Yes, but they'll figure this out soon enough in terms they can better understand when they begin putting in employment applications in an employment market flooded with desperate applicants, of all levels of qualification, for a handful of openings.

Well put!

Yoshi

High five to this guy. He told these kids something that they probably didn't know. I hope it doesn't come back to bite him.

And he was quoting neutral statistics. Factor in how mediocre American performance has become, they are probably below average when compared to most other developed countries. They may be great at some video game, but that adds zero value to the country.

The sad thing is, college is not going to help. Our current educational model is what educators that I've worked with call the BIS model. That is, "Butts in seats." The more BIS, the more money the college rakes in, so the incentive is not to wash out the losers, but to help them stay in as long as possible, any way they can, including ridiculous curves, literally walking students step by step through tests and homework, and ignoring cheating. I've seen it happen around me, in my capacity as a tutor when I was in work study jobs. The pressure coming from administrators to keep students in class far outweighs any mandate to pass on educated people.

Why do we rank 17 in science and math? Why don't we have enough engineers or doctors or physisits in America? Anyone ever wonder? This is why. For profit education doesn't work. Period. It turns out people with the same lack of knowledge as they came in with.

Welcome to another piece in the puzzle of the slide of America into a former power.

STexan, unfortunately, I do not think they will figure it out--and that is a huge part of their problem. They will whine and state, "but I am so much better than all of these others I am grouped with. I do not belong here. I am better than them." That generation has issues dealing with the reality of actually being able to figure such things out because they were raised to believe they are special.

That generation will be cleaning up our generations mistakes.

Whoa. Do we have some issues?

And did your "wonderful teachers" spend any classroom time on spelling, grammar and punctuation? Snarky? Yes. But you started it.

ashp, you are part of the problem. People like you are part of the reason we are 17th in math and science, and not leading the rest of the world like we should. Take your panty waist pampered attitude and shove it.

Ashp, if you could spell and construct sentences, your argument might be worth reading. Maybe. Your "wonderful teachers" have a lot to answer for.

Nobody is special. People have to make it on their own in this world. I'm glad this guy had enough sense to give the kids some real knowledge before being let out of school.

My advice for the new grads is to get as much education or training as possible to compete in this world. There are no jobs out there. If an opening comes up the employer has hundreds of resumes to go through. The more you know the better... Good luck.

thankfully i had wonderful teachers who believed each student had something to offer to society and tried to encourage us to let it shine.

Your rant lacks any significant offering except that you are unable to spell and unable to punctuate. But it's good to know that you feel good about being a non-contributor.

Well he teaches there..if anyone knows these bunch of idiots its him..not those replying here...LMAO!

Just new comers to the unemployment lines! Wait can't collect until you did pay in (WORK)..oh well mom & dad is always there.

Your cap's button works..you used it twice I see.

ashp..don't let this chit get to ya..its a online blog comments we make here..some think we are writting a major selling novel here.

Its really like a chat session to me.

@theCavalier

Why do we rank 17 in science and math? Why don't we have enough engineers or doctors or physisits in America? Anyone ever wonder?

I might be able to offer some insight, considering that I considered engineering, chose premed, scored in the 95th percentile on the MCATs, and then changed my mind to pursue physics instead. I hate to bring it up, but in my experience the average person does not have the cognitive capabilities to do well in physics and engineering (medicine is different, and I won't address that right now). The issue isn't that we're 17th internationally in math/science, but rather that the people intelligent enough to pursue these fields aren't encouraged to do so. People with far more potential than me choose to go into finance instead of research because the pay is that much better. There are many other unfortunate reasons that the people most suited to these careers don't end up making it there, but for the ones that don't drop out of school and are aware of their potential, their career paths are often determined by where the jobs are and where the money is.

Anyway, about the average person- the average SAT math score is less than 500. The reality is that in an objective sense, SAT math is pretty trivial in the context of mathematics and physics. If you find SAT I math challenging, studying diligently may raise your score, but engineering and physics is probably not a very good career choice. I didn't study for any of it and got an 800 on the SAT I math and a 36 on the ACT math.

The message is that physics and engineering are heavy in mathematics and most people are probably not well suited to these professions. If you want more engineers and physicists it's better to focus on the people with natural abilities in mathematics rather than the average person (who is probably not suited at all for those fields). You see this all the time in sports; the people with the most potential are scouted.

I like this article! We truely find ourselves when we think the other people around us are special...and they are! Then we can really start contributing to society by work or even random acts of kindness. I love my friends, people whom I know and the people I don't know, yet! Love ya!

I must be loved here..nobody corrected my typo yet..writting=writing...at post 1.18

ashp..spell check isn't great..example it will not correct this..Are you their or are you here? The word their is spelled correct so spell check will leave it alone..but should be there!

If there's one thing worse than political correctness or coddling, it's the overreaction to it. These days people take great pride and joy in putting other people down. Young people today are just as worthy as the so-called "greatest generation".

mike: they don't care about your typo because you haven't angered them with truths they don't want to hear! lol! i will never correct anyone because i care about their thoughts not the grammar.

It's not just that your spelling and grammar are poor; it's just as much that your ideas don't make much sense, and you offer fewer "original ideas" than you do proclamations that you read up on things and other people do not. You make contradictory statements:

"he is nothing but an arrogant prick. nobody cares about his opinion on how @!$%#ty life is. life is @!$%#ty no doubt."

"very nice way to look at people, numbers."

"honestly though i have to agree."

Huh? This guy is talking about you. Here you are spouting your superiority and revealing your ignorance. You may not agree with what he said, (or do you? it's hard to tell) but his point is miles more lucid and rational than yours.

I like your thinking 'ashp'.

amused muse: nicely put! very true

To The Cavalier: One thing American children have in abundance above all other countries is self-confidence. While in some areas it may be unwarranted, none-the-less, it is there that they excell. As for our lack of folk willing to take on the hard sciences and try to make a living of it. ( MD's excluded: we do have enough, perhaps too many at least in the urban areas... ) The answer is simple: follow the money! As a PhD chemist who worked in industry ( not academia ) I know of what I speak. The cost and time input are not well balanced by the reward: go study business or better yet, marketing. To those considering any science as a career path: don't. Oh I know, some will; those who are truly dedicated ( crazy enough ) and for them it will be a wonderful life! BTW you paint with an overly broad brush, not all colleges/universities molly-coddle their students past the 1st yr ( if that long ) . Trust me on that.

ashp - I bet your kids aren't worth a @!$%#! Probably spoiled brats! This man is speaking the truth and it's way past due. Kids have been told 'you are special' so much they think they don't have anything to prove. That's not the real world. So ASHP - you can rest assured that your kids probably come by their unacceptable behavior naturally - YOUR DNA!

