It usually happens like this: I see them at the first or second class of the semester, then they disappear for several more and no longer respond to attendance. Within a couple of weeks I review and test the first material, which they don't show up for either, and I assume they have dropped the course.
Then a few days later their sponsor, or mentor, or coach, or other wetnurse (everyone has some sponsor, it seems, lurking behind the bench in loco parentis) emails me to assure me that they are vitally concerned about Johnny or Suzie's progress in my class and will do all they can to be sure they are successful, and how has their attendence been, and are they meeting their assignments, and please contact them all about the course and their protege's progress. These emails often coincide with a meeting with parents the next day and may be accompanied by other emailed excuses from the parents themselves about what a rough time Johnny or Suzy has been having healthwise or personally, and how he/she really wants to do well and must have an A to pull his/her cumulative grade out of the cellar and graduate in May, and I'm the only thing standing in the way, and would I work with them closely to make sure their budding scholar gets back on track and passes.
When those emails descend on my campus inbox, I can almost guarantee that the longlost Johnny or Suzie is about to reappear in the next class and request to make up the entire term's work posthaste. If I offer to let them make up the test on the spot, however, they "couldn't possibly do that; I haven't studied for it at all," they say. What they want is time to ask a classmate what was on it, since we've already passed it back and gone over it. That's why I collect and keep all copies and change the test.
Somehow we have trained an entire generation to believe that they have a right to succeed in everything and have everything and do everything, without earning it. Rules are for fools, and if they run into obstacles or problems along the way, there are always others to run interference for him, always ways around requirements, and always someone else to bail them out of their jam. Their only object, it seems, is to do whatever they want to do, whenever and wherever they want to do it, for there's a good chance they won't be caught or face any penalty for their misdeeds. And the idea that somehow they must take responsibility for their actions and that there are consequences and a price to be paid for their sidewinding slither through life's challenges is simply lost on them. All they must learn is the art of the excuse, and all will be smooth sailing through life.
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4 comments:
You hit the nail on the head! I couldn't agree more.
I think by college you should be able to kick them out of your class for being "disrespectful" by not showing up. It's time to sink or swim.... and those that sink aren't getting a life perserve..... they shouldn't be in college.
However, there's the real-life concern as to just what procedures your school follows and what you have to do to get the dean or other administrators to support you. Most schools feel a certain pressure to be "customer friendly". With luck, you'll teach in a school that spells out clearly when you can drop a student and when you have to sign up for some sort of "student success plan" or special arrangement. And the roles of teacher and student can become more complicated if your a.w.o.l. pupil is identified as a "special needs student".
Now imagine teaching a class that contains several English-as-a-second-language students from a variety of cultures, some Native Americans, a couple of military service veterans, young adults with children and improvised or unstable child care arrangements, shift workers whose bosses aren't supportive of their employees' college schedules, athletes, a couple of students with identified or suspected learning disabilities, and a mix of traditional and non-traditional students.
Why does our society let this continue? These kids will never grow up and learn responsibility if mom, dad, some councilor, etc keeps coming to the rescue. It's sad they didn't learn this lesson earlier in life (like elementary school) when it wouldn't have such a major effect on their life.
I guess parents think they are helping, but really they are giving their kid such a disadvantage of how the real world SHOULD work.
-R
I would like to elaborate on Pat's comment, since I teach at a community college where I see a lot of those sorts of students.
First, the college where I teach gives me permission to drop a student for failing to show up to class. The instant a student has missed the requisite number of course hours, that student is gone. Period.
I also refuse to give a student a passing grade simply because that student "needs" that grade. I give the student the grade he or she earns, nothing more, nothing less. I keep meticulous records to document what the student has earned.
My community college teaches the "remedial" courses at a major university. I was fortunate in that the university had had a scandal regarding the grades of the basketball team. Thus, the university had an interest in making sure that the athletes did work to earn passing grades. When I was teaching at the university, I discovered that a phone call to the right assistant coach would bring immediate results in the student-athlete suddenly taking the student part of his career seriously.
The students who give me the most trouble are those who come straight from high school. They tend to be clueless about the necessity of doing homework, and they are accustomed to being given a passing grade simply for being smart enough that they could get a passing grade if they did the work. In the real world, they're not going to get paid for being smart enough to do the work; they will be paid only if they actually do the work. Therefore, I don't give them a grade for what they potentially can do; I grade them only on what they actually do.
So far, I've had only one student protest my policies to the Dean of Students. She persuaded me to give the student an extra week beyond my usual deadline for completing work at the end of the term. He squeaked by. But he did complete the work -- I would not have given him a passing grade otherwise.
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