love him or hate him, he sure hits the nail on the head with this ! to anyone with kids of any age, here's some advice.
bill gates recently gave a speech at a high school about 11 things they did not and will not learn in school. he talks about how feel-good politically correct teachings created a generation of kids with no concept of reality and how this concept set them up for failure in the real world.
rule 1 : life is not fair - get used to it !
rule 2 : the world wont care about you're self esteem. the world will expect you to accomplish something BEFORE you feel good about yourself.
rule 3 : you will NOT make 60,000 a year right out of high school. you wont be a vice - president with a car phone until you earn both.
rule 4 : if you think your teacher is tough, wait until 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 parents' fault, so dont 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 : youre 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 doesnt bear the slightest resemblance to ANYTHING in real life.
rule 9 : life is not divided into semesters. you dont get summers off and very few employers are interested in helping you FIND YOURSELF. do that on you're own time.
rule 10 : television is NOT real life. in real life people actually have to leave the coffee shop and go to jobs.
rule 11 : be nice to nerds. chances are you'll end up working for one.
so true!! I totally understand that stuff. I'm 19 and graduated HS in 2004 and they were so lenient on everyone, it definitely wasn't for the best. Some people didn't deserve that diploma, alot were kissups, slackers and copiers.
i went to my sisters graduation ceremony ~ she has moved up to the upper school. A teacher gave a speech similar to above but it was very moving..she had been there years and was the most amazing teacher and taught my brother an me aswell. I dont think there was one dry eye in the house when she finished as all the parents realised there kids were growing up and they are gonna have to face the reality of life. I cried my eyes out as my little sis is now all grown up and she is gonna have to face the challenges i have..part of me wanted to protect her from it ~ I think all present realised they had to let there babies grow up lol.
All that is so true. But I know my parents never paid my bills for me. Or my first car. I worked for my dad when I turned 15 so by the time I was 16 I could afford a car. And let me say one thing. I didn't get a car until I was 18. LOL!!!
This so true. I just copied and pasted that into my sons myspace site. His private messages, as he thinks it uncool to have his mom as a friend there. His budds make fun of others parents that have myspace sites.
puttin, dont feel bad, my daughter is the same way.i am not allowed to post anything on her xanga site. when i asked her if she could help me make a my space site, she asked me if i was serious ! lol . she doesnt like the fact that i am outspoken and she says i am embarrassing to go shopping with. when i reprimand people for their kids running loose or leaving their carts in the middle of the aisle while they are somewhere else, guess she considers that rude.kids must think that the my space and xanga sites are for them only. i think she is worried i will say something to embarrass her. one time i wrote in her blog that i liked her pictures and thought she was a pretty girl, and signed it yo mamma. she was mad at me for days after that one ! lol
