Empowering the Kids

I was listening to the radio this morning. I think it was 99.2 FM or so. And for the first time ever, I didn't change the station while "random talking" was going on. They were talking about the next generation of kids and something I paid close attention to was when someone mentioned that in (junior) school, all kids are recognized whether they have exceptional grades or not and she thought this gave them no real idea of the real world, because in the real world, mediocrity does not get awarded (with a consolation price). Not everyone agreed with her idea of keeping it totally-real with the kids and only awarding those who actually deserve it - which should push the others to do better if they wanted to be recognized too (as well as be great in future). In their own defenses, mediocre kids need encouragement and consolation-acknowledgement is essential.

:-?

You have to agree with me though that kids of nowadays have no concept of reality, which  truth be told will set most of them (if not all) for failure in the real world.

I would like to share a speech I retrieved from the internet which has Bill Gates addressing a bunch of high school kids about 11 things they did not and will not learn in school. You may already be aware of this talk, however, it's worth a second look.

Rule 1: Life is not fair - get used to it!


Rule 2: The world won't care about your self-esteem. The world will expect you to accomplish something BEFORE you feel good about yourself.


Rule 3: You will NOT make $60, 000 (~ N 9.5 million) a year right out of high school. You won't be a vice-president with a car phone until you earn both.


Rule 4: If you think your teacher is tough, wait till you get a boss.



Rule 5: Flipping burgers is not beneath your dignity. Your grandparents had a different word for burger flipping: they called it opportunity.


Rule 6: If you mess up, it's not your parent's fault, so don't whine about your mistakes; learn from them.


Rule 7: Before you were born, your parents weren't as boring as they are now. They got that way from paying your bills, cleaning your clothes, and listening to you talk about how cool you thought you were. So before you save the rain forest from the parasites of your parent's generation, try delousing the closet in your own room.


Rule 8: Your school may have done away with winners and losers, but life HAS NOT. In some schools, they have abolished failing grades and they'll give you as MANY TIMES as you want to get the right answer. This doesn't bear the slightest resemblance to ANYTHING in real life.


Rule 9: Life is not divided into semesters. You don't get summers off and very few employers are interested in helping you FIND YOURSELF. Do that on your own time. (Seek assistance from your family or relatives that you think "bother you too much, and don't mind-their-business about you")

Rule 10: Television is NOT real life. In real life people actually have to leave the coffee shop and go to jobs. (hahaha! I think the sitcom Friends or How I Met Your Mother when I read this)

Rule 11: Be nice to nerds. Chances are you'll end up working for one. (Now that's NOT a lie)

IF YOU AGREE TO SOME OR ALL OF THESE LIFE'S LESSONS, KINDLY PASS IT ON.
IF YOU CAN READ THIS - THANK A TEACHER!

Let's empower the kids. Someone did it to you - this is the least you could do to give back. (M-Pact Dis!)