The real world won't care much about your self-esteem
1. Life is not fair. Get used to it. The average teen-ager uses the phrase "It's not fair" 86 times a day.
2. The real world won't care as much about your self-esteem as your school does. This may come as a shock.
3.
Sorry, you won't make $40,000 a year as soon as you get out of high
school. And you won't be a vice president and have a car phone, either.
You may even have to wear a uniform that doesn't have a designer label.
4. If you think your teacher is tough, wait until you get a boss.
5.
Flipping burgers is not beneath your dignity. Your grandparents had a
different word for burger flipping. They called it "opportunity."
6.
It's not your parents' fault if you mess up. You're responsible. This
is the mirror image of "It's my life" and "You're not my boss."
7. Before you were born, your parents weren't boring. They got that way by paying bills and listening to you.
8.
Life is not divided into semesters. And you don't get summers off. Not
even spring break. You are expected to show up every day for eight
hours, and you don't get a new life every 10 weeks.
9. Smoking does
not make you look cool. Watch an 11-year-old with a butt in his mouth.
That's what you look like to anyone over 20.
10. Your school may be
"outcome-based," but life isn't. In some schools, you're given as many
chances as you want to get the answer right. Standards are set low
enough so nearly everyone can meet them. This, of course, bears not the
slightest resemblance to anything in real life - as you will soon find
out.
Good luck. You are going to need it. And the harder you work, the luckier you will get.
That piece has likely been greatly modified while on a precarious journey around the internet. My copy was sent in an email from a friend. The original can be read in a book by Charles J. Sykes "50 Rules Kids Won't Learn in School: Real-World Antidotes to Feel-Good Education"
Charles J. Sykes is the author of five previous books: A Nation of Victims, Dumbing Down Our Kids, Profscam, The End of Privacy, and The Hollow Men. His columns have appeared in numerous newspapers, including The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal. A radio and television host at WTMJ in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and a senior fellow at the Wisconsin Policy Research Institute, he is married and has three children.
P.S. I created a lovely little page that you are welcome to share with friends who may want a little pick-me-up. Here's the Confidence Generator for you.
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Comments (15)
Cheryl Baumgartner12
Medical Billing/Coding/Insurance
It is a small world after all Thea!
Thea Westra12
Adding Wings To Our Unique Life Journey!
Hi Cheryl. Gosh, I remember you, it has been such a long time! Lovely to see you again. Hope you're keeping well and that good things are coming your way! :) The internet is a weird place, huh? Yet it's still a small world after all. I often run into people at all sorts of different places & with whom I may not have had much contact for ages & ages. Quite fun. :)
Thea Westra12
Adding Wings To Our Unique Life Journey!
Hi Philippe. I'm dreadful at hardly remembering to drop in to Apsense. Busy, busy, busy! :) Lots of good projects on the go. Creating 365 of these at the moment... http://www.forwardsteps.com.au/ForwardStepsDailyNotes.html Big job but satisfying & my email readers like them very much. Enjoy your weekend. :) Cheers, Thea
Philippe Moisan16
Tutorial videos, sci-fi writer
Hello Thea, I too am happy to see you :)
Cheryl Baumgartner12
Medical Billing/Coding/Insurance
It's good to see you drop in Thea!
Thea Westra12
Adding Wings To Our Unique Life Journey!
Great to see you back again Jean. It is good to revisit familiar places, it helps us see how much we change. (Read that somewhere ages ago & can relate). Cheers, Thea
Jean DAndrea7
Retired
Have just reread this article, and it's just as true now as it was when it was first posted.
Kids today still expect the world to give them what they want, it seems. What will they
do when they discover life isn't meant to be easy?
Cheryl Baumgartner12
Medical Billing/Coding/Insurance
I understand completely Paula. And some of the parents are just as bad, teachers are at the point that they are afraid to give a failing grade, because some idiotic parent wants to sue for them 'emotionally damaging' their little darling. Truth is, thanks mom and dad for insuring your child is a moron.
Paula van Dun16
Retired
Great comment Cheryl. I have worked with students years ago that did some administration school and came to the company I worked for at that time. They were in their graduation year. They could not even write a Dutch email without spelling and grammar mistakes.
Cheryl Baumgartner12
Medical Billing/Coding/Insurance
The thing is this more true than we realize. The US is Graduating Teenagers that are about as intelligent as a brick because the school system was more concerned with bruising their tender little egos than preparing them for life in the real world. Instead of letting them be embarrassed by holding them back a year (Yes their classmates called them stupid and yes they now had to graduate with kids a year younger) so they could master what they needed to master before moving on, they socially pr
Philippe Moisan16
Tutorial videos, sci-fi writer
Here's another for Sean :)
Softel4
Great Article..!!!
Iam not used to use a lot of adjectives.I really mean what I say.
its great.
Best Wishes to you
Jenny Stewart11
Thea!
I read this and laughed so much that it brought tears to my eyes! BRAVO!!! It is one of the most brilliant pieces of writing that I have seen on the internet in a long time. Thanks for bringing it to us at ApSEnse!!!
I have a plaque in the entrance of my house for my teenagers to read
TEENAGERS!
Tired of being harassed by your stupid parents
ACT NOW!!!!
Move out, gt a job, pay your bills...
while you still know everything!
Saludos
Jenny
Jean DAndrea7
Retired
So very true Thea. It seems that many school-leavers want to start their
employment at the top of the pay scale.
We used to start as the office junior, and usually moved up a step each
year. More often if we were lucky and worked hard. :-)
Maybe that makes me show my age...........