Pass to class

It should not be a rarity when your child is well-behaved in public. Yep-I said it. For some unknown reason, we’re all terrified to call attention to this growing problem. Children act like crazies lately, and parents just stand by, cooing and complimenting them on their “individuality.” Why are you, as parents, so afraid to teach your children to behave well in public? I worked retail at a major clothing company for about three years, travel quite a bit, and, as I mentioned previously, teach high schoolers, and I am constantly appalled at the things children do that are completely acceptable to their parents. Letting them run wild, scream and yell, throw things, exhibit disrespect not only to their parents, but to others that happen to be in their way is not acceptable behavior. End of story.

As a teacher, I am also especially taken aback by parents who attempt to assume responsibility or shift blame for each and every one of their childrens’ missteps. These students, who are a mere four years (at most) from migrating away from their parents’ homes and either onto college or into the workplace, are disturbingly used to having their parents fight their battles for them. More and more news stories are surfacing that feature parents overstepping their bounds in several different venues, and it’s scary to me. When will this generation, who is so used to having someone else pick up their slack, rise to solve their own problems?

Let your kids falter. Let them make mistakes and then have to figure out a way to clean them up. Let them experience the consequences of their choices. Let them play, and get dirty, and fall, and then get back up. Most importantly, teach them how to act. Be a good example for your kids.

I want to say one important thing about a recent hot button topic: bullying. Parents—most children don’t instinctively know how to bully others. They have to learn somewhere, and you are the ones they look up to the most. Yelling at people, threatening, being rude or aggressive to others, trying to work the system—your kids see all this and internalize it. Give them a good example and they will, most likely, follow suit.

Everything is a choice. This is my motto. As a high school teacher, I am constantly reminding my students that every move they make is a choice. Some make good choices, others make bad ones. Such is life. By the end of the year, my students learn that, once they make their choice, they have to live with the consequences.

Today’s society has made a choice, too. We have chosen, as of late, to disregard others in favor of our own wants and needs. To put ourselves first in every regard. To become more aggressive, more rude, and more entitled in our sense of self. We also seem to have forgotten how to take responsibility for the consequences of our choice. There seems to be an overwhelming sense of “passing the blame” going on in our lives right now.

This blog is to encourage us to take responsibility for our actions. To put common sense back into our lives and to remind us that there is a simpler, kinder way to live.

Everything is a choice. It is your choice to read this blog, your choice to accept responsibility for your personal actions, and your choice to reintroduce class into your lifestyle.

This is your pass to class, and if you don’t hurry, you’re gonna be late.