<p>A lot of buzz in today's academic/professorship circles seems to have to do with the sense that college students today appear generally more entitled academically ("I <em>deserve</em> an A!") than in generations past, as a partially result of self-esteem training in elementary and secondary education. On the other hand, this could just be perceptual differences by generation.</p>
<p>Thoughts?</p>
<p>I have to agree in general to the statement. While I think it is good to raise kids in an environment where they garner self esteem, not “allowing” kids to experience failure is also “not good.” Think sports teams where everyone gets to play regardless of ability. Think schools where they have to come up with an award for every single student. I’m not sure I agree with that much “self esteem” development.</p>
<p>As a high school student, I personally hate people who feel they are entitled to everything, people who complain and whine when they don’t get an A or when the teacher grades hard because they put some effort into it.</p>
<p>But then again, I’m the type of person who likes to work for everything and accepts my grades as either a good or poor effort.</p>
<p>In my experience, this is largely a high school problem. There were a ton of kids in my HS who would complain that a teacher “gave them” an unsatisfactory grade. However, once we reached about midterms of our freshman year, more and more kids started realizing that they controlled their own grades. It was much more common to hear “I need to study or I’m going to fail!”.</p>
<p>But I also think that those kids who actually stay in college through their first year are less likely to be the entitled ones anyway.</p>
<p>At my previous college this was very true. Very few students did the work but they all wanted A’s. They were failing and rather than get help from the professor or FREE tutors they complained and blamed the professor. Her teaching is awful, he gives too much work, none of this is coherent, blahblahblah. It was all excuses. Mean while instead of studying for the test on Monday they were getting drunk on Sunday night…?</p>
<p>I worked with seniors in a physic lab and they could hardly do basic conversions and calculations… and they were going to get a degree in science in a semester… its ridiculous. However many of the students I knew had parents pay for their entire education. I think students who themselves are taking out huge loans and working to get a 3.5 gpa to keep their scholarship are the ones who work harder… because it means more. If they fail its skin off their back, not their parent’s.</p>
<p>^About those students, however, I worry that they may not be taking any risks. If I were king of the world, there might be a minimum GPA to keep a scholarship, but it wouldn’t be 3.5 across the board.</p>
<p>That is something that upsets me terribly when I read what students post on CC – screening their classes and avoiding anything in which they might not get an A. They say it’s based on how law schools and medical schools select their classes, and if that’s the case then law schools and medical schools should find some other way. It’s educationally terrible for students not to challenge themselves with something that may be unfamiliar and hard.</p>
<p>^I don’t know if I agree. I think it’s all about the individual. Most of my friends and myself have our parents paying for our whole education, and that’s been a large part of my motivation to do well. I don’t want to waste my parents’ hard-earned money, and I don’t want to disappoint them. </p>
<p>We also have an understanding that if I need to re-take a course, I pay for it. That probably has a large part to do with it as well.</p>
<p>I don’t believe that it’s right for students to demand a decent grades simply for the fact that they have satisfactory work. Anything in life requires hard work and effort in order to success, grades should be no different. Giving students good grades based on the premise that they have completed their assignments does not teach them to challenge themselves and work harder on a task.</p>
<p>I can understand the self esteem relates issues especially if a student puts forth their all only to receive a horrible grade. It makes you feel incompetent and stupid which is not encouraging the student to expand their learning and abilities.</p>
<p>I was having golf with someone who mentioned that helicopter parents of college grads wanted to meet with their managers at work to discuss their son or daughter’s work review. Naturally the requests are declined but it raises the obvious, this stuff doesn’t start with the kids but their parents. </p>
<p>If I had an issue with a teacher in school, my parents wanted to know what I was doing wrong and what I was going to do to correct it. How things have changed.</p>
<p>I don’t think hard work has anything to do with this. As long as students are fully following the criteria in their assignments and learning the material they will be fine.</p>
<p>I’ve never heard anyone telling their profs/teachers in person that they deserve an A. That is so rude. Such remarks show lack of proper social skills. Students with concerns should address them with the teacher in private in a nicer manner.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>I wonder if the current economy will quell such behaviors…</p>
<p>I was just reading a book about Shakespeare which included complaining from some of his peers about the youth of the day.</p>
<p>Nothing new under the sun, indeed.</p>
<p>I didn’t mean to generalize (meant to talk about my specific school - a mediocre state one). Also at my school scholarships were 3.0, not 3.5 which wasn’t difficult to obtain (maybe with an exception to engineers).</p>
<p>Many students I personally knew were there because it was a cheap program their parents wanted them to do before they could work at a guaranteed job at their parent’s business, or the students were from a generally wealthy location and their parents were also wealthy and they were just never really taught to work hard. Many people I know never ever had a job, and little volunteer work. Again, I was talking about my experiences, so sorry if I generalized.</p>
<p>The average undergraduate college student today is 24.5 years old. They don’t have helicopter parents, don’t play sports, don’t reside in dorms, don’t have scholarships (and rarely any kind of financial aid), don’t binge drink, don’t consider rushing fraternities or sororities, don’t study science (the plurality study something business-related), don’t graduate in four years (if they graduate at all), and are likely to take classes at night, on weekends, and on-line.</p>
<p>And, I believe, there are more undergraduates enrolled in the University of Phoenix than all the Ivy League colleges combined.</p>
<p>I would suggest that professors, many of whom earned As easily when they were in college, might have a skewed view of what their own generation of students was like.</p>
<p>You kids get off my lawn!</p>