The End of Summer...School

I'm tired of seeing kids being tortured for no reason.  As I write, my peripheral vision picks up the listless gaze of a teen being grilled on integers by her relentless tutor. This summer, I've never seen more reading programs, college prep programs, honor roll bumper stickers, and learning dvds. All aimed at the purpose of supposedly "preparing" kids and teens for a non-existent future job.

Pushing children to achieve was normally the past time of the suburban mom, but due to the high rate of "failing" schools, particularly in urban areas, now city parents have jumped on the bandwagon of pushing their kids to "compete" with....I'm not exactly sure whom they're supposed to be competing against.

Year round school is the favored option of several of my Facebook friends and others due to the fact that the children can't remember anything when the school year rolls around again. Others note that you have to keep kids "on track", like children are living breathing pint-sized locomotives.

But I still ask, keep on track to where? Or for what? College? CNN recently ran an article discussing the many American families who are opting out of college due to the skyrocketing costs. For minorities, the scenario is even worse due to the crippling debt many incur by being recruited (or targeted, some say) by expensive private colleges. Being an overachiever doesn't automatically translate to financial stability. More than 70% of German teens are apprenticed rather than attending colleges, resulting in a more stable and practical academic and financial future.

I challenge parents who have children enrolled in multiple programs, as to the ultimate purpose of all this achievement. Take a look at the Department of Labor statistics for future job growth. Most industries will be on the downturn for years to come, including many professional careers, so choose cautiously.  Some will argue that children and teens need to be kept occupied to stay out of trouble and focused.  In other words, someone needs to watch our children because we are otherwise preoccupied.

I'm not afraid to simplify an unnecessarily complex issue because isn't that what we learned to do in math class?  A little event called the Recession began a few years ago in response to rather distressing consumer behavior, where many of us borrowed ( in the form of credit cards and loans) in order to keep certain lifestyles afloat. Parents want to live in suburban mcmansions so that their kids could be "safe" and go to "good" schools, even if it meant that both parents had to work full-time and then some on less than satisfying jobs to support a well meaning, but self-defeating rationale. The parents ended up far too exhausted to have much interest or time in their children's academic progress. Irritation and frustration ensued, resulting in divorce....you get the message.

In other words, we keep trying to solve the problem of low academic interest and achievement among modern children by forcing more academic pursuits or busy work, as it was called in my day, down their throats. "Achieve!" We yell. "For what?" The kids yell back. "To get a good....?"  Jobs are gone, mostly for good and most of them weren't that great anyway.  And yet we push our kids ever closer to the edge of an ever shrinking employment line.

When's the last time you asked your child what they actually want to do with their lives? Do you have any idea of what your teens are actually good at? Are they interested in anything? I recently came across a computer software website started by the owner when he was 12. He used paper route money and stayed focused. He never bothered with college and is now a thirtysomething millionaire. Most of the personalities we religiously watch on television never were academically astute either, yet they manage to stay focused enough to be on tv night after night.

There are a wealth of opportunities out there, mostly open to people who know how to think outside the box, a topic rarely discussed in college achievement classes. Most of us have I-phones, a product of a company started by a man who was once ejected from his own company, but has made the business comeback of a lifetime. Ironically, his last name is Jobs.

Summer is supposed to be the time for families to reconnect and be mentally and physically rejuventated after months of unpredictable seasonal changes and hard work. We've turned it into a worthless extension of classroom learning and endless "catching up" for children who were never behind in the first place.