The Rising Generation; Who Are They, And Why Do We Care?

       Where is our country headed? This is a question that has plagued my mind for years, as I sat and listened to discussions within school, my family/friends, and church. Out of frustration, feeling the overwhelming task which is, addressing this question, I was prone to press it to the back of my mind. I allowed it be numbed away by gorging my self with mind numbing media, and endless distractions leaving to wonder my interest in self preservation. This is difficult to admit, because even though it is directed to my self, and is a harsh assessment of my ability to float mindlessly in apathy, it is painfully true. Stereotyping is a tool, that often is thought of as unfair, judgmental, and frequently inaccurate. I would contend to say that stereotypes would not exist if a majority group of individuals, did not in fact trend in certain social aspects, but we all know they do. Therefore, I will not speak to the entire body of my peer group, but will hold most to this assessment of my self. Assuming I am correct in this stereotype, where does this leave us? Do we float along in our proverbial sea of apathy, hoping to never be handed the keys to the country? This day will inevitably come, my question to you and my self, is how do we prepare for that day?

Education, this seems to be where our answers lie. Such a simple answer to a seemingly difficult question. Nothing could be further from the truth, while I can easily state where I feel the fulcrum of change is based, answering how and whether or not it needs to be fixed is a conundrum of it's very own. I would like to dive into these issues with sobering statistics I have found, based on the NCES (National Center for Education Statistics). The first statistic we need to address, is according to these numbers 67 percent of jobs require post secondary schooling. Given these statistics, it would be easy to state that we just need to continue our education, and we will be on our way to a better tomorrow. Before we jump to any conclusions let's stir in some additional statistics. According to the same sampling, 28 percent of students entering 4 year colleges in the fall of 2000 required remedial courses, just to begin their college education. 42 percent of those entering 2 year colleges also required remedial courses. I would like to add a quote I found on Education.com it reads "Does earning a Diploma guarantee that a high school graduate is ready for work and college?". Based on these statistics, I am going to contend that a Diploma does not give any sort of guarantee, that a young student will be prepared for post secondary schooling. We haven't found our answers, but I do feel that this is where focus can be given to narrow down the dauntingly broad view, that education is our answer. Learning and schooling, especially in youth seems to be the logical place to begin this change to a more prepared, and able generation. Through my research, and life experience there seems to be a need for change in how our educational system is organized and facilitated. This brings me to my next question, what is the fault that can be found in the education system and how do we fix it?

There are three dominant themes that I feel are most pertinent to answering these questions. Let's start with prep schools, charter schools, private schools, basically anything outside of the public school arena. For those able to attend these institutions the benefit is obvious, smaller classes, an opportunity for parents to really choose the school that is best for their child, also they are paying for the schooling, so we can assume there is more strict accountability on teachers and administration. Adversely, the downfall of these institutions would seem obvious as well, accessibility, parents ability to afford the tuition, and a separation of peers. The concept of separation of peers brings us to an attempt introduced by the administration of President George W. Bush, the No Child Left Behind act. In the simple scheme of encouraging better education this is a great plan, those schools which do well in testing, are given a boost to their budget. Unfortunately this creates another problem that I feel stated well by Steve Farrell, "is there a better place to fight back against socialism than in ending the pernicious grip left-wing elitists have had on the minds of our children for generations?". I will not speak illy of either of these philosophies, because frankly I appreciate any attempts to better our education system. Having stated that, I also do have to agree with Farrell, that these cures for our educational ailments, will lead to an elitist society. For purposes of answering these questions, let's say the elitist section of society has left the rest of the general population behind, Where do they turn? Jennifer Dounay, dedicated an article outlining an importance of rigor, she began with this quote, "While truth-in-labeling practices in the food industry ensure that orange drink cannot be labeled orange juice without legal ramifications, schools have no such safeguards in place. Algebra I can be placed on any child’s transcript without any guarantee about the content taught or learned.” (Jean Rutherford). She continues in her article challenging schooling to have more challenging testing, to ensure that students are being given an "orange juice" education instead of the "orange drink" alternative. This illustrates a very valid point, the more difficult a task when accomplished, the more rewarding. 

To speak in league with tenured experts might be viewed as arrogance, and a naively predicated effort to boost my own ego. I am unfortunately a servant to my own experience and views, but as I mentioned it is not my intent to tear down anyone trying to better this effort, we just haven't seemed to reach the goal yet, and possibly not even based an understanding of where to begin. While reading Steve Farrell's article speaking against the leave no child behind act, he added a very interesting quote, “In my great educative work, I am beginning with the young.”. This quote was most interesting to me because, it was given by Adolph Hitler. Admittedly this may seem like a very cynical view, but it outlines the extreme importance we need to place on purposeful and functional education to our youth. To close my thoughts I would like to refer to the title of this work, The Rising Generation; Who Are They, And Why Do We Care? We are the rising generation! It is our ideology, passion, drive, and devotion to the elements that make this a free and great nation that will stand the test of the future. This has led me to one question that I cannot seem to find any researchable evidence, as future parents, is it the government and a schools responsibility to instill a desire to learn and be leaders of the nation in OUR children?