That explanation struck a chord. As a high school teacher, I am amazed at how needy some teenagers are. And, even more amazingly, most of these pupils has not a hint of shame when keening for help over every conceivable triviality. Additionally, while French parents supposedly place great emphasis on teaching their children to respect others, I am often surprised at how disrespectful many of my students can be toward myself and other teachers.
Parents, due to their intimate proximity to the sensitive situation of offspring behavior, are likely to be considerably biased. They will understandably hesitate to harshly critique the behavior of their own, and the behavior of their friends' children. A teacher, if given the opportunity to vent, can reveal multitudes about how children and teens act in the absence of parental oversight.
One chord that resonated while reading Judith Warner's article about the Druckerman book involved my high school sophomores and their ever-present need to go to the restroom. Regardless of the in-class activity, they place their need to go to the bathroom over anything else, even if I am conversing with another student. If told to wait, they grouse and huff. Students are outraged if, in the middle of handling a dozen things, I forget which student was supposed to go to the bathroom next.
Similarly, students who are absent always expect me to bend over backward to get them whatever materials they missed despite knowing they must come to tutorials to get such materials. When I remind them of this, it is like I am telling them to gnaw off a limb with their teeth. "But I'll miss lunch," they whine. What they really mean is they'll miss time socializing. They try (poorly) to give a plethora of reasons why they cannot come to tutorials at lunch, before school, or during my conference period.
Yeah, I think our American kids need more of whatever the French are supposedly doling out when child-rearing.
If our individualism is what makes us so unique, then why are we constantly trying to change our individualism or more aptly put, our uniqueness, to some thing not so unique?
Would you say that American kids are brats?
yes, i would say that a lot of american kids are bratty and disrespectful. many do not listen to their parents or any other adult for that matter and they think they can talk to them anyway they want. they are whiney when they do not get their way.i see it a lot at the kids' extracurricular activities, kids misbehaving and not listening to the adults, running everywhere, interrupting and being totally disrespectful. And what are the parents doing?....NOTHING! they just sit there and let their kids do whatever and say whatever and act however they want and they do nothing about it. they just sit and chat away to their friends and ignore their kids. i think between social media, and lack of discipline Americas kids are pretty bratty!
I'm not sure what the question about uniqueness has to do with the article. I don't think the author is saying students shouldn't be treated as unique individuals. I think she's saying students and parents should not expect to be catered. Students should advocate for themselves and take responsibility, not expect the teacher to do it for them.
I think a real problem with American children is that our culture revolves around instant gratification. Adults and children in this country are very demanding and expect results to be immediate. When a child is unhappy at school the parents first instinct is to fix the problem right away. Sometimes the fast fix isn't the best fix.
Plus, I don't think my job as a parent is to make sure my child is happy all the time. Achieving any hard to reach goal is going to be difficult. If kids are being challenged they will struggle. Most kids don't like that. But parents should understand the struggle will pay off. When we make everything easy for them we are really shortchanging them.
(That's my tangent inspired by this article)
And a great tangent it is too. I happen to agree with everything you have stated here. Most whole-heartedly. Great insight.
Quoting maxswolfsuit:
I think a real problem with American children is that our culture revolves around instant gratification. Adults and children in this country are very demanding and expect results to be immediate. When a child is unhappy at school the parents first instinct is to fix the problem right away. Sometimes the fast fix isn't the best fix.
Plus, I don't think my job as a parent is to make sure my child is happy all the time. Achieving any hard to reach goal is going to be difficult. If kids are being challenged they will struggle. Most kids don't like that. But parents should understand the struggle will pay off. When we make everything easy for them we are really shortchanging them.
(That's my tangent inspired by this article)
The uniqueness comes from the point that everyone wants to go to another country to "fix" the problem. We are seperate countries for a reason. What works for one will not always work for another.
Quoting maxswolfsuit:
I'm not sure what the question about uniqueness has to do with the article. I don't think the author is saying students shouldn't be treated as unique individuals. I think she's saying students and parents should not expect to be catered. Students should advocate for themselves and take responsibility, not expect the teacher to do it for them.
Quoting maxswolfsuit:I think a real problem with American children is that our culture revolves around instant gratification. Adults and children in this country are very demanding and expect results to be immediate. When a child is unhappy at school the parents first instinct is to fix the problem right away. Sometimes the fast fix isn't the best fix.
Plus, I don't think my job as a parent is to make sure my child is happy all the time. Achieving any hard to reach goal is going to be difficult. If kids are being challenged they will struggle. Most kids don't like that. But parents should understand the struggle will pay off. When we make everything easy for them we are really shortchanging them.
(That's my tangent inspired by this article)
Just look at the "American Dream" a nice home, two cars, 9-5, etc... There are hundreds of thousands of people in the US who are thousands of dollars in debt because they want the American dream. We have set unrealistic standards for life in our current economic status. It's almost like people think they deserve everything nice without WORKING for it.
Ok so I really went in a totally different direction from where I thought I was going ... Basically, yes, American children have a higher sense of entitlement or "I deserve it!" (without earning it) which very often makes them brats.
It's one of those topics that gets you going on all sorts of things.
I think our whole culture has very confused ideas about wants and needs. I work with children living in poverty. The crap they own is mind boggling. They don't have a safe place to live or food to eat, but they have video games, iPods and electronics. Parents feel like they have to give their kids stuff that should really be considered luxuries.
Quoting chichiwvu:
America is very much an "I" culture. That does tend to make us more selfish and less patient because we are used to getting what we want. I think this causes a lot of problems in many aspects of our culture. How can we fix education, which is a group effort, when we really just want to look for what's best for ourselves (or our children) instead of a group as a whole. There is a definite lack of respect from youth to elder in the American culture, we do not want our children to want for anything.
Just look at the "American Dream" a nice home, two cars, 9-5, etc... There are hundreds of thousands of people in the US who are thousands of dollars in debt because they want the American dream. We have set unrealistic standards for life in our current economic status. It's almost like people think they deserve everything nice without WORKING for it.
Ok so I really went in a totally different direction from where I thought I was going ... Basically, yes, American children have a higher sense of entitlement or "I deserve it!" (without earning it) which very often makes them brats.
Quoting chichiwvu:
It's like the picture of a gentleman using his iPhone to take a picture of himself with Michelle Obama, who was serving him in line at a soup kitchen.., you can afford an iPhone, but not food?!?!?
Lots of my students have their own phones. They can't afford to keep them turned on, but they own them. It's so odd to me.
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- kirbymom
on Feb. 10, 2012 at 8:07 PM