Dr. E

haha o disgusted: you have failed to see how this man that made this speech clearly is trying to talk about the youth of this country, like myself (25) but in fact is saying more about how arrogant and worthless he is. for example, i do feel confidence in both opinion and self, not a bad thing, but even if i felt how he felt, i wouldn't take everyones time on that platform for that day and spew hate like that. nobody asked his opinion on how the world is. you see this man in his arrogance is showing that he in fact does has a heightend opinion of himself and everybody else is expendable. it is funny that people cannot read in between the lines.

C'mon then ashp. Speak those truths that you have discovered over all us inferiors who don't read up on things. Enlighten the sheeple beyond saying you can.

To ashp....I doubt you are so intelligent and worldly that you spend your time researching news feed so you will be able to comment with depth and honesty. And yes, grammar, spelling and the such does make a person's comments more believeable and interesting by the masses and the "sheeples". You are being discredited because you can't communicate properly so no one bothers to read anything you say. Instead they focus on your inabilities. Like spelling, grammar, sentence structure, etc. But go ahead and keep pecking away on that keyboard. Too bad no one is reading.

aww kat but you read it right? :)

No, they asked him to speak at the commencement, and just like the univeristy that asked Sascha Baron Cohen to do the same, they got what they deserved. As a public school teacher myself, this guy is right on the money. He was not saying to avoid confidence and self-worth, in fact, his larger point was that those things do need to come from within, because all the messages you hear around you saying the same thing are empty echoes of a society obsessed with "feeling good" and worshipping children...the endless fountain of money and consumerism.

ashp...you totally missed the point of his speech. He wants them to go out and discover life & all it has to offer, not just sit back & wait for it to come to them as some type of entitlement.

well your right i guess you can't count as "anyone?" and no i don't read up about every post but i do about the issues that they raise. its not that hard in fact we live in a wonderful age where infinite knowledge is present at our fingertips.

johanne: ya i got that part and at first before i watched the speech i of course understood what i thought he meant. unfortunately when i watched it, i saw he used the podium to speak out against marriage and how men are mistreated. that is what he talked about first. it was at that moment i realized, he wasn't trying to make a point like you stated, he was trying to bring everyone else down to his pathetic level of existence. yes there is a high divorce rate in this country but seriously you need to talk about bride and groom practices at a high school ceremony? you need to say that men hate marriage and its all a sham? you really need to say that to our youth at that event? no way. he is bitter and those that can't see that i can't help you.

I myself got no impression that he deemed himself any more special than anyone else. More willing to speak the truth maybe, but not any more special.

What lines did you read between exactly?

Why in the world are you all giving this troll the time of day? She is obviously quite ignorant and stuck in her ways. Why even bother?

A Graduation Commencement Speech that needs to be given.

Dear graduates,

You are about to embark on your careers and eventually take over
from the older generation. I want to take just a few moments and try to set the stage for the world you are inheriting.

The biggest danger I see right now is with China and the
potential that one or more of the idiots in Congress will try to make political
points by being “publicly” hard on China, in an effort to improve the image of
Congress, a political party, or that of a particular member of Congress.
Negotiations belong in the back room, out of sight of the cameras so no one
loses face, which is very important in China as in other Asian countries. If we push China too hard, China will simply resist. We need to pull China toward our goals, but not do so in public
or in any manner of disrespect.

You may or may not have studied China of the early 1900’s but
China as late as the 1940’s could not even feed herself. It was not
uncommon for hundreds of thousands to simply starve to death. Their
population was growing out of control and they had no industry of significance
and their agriculture was very primitive.
As children, my generation was told to “eat everything on your plate because
children are starving in China”. Well, that was then.

Now, less than two generations later, China has become the
manufacturer for much of the world,
manufacturing products like shoes, toys, trinkets and clothing, but they
are also now climbing into the seat of being a world class manufacturer of
computers and planes, of trucks and tractors, of rockets to space (we rely on
them now to launch most of our civilian satellites) and high speed
trains. China now exports food to the world, has their population growth
problem under control and does not have an illegal immigration problem, meaning
that China is also protecting her culture as she brings about economic reforms. China is now one of the largest buyers of debt in the world. The US is now the nation with the most debt.

It is now America where children are hungry and marginally
educated, where homelessness is a big and rapidly growing problem, where the
government resorts to funding itself with money stolen from future generations because
they cannot vote to stop it. We in the United States continue to vote for more socialism, promise more expensive retirement plans to workers who can retire sooner, promise more expensive and
more abundant health-care to those that cannot pay for it, and allow our borders
to become non-existent as to who comes here.

We also are enacting higher taxes and more complex tax codes in a failed
attempt to appear like Congress is trying to pay for the promises made to buy
votes to get elected, but even the appearance of trying is now about gone. We are also regulating our businesses out of business, pushing more and more businesses off shore in the process. As we import more and more goods and services manufactured elsewhere, we are also importing unemployment from elsewhere and destroying families, pride, and hope in the future in this idiotic process of globalization
with rules tying our hands that fail to tie the hands of others. In a three words, we are losing. As we do all these things, our future prospects, your future prospects, are getting more and more dim.

We have failed to understand that big government, high taxes,
over regulation, and socialist policies of robbing Peter to pay Paul destroy
opportunity, and similarly, that the destruction of opportunity results in the
creation of yet more Paul’s needing a government teat, for which we continually
need to rob a less and less wealthy Peter to provide.

We have now baked into our economy long term high rates of
unemployment and the built in costs of dealing with this unemployment problem. Our tax base is eroding so we cut education and other services to free up the needed funds to provide the government teat
for everyone needing a good suckle. We are destroying the middle class and job opportunity for many millions as we conduct ourselves in this manner.

All of these changes have occurred in my lifetime and it is
simply an amazing transformation to have witnessed. Both the ascension of China and the decline
of America have been rapid and stunning to say the least. Worse still, we are accelerating the rate at
which we are borrowing from the future having arrived recently at the
unimaginable rate of borrowing more than one and a half trillion dollars in just
one a single year which is more combined debt than we built up from 1776 through 1983 even with all the wars starting with the Revolutionary War up through Viet Nam, and including building the Panama Canal, the Trans Alaska Highway, and our Interstate System. Yet Congress keeps on spending and making promises it cannot possibly keep, while also continuing to fail to fund those promises. Recently, about three years ago, we reached the sad point of not even trying to have a budget.

Winston Churchill had a quote that I think bears repeating here.

The inherent vice of capitalism is the unequal sharing of blessings; the inherent virtue of socialism is the equal sharing of miseries.

We are becoming miserable here in America. So what does your future hold? Well, while China is not yet a real super power as is America, China will become a real super power by simply continuing to do the things she has already been doing. However, if America stays her course, America, currently a real super power, will not remain so. So which country is facing the real need to change? China or the United States of
America? The answer is obvious.

