meeting for the city that you're interested in and see how they operate. After the meeting, talk to the Chair of the commission and see if he or she may be interested in such a program. Then ask them how you can put discussion of this on the next meeting's agenda. You will likely have to give a short presentation of the program and answer questions by council members and other citizens that come to the meetings. It will help if you can get the support of teachers in local schools and make sure that they show up at the meeting to support you.
    Hope that helps!

  6. AngelLuv20 says:

    You won't get rich but there are lots of jobs available.

    It's stressful though — there is high turnover because of the hours vs. the amount of pay.

    You can be a mentor without it being your job — lots of kids need mentors.

    (At first I thought you were talking about being a youth pastor)

  7. dre says:

    i would say to talk with a salvation army family shelter director.

  8. nicseta4 says:

    You are going to need help to do it. TV stations won't run commercials that don't meet their standards. Hunt down local TV production students or even public-access TV afficionados.

    I make my own infomercials for the internet… but making commericals for TV is a different game altogether.,

  9. Smith says:

    Get involved with area schools, churches, youth groups, sports leagues and scout groups. Write to their community service coordinators (or whoever would best fit this description) and ask to be put on a list of organizations looking for help.

    In particular, find out who in your community encourages or requires community service. Ask kids to run small grade-level or school/church/team wide drive for the items you're looking for. Do it in advance so you can bank the bulk of the items for the coming year and fill in as necessary. 5 kids with 20 friends each bringing 1 school item equals 10 filled backpacks. Get a whole school involved and you may be able to cover your program for the year and attract new donations.

    Also consider getting volunteers involved in more direct ways. People who are invested in a program are more likely to support it financially.

    I run a small non-profit and I've been spreading the word about our program to supply gently used sports uniforms and footwear to kids in rural Mexico. I was just contacted by a family whose 4th grader is interested in running a drive at his school as part of a run for class office. Apparently it's a tradition at his school to prove one's leadership through such a project. I know he won't be able to supply a very large part of what we need, but every little bit helps and the publicity we'll get out of it will be very valuable. We'll run a thank-you in the newspaper, put his face on our website and benefit from the word-of-mouth publicity at his school.

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