Where Have All the Good ones Gone?

Honesty. Respect. Integrity. Motivation. Dedication. Patriotism. The preceding words represent qualities many of today's American students lack. Many US citizens question the reason behind this decline of morality within the educational system. Parents blame the teachers; teachers claim the students are unable to be taught and parents aren't attempting to assist teachers in their quest to disperse their knowledge. As for the students, they just don't care. Who exactly is to blame? Students? Teachers? Parents? More importantly, how this be fixed? Government programs like the recent "No Child Left Behind" Act aren't as effective as they claim, and bribing the students with field trips and Coke float parties do not work. What is a nation, quickly filling with uneducated young adults, to do?

Many theories have been tested as to why students are becoming lazy and, for lack of a better word, stupid. Most fingers are pointed towards parental control. Commercials geared towards a drug-free America tell parents to ask questions: Who? What? Where? When? Most parents are too caught up in the drama of their own lives to wonder who their kids hang out with, and where and what they are doing with them. They are more concerned with Mr. Limon not paying them for overtime or why Clint and Robert got fired. Students are ignored and seldom rewarded for good behavior. However, when Mom and Dad get a call from the school when little Johnny was caught smoking marijuana in the boys' bathroom, it's a different story. The parents become involved, but for all the wrong reasons. When the parents confront Johnny, he responds negatively, with slamming doors and outbursts of "You're ruining my life" or "I can't believe you!!"

It shouldn't take a drastic measure for children to get their parents' attention. Parents should want to know what's going on in their child's life, in all aspects. In movies, the parent-teenager relationship is portrayed as something very awkward and forced. The way to solve this: change how it is seen in real life. Parents should talk to their children more, and their children will learn to trust them. In one family, a 30-something year old mother has a 16-year-old daughter. Because of their healthy relationship based on trust and understanding, the daughter considers her mother her best friend. Families need to spend more time together and less time on the run. Plan an uninterrupted family night--cell phones get turned off, computers are unplugged--where the family just plays a nice game of Monopoly or Life, or watches a movie based on positive moral values.

If it's not one thing, it's another. When parents are being blamed, teachers are. Many complaints have been voiced about teachers: "She never gets out of her chair!" "I can't even speak French!" "He doesn't take my education seriously enough." Hearing these complaints constantly, parents are liable to assume the school is responsible for their children not learning. When teachers lose the drive to teach, students lose the want to learn, despite the fact knowledge is a necessity in today's world. However, students place the blame on teachers for their lack of control on classes. The teacher threatens students with discipline referrals, but when it comes to follow-through, nothing is done. The student continues to think what they are doing is not wrong, and so they continue to do it. The student no longer takes the teacher seriously. Teachers become discouraged. They quit. Not their job, but they quit trying.

What the teachers lack is discipline. If a teacher shows the student who is in charge right off the bat, there are little or no problems. Perhaps how-to workshops on discipline may solve the problem. Experts on the topic can enlighten educators on what works and what doesn't. Psychologists could put their two cents in and provide tips on reverse psychology or things of the same sort.

Obviously, the blame cannot purely lie in the hands of teachers and parents. The students are their own person and they make their own decisions. Why, then, would they choose to not accept a free education? Although they may not realize it, an education is the one thing someone cannot take away from you. Third world countries don't have public schools for everyone to learn to read and write. Today's students are ungrateful for everything they have. They are lazy. They don't take school serious. Many high achievers believe if other students are purely there because law requires it, they shouldn't be forced in to take away from those who want to learn. Instead of taxpayer's monies being spent on paying in-school-suspension teachers, it could be better used on new computers for the library, or new textbooks.

Public schools receive money from the state based upon student attendance. When so many students have to attend credit recovery because of their constant absences, something has to be wrong. Students are not encouraged enough to attend school. They don't find class to be