If America is allowed by the voters to continue the race to
insolvency, China will be in a position to buy up America’s resources including
raw materials, factories, and intellectual property rights and patents to the
point that America may very well be forced into a second fiddle role under the
boot of China. This is not to say that anything China is doing is necessarily bad, but rather that America is doing some incredibly stupid things. We are throwing away our heritage, our culture, and our future while chasing the known to not work strategy of becoming more and more a socialist government. Many have tried this before and all have failed. We will be no different.

The changes we need:

We need to start in our schools by teaching about great men like
general MacArthur and his code of Duty, Honor, Country, and of self-discipline. We need to emphasize a strong work ethic, accountability and responsibility. We need to teach our youth at an early age how to deal with failure. Little things like having to try out for a ball team and that not everyone will make the team are very good lessons to learn. In doing this, our kids will learn at an early age how to deal with failure, how to regroup and move on and try again. Failure is not necessarily a bad thing for one has to try
first in order to fail. My fear is we will stop trying. That will usher in ultimate failure.

We need to improve education itself so we are not graduating
illiterates that need remedial education just to be able to read and write at a
minimum level before being employed at even a low paying job. This means education is THE sacred cow above all others.

We need to allow businesses to run their respective business without fear the government
will change the rules next week, or next month, or that government will change
the tax code making what otherwise would be a good economic decision, a bad
decision tax wise.

We need to abolish a tax code that penalizes effort and promotes
the opposite. We need to stop the insanity of managing for the short term
at the expense of long term success and growth. We need to stop rewarding illegal aliens with
free education, subsidized housing, free medical care, and other unearned
entitlements including being placed at the head of the line to gain legal
citizenship and then complaining that there are too many illegal aliens here.

We need to drop the employment penalty called payroll tax that
is levied against employers for hiring and keeping workers as it makes our
labor 7.6% less competitive and as a result, sends more of our jobs to
elsewhere resulting in having to deal with more and more un-employment costs
here, defeating the purpose for and effectiveness of the tax itself.

We need to realize that there are two types of war, a shooting
war, and an economic war. We are a super power and can win in a shooting war. But we have been losing the economic war that has been waged upon us for decades due to bad trade policies and
idiotic taxes and regulations. Yes, government needs taxes, but there are some things that when taxed, like employment, have severe unintended consequences. We should tax consumption, not employment and tax income, if at all, in a much simplier manner that is clear to understand and void of loopholes for some that do not apply to others. A tax is a penalty no matter how you look at it. And when you penalize
the bedrock of an economy (employment and effort) you necessarily will cause great and long term harm to that economy. Just look at what we have done. We are killing ourselves.

We still, as a nation, and especially so in Congress, fail to
realize that China’s main export to us in all those sea going containers is not
the stuff in the containers, but un-employment itself. We have yet to
begin to come to grips with the substantial threat to our economy that arises
from tax free trade, containerized freight, container based seaports, inter
modal transport and big box retailers that distribute imported product
efficiently. This is one of the game changers that is knocking our economy down.

Folks say, well that is free trade and you can’t have import taxes. To that I still say, “Are you nuts?”. We have higher wage scale, more regulatory costs, and you think we can compete with countries that have lower wage scale and less regulation? How?

This question of “How?” is where the free trade disciples get stuck. Here is what I know. If you follow the “free trade” mandate, you have to race to the bottom with both wages and regulation, or you will export
you jobs to elsewhere. So you take your pick, import taxes or unemployment here. so far, we as a nation have chosen unemployment and i do not understand why. We need to Fire the idiots that are doing this.

When I was national sales manager for a plastics company a long
time ago, I was able to bring a container of product from China and land it in
NY with less freight cost than would have been incurred had that same shipment
been by truck from Louisiana to New York. That situation has only gotten worse with higher trucking costs
including fuel, labor, insurance and taxes when compared to the more modern,
faster, larger, and more efficient container ships. America is losing the
economic war because of these faster and larger ships, and because our ship of
state has no rudder because we keep re-electing idiots.

We need to curtail the size, cost, footprint, and influence of
the government nanny state that now pays the average federal worker double the
average wage in the private sector and is currently sucking the private sector
dry with taxes and regulation that combined, are but feed and fodder for the
ever growing footprint of bureaucracy. The end result is removing discretionary income and opportunity
from the private sector. This paradigm indicates high levels of unemployment for years into the future, maybe decades, maybe forever if unchecked.

We the people, need to get use to the idea that we cannot afford
a government teat for every problem that may arise in life and begin to act
accordingly. The big question is, are we the people capable of doing
that? Or said another way, are you as the embodiment of the future
capable of doing that. We the older generation have failed miserably on this score and have burdened you and your children with a terrible debt burden that your grandchildren will still be
dealing with. So the big question is this.

Can we in America grow up and take care of ourselves as adults and individuals, or do we succumb to the call of the nanny state with a warm teat for everyone? That is the big question for your generation and
generations to come, because I doubt you will be able to repair the damage we
the old idiots have done to this great land in your lifetimes. I am very sorry, but my generation has
failed, and failed miserably.

China faced her demons in the mid 1900’s and changed the rules
of the game. She said you can only have one child. If you have more
than one, you will lose all government support. It was unpopular but such
is the mark of true leadership, and China changed. China embraced the
idea that if you make money, you get to keep it. Businesses grew and
grew. To this day, China does not have real estate taxes, which in the
very basic sense is simply the government saying that you have to rent your own
property, bought with income that the government first took their cut, or forfeit that property to the government if you fail to pay the rent. The result is you can never have real estate that
is fully paid for, and still worse, the government can now seize your property
and give it to a for profit private enterprise for economic development as has now been
authorized by a supremely stupid supreme court ruling. So much for
private property rights in America which was one of the building blocks of our
free society.

You graduates have to understand that these are the fundamental
building blocks of our society and our economy that we are changing in the name
of giving everyone a teat. I for one am sick of it.

The bottom line is this. China can stay her course and become the most powerful country on
earth. America can’t. America, more than China, has to change. Not the change of bigger government, higher taxes, more regulation, and bigger deficits either. America needs to get back to her roots. If she doesn’t, America will become just another nanny state on the rock pile of failed
democracies that litter history, and by my estimation, we are only a couple of
generations from that point, and we are accelerating the speed at which we are trying to get there.

I wish you luck and success in getting America to change. You have to, or you will be broke. With
35 trillion dollars of unfunded social security, 40 trillion dollars of unfunded Medicare, and a little more than a trillion dollars of underfunded federal government retirement, added to 16 trillion dollars of debt, several trillion dollars of debt hidden on the books of the federal reserve, and several more trillion dollars in guarantees and GSE and agency exposure, you really have to come out of the gate and hit this nanny state issue hard and fast.

