Why are the educational appetites of our students so diminished? Is it the spirit-draining war in Iraq? Is it the fear of (not getting in to) college? Perhaps it is the cell phone, text message, email-age of quick communication, condensed vocabulary and instant-gratification? But why, when the current generation of our youth is viewed in contrast with other important generations in American history, does our generation come up so (a)pathetically short? Is it the comfort of middle-class American life which seems to be exponentially increasing this silo effect? I doubt that the answer is simple. I doubt the cause is singular. And I doubt that the remedy is achievable without drastic systemic changes being implemented. I do think that there are certain fundamental steps that can and should be taken which will, if seriously implemented, slowly reverse this current downward spiral. I can almost sense the lack of oxygen in this room! We’re all pondering the same question: where do we start?
First of all, begin to hold schools more accountable for why your child is not reading. Why are some schools focusing so much on teaching to these antiquated tests which have very little impact or long-term indication of student intelligence (or success, for that matter), instead of just fostering the creative senses that all children tend to view the world through . . . the senses that only reading, writing and activity can enhance? I know of a school that will not allow students in eleventh grade to advance to the twelfth grade unless they have taken the SAT and the ACT at least once (no matter their GPA, no matter their educational or vocational goals). This is certainly a marketing tactic which does resound with those parents who have been sold on the fear factor. In other words, ‘for those families who believe that education and children are a hands-off endeavor, here, we are the school for you.’ For the other 99% of parents out there, do not buy the pressure. Perhaps what you want to check out first, before enrolling your student into a school, is not whether they will help prepare your son or daughter for one, four hour exam, but whether the teachers can recommend any pleasure-reading books for your child? Perhaps they are keeping up on grade-appropriate reading themselves and they have recently read a story that your child would really enjoy because of a specific link in character between your child and the one in the story. Call me non-conformist, but I do not want a child taking swim lessons from a man who does not know how to swim, himself. And this seems to be the analogy that I can link to the idea of a teacher not being able to offer parents an idea or two for some simple, pleasure-reading books. Other questions: What are their homework philosophies? Are teachers accessible for after school help or tutoring? Perhaps, most importantly, what can your child learn from one teacher at “X” school that he/she cannot learn from another teacher at “Y” school? In other words, ask a teacher why HE/SHE would send a child to their specific school and not the one down the street. Sometimes, honesty and humility is exactly what you’re looking for from a person who will be influencing your child’s development.
Indeed, I am very good at what I do. I have some strong relationships with college and university admissions offices and I take my job as an advocate of education very seriously. That being said, I cannot help a student who was not already potential Ivy League-material gain admission into Columbia, Brown or UPenn just because a parent pays me. That’s not the goal of the “right fit” student/university relationship. I also know that there are no ways to “cheat” these standardized tests, the lengthy admissions processes or, for that matter, the rest of your life. All too often I hear the word “potential” used when a parent sits down with me to describe their son/daughter. A word of advice, do not think that potential is the answer to anything. Parents can only claim potential until they experience the reality: potential is like effort, but the bottom line is that a student either does or does not do something! In other words, “X Man” may have the potential to be able to finish a marathon under 4 hours, but as long as “X Man” keeps running 5 hour marathons because he chooses to not train, his potential is actually not so much “potential” but unrealistic and out of touch. Potential does not mean a thing to a high school physics teacher who teaches a class of mostly-failing kids, all of whose parents have been swearing, since the fourth grade, that theirs really has a lot of potential for science- if only they would be less lazy and apply themselves! Too often parents expect that their son or daughter will work with me and, voila, they will achieve off-the-charts results. On the contrary, my little reading “secret”, the one that I just shared with you, is the same thing that I tell even my most loyal and trusted families. Now, how we go about making this happen . . . this is a whole different mystery.
