by Marie Hutchison

Created on: July 09, 2009

I am in my late 20s and was raised by a German mother and an Irish-French father. With that upbringing, I was taught (through their example) that hard work is an expectation and anything beyond that is a privilege or a luxury. Hard work was a daily expectation and anything beyond that was is a privilege or a luxury. Hard work was a daily expectation and occasionally luxuries would come about. I did not grow up taking elaborate vacations; some years we could manage to take a day trip to Sea World because work on the farm needed to be done. It was not seen as a sacrifice; it was seen as life, and it was okay. So, what does this have to do with underachieving and the low expectations of our current society?

I believe I learned the value of hard work-both in the fields and in the classroom because I saw it firsthand from my parents and grandparents. I did not grow up expecting nice things to be a part of my life; the nice things in life were earned. As I look at the generations that are young than I am, I see people who expect to be handed the "nice" things in life. It is as if they deserve the luxuries of life simply for making it to the age of 9, 11, 15, 20. It is as if they are saying, "I was born; therefore, I deserve." But life should not work like that. Parents seem to be teaching their kids that they can pay their way to success; work does not seem to be a factor anymore. (I am generalizing and realize that this is not true for everyone, but unfortunately it seems to be true for a majority of us.)

The other prevailing message seems to be that if I do not do anything, the government will take care of me. Why would I work, I can collect welfare. Our government is taking care of underachievers, so why wouldn't people underachieve? I think it is very unfortunate that these messages seem to be the two prevailing messages sent to our youth.

The message of underachieving is sent to teachers on a regular basis, which is evident when parents blame teachers for their lack of success in the classroom. Parents often argue that teachers are not doing enough, "If my child cannot read, it is your fault Mr. Teacher. What are you going to do Miss Teacher to teach my child to read?" The process of DOING and making a difference is always placed on someone other than oneself, which is an obvious indicator that much of our society is happy to underachieve. It is no secret that those who do well in school have a stable, healthy, supportive home environment. Parents make the difference; teachers are there to continue the growth that parents should have started and should continue to develop.

It is my hope thatour underachieving comes to an end, perhaps teh poor economy will make a few of us think twice about expecting the luxuries of life and putting more effort into giving our all for the betterment of ourselves and the privilege of life's occasional luxuries.

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