You need to understand that there is a big difference with bond debt and underfunded
entitlement obligations. Bond debt has liquidity risks that can be overcome by solving the liquidity issue by simply borrowing more, or by printing more money and kicking the can down the road. However, entitlement obligations are not a liquidity issue. They are a solvency issue. They cannot
be kicked down the road. They have to be paid when they come due. And if you try to pay these unfunded entitlement obligations with debt, you will break the banking system.

We are now looking into the abyss of nearly 80 trillion dollars of underfunded entitlement obligation that one way or another, has to be resolved within the next 30 years. That equals about 2-1/2 trillion dollars per year, which is almost exactly the amount of all taxes currently collected at the federal level.

Obviously, this is a bad situation that is not going to be resolved by raising taxes alone. You would have to effectively double all taxes currently collected by the federal government to raise that extra 2.5 trillion dollars per year, but realistically, if you did, then no one would be working. Therefore, the underfunded entitlement issue is a solvency issue and will be resolved by default. That default will be in the form of either a currency crisis or a default in the promises made to pay the benefits.

This is what the last 30 years of elected idiocy in Congress has laid at your feet.

You are inheriting a very sick America with an aging population
that has not made arrangements for retirement, nor for caring for the aged, nor
for dealing with the accrued obligations of entitlements. In fact, your government recently added another
entitlement by basically nationalizing healthcare and you my dear graduates
will bear the brunt of paying for this brand new nanny teat in the form of
higher taxes and higher costs for medical care itself, notwithstanding that the
bill’s name that brought this about was the “Affordable HealthCare Act”. Yes, this is how low congress has sunk. They create legislation that bars the importation of lower cost drugs that will end with higher costs drugs here , and call the bill the “Affordable HealthCare Act”. You should gird your loins as they
said long ago and Fire them All.

Congress has become an enemy of the people. I urge you to deal with it accordingly. My generation refused to believe soon enough and look at what we have done to you and to the country you will inherit.

No matter how you wrap it up, the end result of constantly robbing
from Peter to pay Paul will eventually make Peter far less wealthy, will
remove nearly all opportunity for Paul, and will end up trapping both Peter and Paul in a
lifetime of servitude to the nanny state.

Good luck to the Class of 2012.

Just because so much information is present at our fingertips does not mean it is knowledge that is worth having. I believe that most of what is on the web is pure crap!

"those that can't see that i can't help you."

More arrogant than anything said in the commencement speech...just reading between the lines.

I think the teacher was telling these kids some hard truths others (like ashp apparently) don't want to hear.

A dose of reality is a good thing when you have been pampered and coddled your whole life.

Life isn't easy. Success has to be earned. And success is rarely a straight line, its generally much more about what you do with your failures. So I think this teacher did these kids a favor. Expect to be a special snowflake that gets everything easy and you are bound to be disappointed. Expect you need to be the one to dig down and distinguish yourself against the rest because you aren't starting as anything special, and you will wind up with a much more satisfying life.

This man was right on point. My generation have raised their children to think that everything they do, every word they utter, is the best. You know, it is ok for people to know that they are not the best at all things, it is ok for children to experience disappointment and losing. It is ok to know that not everyone fawns over your every word and actions, and that most people will not consider you special. If you know these things, you will go on to learn what you are good at, and then you will have a focus in life, in fact it may inspire you . If you learn to handle disappointment and learn how to lose, you will not be bringing guns to work or school to kill the ones that have disappointed you. And when you are grown up and realize that you are indeed not special, you smile to yourself knowing that you have people that love you and that is all that matters.

disgusted: first off i love sacha lol!there is a guy that speaks his mind and i love it. he is much to controversial and advanced for todays society. america isn't ready for him. thats ok there are a lot of knuckle-draggers here in america so i would expect his words to go over their heads. second, the lines i am specifically thinking about were his lines about marriage to our youth. anyone who thought that was appropriate, well i don't even know what to say about them.....also, just for someone to make that sort of speech at that time and place is showing that he deems himself better than everyone else. what makes him think anyone wants to listen to that? for most parents its a day of pride. he took a @!$%# on it. im talking about the appropriateness of it all.

svd: honestly, people are so delusional, it renders my troll radar pretty ineffective. It began pinging loudly with the lamenting that we cannot be helped.

svd: definition of a troll:

troll

¹    /troʊl/ Show Spelled[trohl] Show IPA

verb (used with object)
1.
to sing or utter in a full, rolling voice.

2.
to sing in the manner of a round or catch.

3.
to fish for or in with a moving line, working the line up or down with a rod, as in fishing for pike, or trailing the line behind a slow-moving boat.

4.
to move (the line or bait) in doing this.

5.
to cause to turn round and round; roll.

EXPAND

6.
Obsolete . to hand around, as a bowl of liquor at table.

COLLAPSE

verb (used without object)
7.
to sing with a full, rolling voice; give forth full, rolling tones.

8.
to be uttered or sounded in such tones.

9.
to fish by trolling.

10.
to roll; turn round and round.

11.
to move nimbly, as the tongue in speaking.
i see you not only have access to a dictionary.... you also show competence in using metaphors???
i don't fish, sing, or roll around. well maybe sometimes.

lol ashp is mad cause he thinks he's special, he's exactly the kind of moron this teacher was talking about

I'm glad a teacher is willing to tell students this. I've told my own kids they are special to me, but they will have to prove their worth in the real world.

I was talking to a gentleman whose niece was proud that she received the game ball after her team on a game. He was very proud and asked what she did to receive it. He said she gave him a funny look and then told him she received the game ball because it was her turn. This is how a lot of kids today are raised. They can be the worse player, but if it is their turn they receive the prize.

I once told a child they couldn't be in a certain room. The owner told me that no children... no matter who they were... were allowed in that room. The child responded they could be in there because their parent was the owner. I wouldn't allow the child in the room, and when the owner found out the child had argued... the child was in trouble. The reason the child argued was because one parent let the child have complete control and use the "my parent" reasoning while the other parent tries to do the "no for one means no for all."

I probably haven't made any sense. lol Oh well. I do that at times... especially when I'm trying to talk and my kids are asking questions.

lastly: to all my hater who i apparently shook up pretty hard unintentionally, last post of the day. im growing tired of the ignorance and im sure you think the same. opinions are like @!$%#s and everyone has got one. who made these children i ask? hmmm... you speak of personal responsibilty.... you clearly lack yourself. you had no part in this? you had no part raising these children into the self absorbed generation that will be cleaning up your messes? haha ok keep on living in denial and blaming everyone else but yourselves for the way things are. these kids just turned 18 and probably haven't voted yet you blame the problems of the world on them before they even get a chance to rebuttle. ya ok keep talking about personal responsibility when you not only raised these children (18-28)of the "lost and entitled" generation, you also caused the problems we face in this country by either not acting, or directly voting these problems and problem makers into office. you don't want to hear that do you? lol. truth hurts no doubt. its much easier to blame everyone else and take no personal responsibility.doesn't that sound like what you accuse the youth of doing? take the log out of your own eye first.

My guess also is that this man is probably a favorite teacher at that school and his choice of sarcasm/words is well known to the students. The context of his relationship with the students makes all the difference.

ef

ashp... you have issues that will never be solved in this post. But let's just mention a few: self-centered, arrogant, illiterate and well... special. (think sarcasm)

WoW! I am shocked! A teacher in todays education system telling it like it is. Not only that but at a graduation ceremony in Massachusetts no less. All kidding aside this guy should get teacher of the year for giving these kids a real lesson in life.

ashp, you need to take your medication and pronto, for you to think your child is special. you might be right a special K child. then you need help, not soon but now, your child will think the whole world owe them everything. when in fact they'll get slapped in the face with reality, its your job to make them special not the teacher, you are suppose to show the right path the child is suppose to take not the teacher. If you cannot handle that then you have failed as a parent and should be shot on sight.

Oh well go live your little fantasy, that your child is special, when its just a regular child with no future.

@ashp

You neglected the pertinent definitions of the world "Troll," predominantly the following:

troll
[trohl]
noun
1. (in Scandinavian folklore) any of a race of supernatural beings, sometimes conceived as giants and sometimes as dwarfs, inhabiting caves or subterranean dwellings.
2. Slang . a person who lives or sleeps in a park or under a viaduct or bridge, as a bag lady or derelict.

...........

5. homosexual slang ( intr ): to stroll around looking for sexual partners; cruise
6. slang ( intr ) computing: to post deliberately inflammatory articles on an internet discussion board.

..........

9. slang computing: a person who submits deliberately inflammatory articles to an internet discussion.

In this particular instance, definition 6 and 9 are the most apt. And as for the speech, bravo to the teacher. And for your misdirected anger, ashp, perhaps you should reread and/or rewatch the speech. To the crux of the matter:

"The sweetest joys of life, then, come only with the recognition that you're not special. Because everyone is."

Emphasis mine. What this speech really says is that you're not special, so you better goddamn well work hard to achieve whatever it is in life that you want-- because there are a thousand-thousand others out there working at the same damn thing. Your "specialness" is abrogated by the equal "specialness" of everyone around you. It becomes meaningless. Actions speak louder than wishes. Dreams are useless unless manifest. To quote "Fight Club" (which a lot of the speech's material seems to have been inspired by):

"You are not special. You are not a beautiful or unique snowflake. You're the same decaying organic matter as everything else." (Fight Club, film version)

or

"You are not a beautiful and unique snowflake. You are the same decaying organic matter as everyone else, and we are all part of the same compost pile." ~Chuck Palahniuk, Fight Club, Chapter 17

for the original source material. These are pertinent reflections on our society and are worthy of dissemination, especially among those who have most recently emerged from the sheltered eaves of their mother's houses.

Ashp, thank you for proving this teacher’s point; contrary to everything these kids have been told, there are thousands to millions more, exactly like each and every one of them, who will be competing for the same colleges and jobs.

You said that math and science weren’t your forte. You posts demonstrate that language arts, also, wasn’t a strong suit. I am going to assume that reading comprehension wasn’t so terrific too. You sound like you think this guy is, somehow, berating the students when nothing could be further from the truth. He is, in fact, encouraging them. He is telling that no matter if they were a jock or a valedictorian, life is full of twists and turns and it’s up to the students to make themselves stand out, to be special and to succeed at what they want to be and do.

You, obviously, believe he should continue to lie to the students; keep telling them how great and special they are. That way, when they get out into the real world and get their butts kicked by reality, and just about everyone does, they can sit around and wonder what is happening because they are “special.”

Being told you “special” is great in T-ball and peewee cheerleading but, by the time we get to high school, reality is very important.

I am a middle school teacher. I have had several C, D, and F students, who have told me that they don’t have to work that hard because they are going to the NBA or NFL. To date, I haven’t had one who has made it to the pros but, fortunately, I have a lot who have made it to college and most of them understand that the only thing that will make them special is how hard the work.

All of my students are special but only because they are my students and I will do almost anything to make sure they know what they need to know to succeed in life.

By the way, you really need to stop with the excuses for everything. “Sticky keys,” give me a break!

ashp: "...spew hate like that. nobody asked his opinion on how the world is. you see this man in his arrogance is showing that he in fact does has a heightend opinion of himself and everybody else is expendable. it is funny that people cannot read in between the lines."

I do believe the irony meter has been shattered.

I think that one of the worst things that has ever happened to today's kids are car seats. WHICH must be used until they are almost old enought to drive. For babies, yes, but the ones for older kids cause them to grow up thinking of themselves as breakable and fragile, which is NOT a good social model.

Ultimately no one is special no matter what we do. We all will die and all of our accomplishments will eventually be forgotten.

What a load of BS!!! This guy is one sick puppy...go back two centuries and live in the age you belong in...the young people today are very very sharp...this guy has is head up his you know what :: and these other fascist, right wing bigots who back this guy's arrogant, self righteous perspective need to join him in the mental prison he lives in...we all are special and ultimate survivors of 5 billion years of evolution...we're very, very cool! Except for this guy he's a retrograde example of de-evolution.

@Ron

.the young people today are very very sharp

Exactly his point. They're all sharp-- that's why none of them are "special." I think you misunderstood him. The fact that you believe he's a "fascist, right wing bigot" says more about your own bias than his.

How many liberals fainted upon hearing that this awful man (in their tiny minds) told these kids about reality instead of feeding them feel-good B.S. that will get them nowhere in life?

I hate to break it to you, but no child left behind was one of Dubya's pet programs. You can thank him.

In Wellesley? They had to go home and flip through the dictionary.

I remember John Molloy - "C'est une tranche de vie."

But... but... whatever became of "no child left behind"?? Are not ALL children... SPECIAL??

So many 'merkin schoolkids ARE special... Special Ed. And certain other kids are overly funded spoiled brats whose parents do not take the time or make the effort to teach their kids anything useful. The parents do not know anything useful to teach their kids at home.

As for the English teacher in the article, my $10K to your $1 says that he's either divorced at least once, or is a lifelong bachelor because he repeatedly angers his dates with his lack of tact. One of you persnickety people wanna perform a private investigation to prove the previous statement?

ashapt (sp?)-- both you and I are special. I like you. I can live with your spelling and grammar as is just fine. I can understand your Point Of VIew. And yes... THERE ARE too many "Spelling and Grammar Nazis" on NewsVIne. But I am also able to put up with those ashapts as well.

cheetah -- wee WEE, messier.

if i saw you in real life, you would be neutered and i hope you aren't a real doctor

ashp - Obviously you are unaware of the movement toward criminalizing cyber threats and cyber bullying.

While it is admirable to stick up for your family members others may know your family better than you because you "can't see the forest for the trees".

