"For That"

As you all know, I'm a teacher. In my profession we come across all sorts of people just as in any other occupation. But, the education of a precious child is is of vital importance not only to the child and his parents, but also to the society as a whole. Most parents will go to great lengths to ensure their children are getting the best education possible. And, in cases where the parents fail to do their duty to their children, the states have set up laws and regulations to ensure children are in school.

One thing never ceases to amaze me about the latter kind of parents. These are the ones who buy their children $180 tennis shoes and $300 purses. They adorn them with gold jewelry and fancy clothes. Anything the child wants is given to him. However, they won't buy them basic school supplies. They expect the school to provide those things, or for them to get it from other students. Some except some charity organization to give them supplies. Once in a while, the parent expects the teacher to purchase these supplies for their child.

When you question a student about why they are not prepared for class, their reply may astonish you. Imagine my shock the first time I heard the explanation come out of the mouths of these high school students. The reply was "Mom said we don't have money "for that". The meaning being they have money for the aforementioned items, but they will not spend money on school supplies. They expect others to purchase those items for their teenager who is capable of getting a job himsself.

I worry about an attitude such as this. It seems to be that this line of thinking is a sort of entitlement rationalizing of behavior. If everyone feels entitled, how can a society survive and function?