I heard them often when I was a teacher. "My printer ran out of ink." "My computer wouldn't work." "My parents were out visiting people all weekend and they made me come too." "There's no one to take me to the library." It was an Islamic school so there were no dogs available to eat the homework. Usually it was the computer's fault, though sometimes the parents were to blame. Never the student, of course.
It would be nice if this type of behavior were simply an adolescent phase. But my guess is that many of my students had parents who also made excuses. "My car broke down." "The baby was sick." "We had relatives visiting from overseas." As I got to know the families, I could tell which were downright lies. Some--students and parents--chronically lied.
It doesn't stop there, either. Ask someone in Congress why he or she voted for the war against Iraq. Many excuses. Ask someone in the White House why the war was started in the first place. Many lies.
My father was easy going, for the most part, but one of his frequent sayings was "No excuses." That annoyed me when I was young. I've since learned to appreciate his attitude.
Being a responsible adult, or a responsible student, means accepting responsibility for your actions.
No Excuses. (Thanks, Dad.)
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment