It was shared with me and a couple of other teachers that “College” was no longer the buzz word because it no longer held the same weight as it did before. Before it was hard to get into colleges. It was for the intellectual or social elite. Now it’s less than a privilege and the, dare I say, mediocre get in. Students who were never college material to begin with are accepted and then drop out. So, the goal nowadays for us teachers is not to just help the kids get into a college, but to keep them in there for more than a year.
Other countries, the academic filtering begins earlier. High school entrance exams are our college exams. Even Middle school exams can be pretty difficult. I know in Taiwan the students study for 2 years before they take their high school exam because it automatically places them into a better college upon high school graduation.
I think the idea of college entrance being less of a challenge and more of a given reflects a lot about the American mindset- push back responsibility, give everyone a chance, failure is not an option so lower the standards.
The 20-something years have expanded to the 30-something years. In this article,
the author suggests that the economy is preventing young adults to grow up, but even without hitting the “usual” adulthood milestones of getting a job, graduating, marriage, kids, and leaving home, most of them are just confused with WHAT to do.
Before, there were no young adults. There were just adults who were young. Before there were no teenagers either! That was a term coined in the 1950’s for young people who were living their lives between responsibility and childhood.
Now, students are accommodated even more! Tests are getting easier, more behaviors and attitudes are acceptable in the classroom, tardies and late work are excusable, parents even blame the school and teachers for their children’s behaviors and idiotic failures.
We are just pushing the responsibility later and later.
The students are not learning hard work until later and later.
So, a college admission is no longer a buzz word. I think we are just allowing our kids to realize their failures at a later time in life. When the economy is rough, even a college degree gets our kids no where. A M.D. or Ph.D is required.