For those upset about the teacher's comments on "marriage." Listen carefully and you will realize that most of the comments were on weddings. Weddings and marriage are not the same and if more people realize that then perhaps the divorce statics quoted in the speech would be lower.

@ ashp:

"In Internet slang, a troll is someone who posts inflammatory,^[2] extraneous, or off-topic messages in an online community, such as an online discussion forum, chat room, or blog, with the primary intent of provoking readers into an emotional response^[3] or of otherwise disrupting normal on-topic discussion.^[4] The noun troll may refer to the provocative message itself, as in: "That was an excellent troll you posted."

Please do your research before you try to correct someone who has a firm grasp on the English language, much unlike yourself.

Glenn-974637, your speech was much too long and boring in print, and I think way over the heads of most graduating seniors. You could have said it all with briefly agreeing with the teacher then saying the world is a mess.

It will be interesting to see how this spoiled brat generation raises their own children. I think most of them will carry the center-of-the-universe role into their own adulthood and take absolutely no crap from their own children and indulge them little because afterall, the world is always going to be all about them, the parents. And that's what we need, a new generation of young people who have to earn their way through life, succeeding or not succeeding on their own merit. Can you imagine these graduating seniors becoming parents who say to their own children, "You can't possibly be important because it's all about ME?"

I think evolution-natural selection in particular-is a vitally important concept for young people to understand. It's vicious and depressing, however. I think most people need to believe that a God created the earth and their lives have some purpose beyond propagating the species. Most people need to believe things happen for a reason (I don't).

As such, I hardly think it's constructive to denigrate creationism. I believe creationism and trust in a creator serves a darwinian purpose, and causes many people to live more resiliently.

May I add, I'm entirely unconcerned about dwindling oil reserves. We'll simply adapt, change, and thrive in the face of energy source change.

The teacher is correct with the stats and all that but how many people would have liked to hear yourself being downgraded by a teacher you may or may not know. If this guy was at my sisters graduation then my sister would have kicked his @$$ right there. (NO I DO NOT LIVE IN A VIOLENT NEIGHBOORHOOD.) Who would honestly stand for hearing this c$&% and not kicked his @$$?

One, everyone take a chill pill. And two, realize that most likely neither you nor your offspring is very special in the world. Did you go from homeless to full ride to Harvard, no (that chick is special)! Did you escape via foot from an African country to escape being pulled in to a war, come to the states and succeed in athletics and educationally, no I didn't think so. There are remarkable people out there, but if we keep putting our youth on these pedestals for mediocre achievements, what incentive do they have to push the envelope and do something truly amazing?



PS, to ashp, we criticize you not so much for your complete lack of English skills; it is the fact that you have them and you are too damn lazy to use them. This is what is wrong with my generation (20-29 year olds), the majority of us do not take pride in anything we do, because everything and anything we have done previous someone said good job and patted us on the back no matter how bad it was. For that I am thankful for my critical parents and teachers who taught me good enough, isn't!

"The sweetest joys of life, then, come only with the recognition that you're not special. Because everyone is."

This is the relevant piece to the speech, that many are overlooking.

The speech was right on the money but when it was delivered is what is questionable. Graduation is a time of celebration not exactly the place for learning life lessons. This is a speech that belonged in a special assembly with something set up afterwards for questions and counceling.

Seems to me that ashp took the speech to heart. Most upset that he/she/it found out he/she/it isn't as special as he/she/it wants to think he/she/is is.

I doubt any speech with that kind of putdowns will motivate anyone to do better or seek some individual endeavor. One nasty, nagaitve speech will not undo years of upbringing that the parents of all these kids got. At least they were at a school graduation, and not some prison or jail, rehabilitation. True that many of today's kids and teens are pampered a bit more than the kids of the fifites and before, but, it really isn't their fault. They are born into this environment and are sucking in all the stimulation that we as adults are dumping on them.

How many liberals fainted upon hearing that this awful man (in their tiny minds) told these kids about reality instead of feeding them feel-good B.S. that will get them nowhere in life?

bout the same number as you teabaggers

My commencement address from 1979? "Always remember that you are unique...just like everyone else". It's ok, I didn't get it either.

PS, to ashp, we criticize you not so much for your complete lack of English skills; it is the fact that you have them and you are too damn lazy to use them.

WTF? Y R U so mean? BTW, that's S-A-R-C-A-S-M.

Are we finally finding the courage to tell students the truth? Hopefully being told the truth will enable them to accept the truth earlier and, perhaps be more successful and happy than they otherwise would have been because they are operating from facts about themselves instead of some BS that they have something special to give the world. They might but, those who are truly special, who will make a profound difference, know that about themselves already.

For the rest of us, let's quit looking for our genius to bloom, our ship to come in or, our number to come up and, just start doing something. There's dignity and, if we are lucky, a great deal of satisfaction in just that.

I just want to throw this out there, but...you have been feeding a troll. Don't feed the trolls and they will wither and die. The thoughts of trolls are convoluted and indiscernible. They reek of ineptitude and promise clarity, but only cause greater confusion and chaos. Don't feed the trolls lest ye be tormented by a rage of unnecessary proportions. Leave the troll alone, ignore it, and it will wither and die like it should.

On a separate note, this teacher did these kids a wonderful service they will never appreciate or even understand until it is too late. The world has become that of mediocrity across the board. We cut funding for things capable of improving this country while throwing money away for purposes that are unnecessary. We as a country are too busy teaching kids what we want them to know rather than what they need/should know. They are not necessarily mutually exclusive concepts, however, generally they only share likeness around the periphery.

@Noah R

You sir are a genius. Your argument is precisely why we are where we are as a country. No one pushes kids to do things that seem difficult or challenging anymore. Folks math is difficult. It requires sectors of the brain to be used more often in a few minutes than many of us use in a few years. We don't support our teachers enough to help them say to kids "yes you can do it, I will help you" because we keep putting their salaries on the chopping blocks and overburdening their workloads.

We have all become hypocritical fools. We say we support teachers and schools in one hand, but do nothing to assist them civically or monetarily. Don't whine about kids not getting the education they deserve if you are not willing to donate time, money, or pay taxes that are directly given to education. I donate whatever I can to my high school every year and it is because of people like me why our music, art, and science programs are still in tact.

Don't throw our future into the pond and tell them to sink or swim. We owe them at the very least the tools necessary for them to figure things out for themselves. In the mean time, parents need to stop pampering their kids and let them learn the hard way about why life isn't fair and how hard you have to work to get anywhere.

I don't know what is so special about this speech. Another salvo in class warfare? Maybe we are just a bunch of organisms on a ball spinning in space. Then maybe not. Maybe he should have said we are all equal in the eyes of God but I guess the atheist crowd wouldn't like that. Saying that you people are not special implies he thinks a small number of people are. Then who are we to judge who is special and who isn't. Maybe the bum on the street is special in his own sort of way. Just because he doesn't have a 4.0 in astro physics or maybe he does. Maybe Maybe not no one really knows it seems.

