Robbed of Responsibility
January 2006
With a number of district and building initiatives, a
distinct and troubling trend is emerging in our District. We are systematically
robbing our students of one of the most important life skills they can possess,
namely being responsible.
Though perhaps well-intentioned, these initiatives
range from requiring homework to be posted on the web, to mandating mid-quarter
reports for all students, to allowing students to re-take tests until they can
achieve a passing grade. While taken individually each appears reasonable
enough, the net effect of these policies has been to substantially subvert any
notion of self-reliance among students. Regrettably, this phenomenon has
afflicted many parents as well. They have come to expect of teachers what was
once understood to be a student’s obligation. “Johnny didn’t copy the homework
from the board, didn’t study for his test, hasn’t discussed his grades with me,
boy, what’s wrong with his teacher?!”, seems to be the prevailing mindset.
While administrators trying to placate disgruntled parents
may find the idea of imposing these responsibilities upon teachers tempting,
they ultimately do more harm than good. Responsibility, like most other
personal attributes, is an acquired skill. By systematically shielding students
from the consequences of their own behavior, we only ensure that their bad
habits persist. Why should children worry about bringing their homework or
lunch to school, when they know Mom can be beckoned with the push of a cell
phone button. The dozen or so lunches piled in the main office each day are a
clear testament to the failure of our current approach. As one enlightened
principal from another district put it, "Let the children experience what
happens naturally when they are irresponsible -- and let the mothers stay out of
it!"
Instead of working to combat student irresponsibility,
however, we are moving in the opposite direction. The recently imposed
initiatives only serve to reinforce out students’ shortcomings. While catering
to irresponsible students and their enabling parents may represent the path of
least resistance, it is the wrong path. Part of being an effective role model
for children is being able to resist what is easy, and instead insist on what is
right.
In fact, most of the parents in our district understand
this full well, and are very supportive of teacher efforts to instill
self-reliance. Regrettably, however, the small band of vocal parents who do not
are the ones who are currently steering district policy.
As professionals, however, it is incumbent upon us to stand
for what we believe and know to be right. To passively acquiesce to the demands
of a misguided minority, and disregard the will of the much larger silent yet
supportive majority, is wrong. For in the end, it is our students who are being
robbed of responsibility.