Guest Post by Ron Hart
In yet another bad decision, an education administrator asked me to give a high school commencement speech. He must know that I write a column; he obviously hasn’t read it.
When I questioned his judgment, the principal said, “Just give the kids some sound graduation advice.”
I asked, “Should I tell them I hear the Monsanto plant is hiring?”
“No,” said the educrat. “Encourage them. Tell them they can do anything.”
“So I should lie? Have you seen most of these kids? They can’t do anything. Most think Shariah law is a daytime TV show hosted by a no-nonsense judge.”
That’s the problem. Kids are getting pie-in-the-sky advice and, judging by obesity rates, they are also eating the pie.
Should I turn into Maya Angelou and tell entitled kids — who graduated because of grade inflation, who think Mao Zedong is the Asian equivalent of French kissing, who don’t read newspapers and who can’t find Syria on a map — that they can do anything? Or would a healthy dose of reality be preferable?
Guess which one I am going with?
Students should prepare for a job. Maybe, instead of taking a fifth field trip to the Trail of Tears site, take one to learn about real jobs in an area they might want. Let them attend more Take Your Children to Work days — unless their parents work in the adult movie business. That’d just be awkward.
Continue reading “Give those graduates a needed dose of reality”