Wonder how many of the graduating class were inspired by this versus how many were shocked into a tailspin depression they'll never recover from.

Eh - for what it's worth, I doubt many people remember the speeches from their graduation. I have no clue who spoke at my high school, college, or post-grad graduation, let alone what they said.

i bet you 98% of the people there did not understand what he was talking about.

the other 2 % shook there head and said " he is right! "

It is a high school graduation, not a kindergarten graduation. I hope they got it or maybe they shouldn't be graduating!

First of all, 50% of the graduates were probably busy texting someone about the night's upcoming festivities, 20% totally zoned out about 2 minutes in, 10% were sleeping, 10% were scanning the audience for friends/family, 5% were listening of whom 2% "got it". Just guessing...

No he's not at all.

Unless you are around teenagers for extended periods of time (high school teacher, administrator, substitute, cafeteria worker, etc..), you can't imagine how frustrating it is to see students develop less and less academically, yet maintain a sense of bloated entitlement and self worth for accomplishing very little.

Of course, it is natural for teenage egos to be inflated, but to lose any appreciation for their education is frightening, and many have. Given so many options, kids fail knowing they can take summer school, go in to an alternative program, or just repeat the grade, all while being told it will be ok no matter what because they are, well special.

I thought it was a great commencemnt speech! They've heard enough about what the world has to offer them, it's time they focused on what they can offer the world.

This teacher may not be wrong but he said it in a way that is not right. If I was there I would have left, bought a popper, and scared the $#@& out of him. I'm just saying.

Anybody who would use a graduation speech as an impetus to kill themselves isn't exactly that far from the edge to start. Also, let's be honest... graduating high school is the equivalent of getting a degree for showing up. Unless a child has serious behavioral/developmental challenges, graduating high school isn't an accomplishment of note.

"the stress of the last months of school are very heavy"

That says everything about lowered expectations for these entitled little future failures that'll bankrupt their stupid doting parents before hitting bottom.

It was the PERFECT place for it, that was the whole point. Very eloquently delivered as well.

right . the coddling and "selfesteem pumping" must be kept up at all cost. We must do everything we can to keep these kids from committing suicide!

Was your comment meant to be sarcastic like mine??

A much-needed dose of reality. American kids are now scoring higher in self esteem and lower in the sciences every year. That means they are dumb and they don't know it.

I have come to the conclusion that one of the biggest contributing factors to this "Grand Accomplishment" mentality is the fact that so much emphasis was placed on the drop out rates over the years. Hey, just like in life, you either do it or you don't. If you don't, you work at minimum wage laboring for someone else. if you do, you get a chance at something better. No guarantees though, but, what would you rather strive for, a chance or none? No they are not special, and the sooner they learn it the better. Life does care who wins and losses, and doesn't care one whit if you had fun or not. Quit the pampering and poo pooing of the younger generations and toughen them up a little already.
I feel compelled to tip my hat and applaud this man.

I graduated in 1988, my brother graduated 7 years before me in 1981. We both went to the same schools, even had some of the same teachers.

What he had learned was vastly different then what I was taught. One history class I had in 10th grade, tests were given open book. The other history class that same year, we learned from books the school district wasn't using, in this history classes we were learning grade school stuff, such as capitols of states, why this teacher was too busy with his baseball team coaching and candy sales. Not interested in really teaching.

These were all public schools my brother and I went to, the education had dropped condiserably between the 7 years he had went and then I followed. Things he was taught about WWII were missing in my education.

Now that same school district is barely educating these kids. The education is so bad that college spends the first two year teaching you what you should have learned in grade school to high school accept it is no longer free it is costing you money.

I am glad what this teacher told these students, they need to learn they are in fact "nothing special,"and anything else they should have learned many years ago.

Azlan Lewis - That is why I believe coaches should not be allowed to teach.

why this teacher was too busy with his baseball team coaching and candy sales. Not interested in really teaching.

What he had learned was vastly different then what I was taught

I would hope so! History is ever changing. Historians are discovering new evidence to about our past all of the time. You wouldn't want the children of today to learn from a 1988 Encyclopedia Britannica, would you.

With our current age of readily available information at the touch of a button, no one should have to wait to be taught anything. You can learn what you want when ever you are ready to learn it.

Echo, with our current age of readily available information some of us, apparently, still miss the point. Azlan was making references to what happened in 1981 aand 1988, 31 years and 24 years ago respectively. Why are you criticizing him using today as a reference point? That makes no sense. His point seems to have been that even 30 years ago education in the US was in decline. Unfortunately, its seems to have worsened not gotten better.

Yes! Our own kids are indeed special to us. They are just so automatically. However, the rest of the world does not and should not be obligated to see it so. To the rest of the world, our own children will have to prove they are special, and many will not. That does not mean that they cannot prove they are worthwhile and a positive asset to the people and places they encounter.

AMEN!!!!

Rule 12: Google your sources before you use them so you don't foolishly post urban legends in a newsvine comment.

Yeah, good call, anon. Attribution and accuracy do matter.

I don't care it Bill Gates gave the 11 rules to live by or not. I think they are still good rules to learn.

@Intel2 You might want to correctly cite the correct author of those rules. :) They were actually written by author Charles J. Sykes.

http://www.snopes.com/politics/soapbox/schoolrules.asp

but being a volunteer, I would probably get "fired".

And there are no other volunteer organizations that could use your services?

In case you haven't seen the news lately not very many adults are willing to admit how it really is... they see pandering, spineless politicians and allow themselves to be conned into a grand sense of self-entitlement to be delivered at the expense of their fellow Americans and the future of the nation.

The Boston paper published it in its entirety. It's available.

See it on Boston Herald website, link above.

rented a small home from my husbands parents,

Wait... I thought you didn't run back to your parents when life got tough.

She said RENTED. She didn't say they lived there for free while the in-laws picked up the tab.

Yea, but I'm sure it was a nice easy rate and not what they would charge others.

Not at all. We paid rent, utilities AND put a new roof on the place (including tearing off 3 layers of the old one), painted every room, and closed in a back porch to make a very nice walk in closet.All at our own expense.We stayed there for a year and the repairs and upgrades we did to the place helped my husbands parents sell it when we left.

You can't always make assumptions, because sometimes you are so far off when you do.

We must be terrible parents, because I have always taken it as my job to help my children get through the tough things, not avoid them. My husband is off right now on a 15 mile backpacking trip with 2 of my boys...one of which was really nervous about going (to the point of felling a bit sick) Instead of coddling him we told him sometimes we just have to do things we might not want to do...suck it up and get your pack in the car! What horrible parents we are.

Can't wait to see the pictures of all the fun we forced him to have! In the long run we hope these kinds of experiences will give him well earned confidence and real pride in accomplishment. That is what we should all be teaching our children.

