Education

 The Classroom Today

If you're reading this as an adult, you more than likely have been in a classroom before. But your classroom is very different than the classroom of today. Today's young adults are facing things we never could have dreamed of. 

My generation passed notes in class. We knew that if we got in trouble at school, we could expect consequences when we got home. We understood that the teachers were in charge, and even if we didn't like them or didn't think they were "fair," we respected their authority. We were the first to see music videos. We could see a concert for less than $50.00 a ticket. We listened to music on boom boxes and through headphones on our portable cassette tape players. Phones were still attached to walls, so at the end of the day, we could turn off the gossip, teenage angst, and almost everything we endured during the school day.

Today's students are subjected to everything we were and more. And they are emersed in all 24 hours a day now that smartphones and the internet keep them connected. They watch shows that are put on by big names like Nickelodeon and Disney, in which the kids backtalk to their parents, and the family pets are smarter than the parents. And those programs are the best of the worst; kids can find whatever kind of pornography at the touch of a button, and, yes, they can get around parental controls.

But the good news is today's students are more tolerant of differences. They defend people who our generation more than likely made fun of. Today's young people are concerned with the world. They want to keep the planet green. They are interested in improving lives.

I recently asked my classes what they would do if they won the lottery for over a million dollars. Most of them explained to me that they knew they wouldn't get the full amount because of taxes and that whatever they did get, they would invest so that the amount would earn interest. These are kids who don't have jobs yet. Many don't even have a learner's permit to drive yet. But they are smart. And, despite everything they've been subjected to, they will be okay. They give me hope.