The Tutor’s Lament
- February 6th, 2010
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The Tutor’s Lament:
Don’t blame me.
Don’t blame me if your kids grades aren’t gong up.
I spend six hours or more a week with your kids.
I try to teach them every thing I can to help them.
Analogies, diagrams, videos; I don’t just come prepared, I come fully stocked and fully loaded.
But after those six hours, it takes you less than five minutes to undo it all.
TV, XBOX, Playstation 3, Computer, Facebook, cellphone.
They bury themselves in all of that and you say nothing.
You DO nothing.
When we were kids, Video games, phone, those were privileges; things you could enjoy as a reward for doing your work.
And we worked.
We worked so we could hang out with our friends.
We worked so we could use the phone.
We worked so we could save the princess from bowser, only to find she was in another castle.
And your kids work for nothing.
They want for nothing.
You give them anything they want.
And then you ask, “Why are their grades so horrible?”
It’s because they have no reason to work.
They don’t know the disappointment of a “C” or the elation of an “A” because they have no reason to.
Work? Don’t Work? What’s the difference?
There is no reward for them, no punishment, no matter either way.
I say “Let me take their cell phones.”
You say, “No, they need them so they can talk with their friends.”
I say, “Let me take their computers.”
You say, “No, they need them to write their essays because they need the spell checker.”
I say, “Let me take their games.”
You say, “Then how will they play?”
And already, at 20, I say, “Well, back in my day…”
Back in my day, we wrote essays on lined paper.
Back in my day, we used the dictionary to check our spelling.
Back in my day, we played games and talked to our friends when we were DONE with our homework.
Not before, but after.
Your kids can live without their cell phones and computers.
You did.
We did.
They can too.
And they’ll be better for it!