Crying liberals will have him in a jail cell by tomorrow night and his house surrounded by whining idiots... all MSNBC needs to do is edit the audio and pay some unemployed folks to stage a "rally".

Actually, I think it was an EXCELLENT speech. And the rabid right call me a liberal all the time.

I notice , he didn't give your boy Trump, much respect.

Crying liberals will have him in a jail cell by tomorrow night and his house surrounded by whining idiots... all MSNBC needs to do is edit the audio and pay some unemployed folks to stage a "rally".

For the love of Pete, PLEASE lay off the "liberal" crap!!! Everything is NOT about politics!

So glad to disappoint you, but I consider myself a Liberal and I am in full agreement with this teacher and think he deserves a medal.

Yeah, this article got spread around quick at the school where I teach. A bunch of liberal teachers in the liberal state of Maryland praising this man and his words. Maybe his ideas transcend politics? Ideas transcending politics? Don't tell FOX and MSNBC...their reputations rest on all of us believing everything is political!

This teacher's speech can apply to any graduate--not just the priviledged. How on earth does being told to leave the State come in to play here?

Because it's all about Jonathan Gal.

maybe they just wanted you to leave the state......

Hear the sound of the world smallest violin?

They're not special? Going to high school is just like showing up and getting a diploma? Let me tell you what my class is like.
For homecoming, we focused the whole theme on raising money for breast cancer research. For prom, we focused the theme on building wells in Africa. My class took more APs than ever, challenging our schedule to college levels. Our ROTC unit did over 2,000 hours of volunteering in the community, from securities to honor guards.No one thinks they're better than anyone else, but we take pride in what we've accomplished at the age of 18.
High School is a starting point in our lives, we can't be perfect, humble, superheros at this age. And we feel so accomplished getting that diploma, because it's our door to the adult world. Sorry if we want to hear some nice words for it.

They're not special?

No they are not, in retrospect neither was my class.

Going to high school is just like showing up and getting a diploma?

In some places it is and that was his point.

For homecoming, we focused the whole theme on raising money for breast cancer research.

Being generous, so did 18,000 other High Schools.

For prom, we focused the theme on building wells in Africa.

Again being generous, so did 18,000 other High Schools

My class took more APs than ever, challenging our schedule to college levels.

Than ever, what? than ever before? Than any other High School? Have you conducted a study to prove this assertion? and again being generous how did you differ form the other 18,000 other High Schools that did the same?

Our ROTC unit did over 2,000 hours of volunteering in the community, from securities to honor guards.

So did 18,000 other ROTC units in 18,000 High Schools.

No one thinks they're better than anyone else, but we take pride in what we've accomplished at the age of 18.

Which is nothing more than what some other 3.2 MILLION other students accomplished at the age of 18.

High School is a starting point in our lives, we can't be perfect, humble, superheros at this age.

No one is saying you should, not this teacher and no one in this board.

And we feel so accomplished getting that diploma, because it's our door to the adult world.

So do some other 3.2 Million other Seniors. This is how it is in the adult world, there are 3.2 Million other people with the same diplomat. I work in the Human Resources Office in my company, we are not impressed with a High School Diploma, your feelings of accomplishment mean nothing to us. We have 16 positions open and we have 500 applications. That is what await you, that is what awaits the other 3.2 Million other Seniors that graduated this year alone.

Sorry if we want to hear some nice words for it.

Your parents will tell some nice words, however those nice words will not help any in the real world. Further this teacher's words were nice they were the nicest words that any person can tell you, If you can grasp what he really told them.

Phoenix 77 - Nailed it, and not in a condescending way. This is exactly what teach was talking about. There's nothing wrong with you feeling proud of your accomplishment Sheneekwa, and there's nothing wrong with you feeling pride in your school and your classmates. But if you expect the world is going to think you as special as you and your parents do, then you are sorely mistaken. And no matter what your school has accomplished, the pervasive majority in this country, especially the youth, think they are owed a whole lot without accomplishing much.

I have students at my school who've never earned higher than a "C" in three years of middle school, have never been eligible for sports by earning a 2.0 or higher, and yet they walk across the promotion stage at the end of 8th grade with fists pumping in the air as if they have achieved something. What have they achieved? Literally, staying alive til the age of 14. That's it. That is all they have achieved. Yet, their countless pairs of Air Jordans and Iphone plans would have you think they have earned quite a bit. In fact, they haven't earned anything, they've just been given a lot, and that is the part of life that will not continue for these kids, and that is the part they will whine and complain about and extol, "Life is not fair!"

And while earning a high school diploma does take more work, and in some schools and districts, a lot more work, graduating high school does not mean what it once did (how can we be graduating record numbers who have taken record AP courses, yet continue to lag further behind international powerhouses like Korea and Norway when we used to be the powerhouse?) and outside of your family, no one in the world you are NOW entering gives a hoot about your diploma.

This may not make you or the rest of the class of 2012 feel good, but our nation and culture has been obsessed with that meaningless and wasteful pursuit for too long anyway. The very fact that so many are offended by this truth just shows how much damage we've done in terms of creating a culture where the individual depends on the praise and accolades from others, even if they are unwarranted. Past generations called this patronizing, we call it encouragement. The most valuable encouragement one can get is the kind that comes from within, and kids who constantly hear that from all around them when it is undeserved do not develop self-reliance and self-awareness.

If you made such a generalized statement about a group of people based on gender, race or religion, you would be called a bigot. Yes, there are kids who get undeserved praise and rewards. It sounds like Sheneekwa is describing a lot of kids who are trying to be a heck of a lot better than that. Remember, it isn't a bunch of eighteen year olds who are responsible for the troubles in this country. It's the yuppies. :)

The very fact that so many are offended by this truth just shows how much damage we've done in terms of creating a culture where the individual depends on the praise and accolades from others, even if they are unwarranted.

Absolutely! (Some) parents prove this daily by insisting homework and projects be accepted late and appealing disciplinary consequences. I guess they can't accept that their kid messed up??

Let the stuednts fail if they have deserved it. It teaches a larger lesson in the long run. They will be ok and the likelihood of continued failure lessens.

I'm not taking any thing away from any kid, and if you read my post, I think it is pretty clear who it is that shoulders the blame for this problem, even if I don't state it specifically.

And there are a lot of kids exactly like the ones Sheneekwa described, but go to most schools and you won't be able to find them because they've been brought to the middle by the rest. I will attend a promotion ceremony for 8th graders soon, and the kid who never missed a day of middle school and had 4.0 throughout with over 300 community service hours will get out-cheered by the popular loser who maintained below a 1.0 for all three years. The second kid is not special, but he will get hundreds of messages on this day that he is.

I encourage you all to read "Harrison Bergeron" by Kurt Vonnegut Jr., or see the recent short film based on it, 2081, to get this guy's larger point.