I am with you! Bravo!

BLS... looks like most in this room disagree with you and agree with the comments of the teacher, get a llife. I know many teachers that could do as well or better than most in the "real" world. Teaching is "real" world. Not sure how much more "real" world it could get.

Dealing with kids lives, the divorces, the lice, the sicknesses, the crying, the hunger, the fights, the feelings, learning, failures, sucesses, hard work, values, respect, you know all of those non "real" world things. We all can see how teachers don't live in the real world - idiot

You're an idiot. Thanks for proving it with your moronic comment. That or you weren't the teacher's favorite, they gave you bad grades, now you've got a bad taste in your mouth. Either way, your a loser.

It's about time!!These kids think the world OWES them a Fancy house and a Mercedes.

And they should have it RIGHT NOW!

PS > BLS drop the L and I smell what your saying!

I listened to the whole speech, and it was THE BEST commencement speech I have every heard. He nailed it!

BLS - You can feel free to walk a mile in these shoes any time you'd like.

It's about time somebody said it!!

BLS-744646

I believe this is more a commentary about parents who are not preparing their children for life. How many children believe that their parents are obligated to do their laundry, do the dishes, cook all the meals, pay for every whim that the child wants.

Parents are the problem, not the teachers. The teachers have lost all reasonable control of their classrooms, due to parents being able to threaten their jobs. A friend of mine who is a teacher, received 8 e-mails after the end of school asking her to change a child's grade from an A- to an A. These e-mails came from the parents not the kids. How many battles are parents willing to fight for their kids, without realizing they are not teaching them to fight for themselves.

I have one more thing to say. Not my kids!

There is absolutely nothing for him to defend. All this guy did was tell these kids the truth that they needed to hear. Too many kids today think they are hot stuff and that everything is going to be handed to them on a silver platter. It is about time someone in academia actually stood up and spoke the truth, even if it was just a high school English teacher. It would be far better if more people would send these kids the same message so that they understand that they need to work for the things they want in life.

BLS: You are ridiculously ignorant. I worked for years for Citigroup but have been a special needs teacher for the past 8 years. It is BY FAR one of the toughest jobs you can have. Try to teach and guide my students for ONE DAY; you would run out of the classroom pulling your hair out before the final bell rung. You are truly a moron, teaching is as real as it gets.

Was Einstein special? How about Bill Gates? Dean Kamen? Mother Teresa?

Nothing to see here...move along, kids.

I just graduated highs school this year, and I wish someone had said something like this. Half the kids in my class already plan to party through a safety school and then take a job in the family company

Awesome speech. What he basically said was that the real world is hard and uncaring. That everything these students have done so far as been nothing compared to what they'll shortly face. That once they leave their school they'll face a world where nobody cares about them and nobody's going to pamper them. They will fail and fail many times, to embrace their failure and use it to make them stronger.

It's a tough speech, similar to one I heard from my drill sergeants after finishing BCT (when I was in the service).

@Julkie - Don't know if you're familiar with Wellesley, but I am. And Mr. McCullough's message was spot on. He was speaking to 400 kids who, for the most part, from the time of their conception, have been cossetted, pampered, coddled, and swaddled in the blanket of "Swellesley." They've been told they're better than others because of where they live and daddy's/mommy's net worth. Yes, there are exceptional people on earth, but the people you mention aren't special because of how much they have or where they live but because of how much they've contributed to the rest of the world. And that's what Mr. McCullough's message was about. From his speech: "No longer is it how you play the game, no longer is it even whether you win or lose, or learn or grow, or enjoy yourself doing it... Now it’s “So what does this get me?” As a consequence, we cheapen worthy endeavors, and building a Guatemalan medical clinic becomes more about the application to Bowdoin than the well-being of Guatemalans."

Julkie, you can bet that Mother Theresa was taking care of people in the slums of India for their sake, not for what she was going to get out of it .

So pull up a chair, kids, sit right down -- there's plenty to see here and I hope you learn these lessons sooner rather than later, for all our sakes.

@lizziefromboston - bravo!! Could not be better said!

The speech needs to played in the OWS camps.

Finally someone who tells it like it is..... Thank You...

It sounded to me more like he was saying, "You are not any more special than the next person."

In a way, we are all special. If we were lucky, we all grew up special to our families. We all have our own talents and abilities. We are all here for a reason.

Religious people say it this way -- "You are a child of God." New Age people say it this way -- "You are a child of the Universe." Other groups have other ways of saying it.

That said, what hasn't been said clearly -- and why this teacher's comment is so important -- is that those words apply to us all. That means, nobody is more 'special' or 'exceptional' than anyone else.

And that would lead to "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you." Kindness? Yes. Greed? No. Including people? Yes. Taking advantage of people? No. Compassion? Yes. Vengefulness? No.

A message we would all do well to take to heart.

Well to risk disagreement with the overwhelming majority on this board at least....to me, the reaction here simply smacks of more of the same ol' "back in the day" --"everything and everyone was better." Gee...it's "refreshing" to be told yet again (and again!) that we have nothing but a generation of selfish soft brats replacing everyone who was brilliant and markedly better in every way. That's unusual in some way? (only coming from a commencement speaker...otherwise, you can hear that whine from the crotchety old retiree yelling about kids getting off his lawn in any neighborhood in America). If that's truly how this teacher feels, it says far more about him than the students he teaches. How does this speak to today's youth...to tell them they are ALL pampered and 'soft'...when that's as much a stereotype based on the size of their parent's presumed wallets as anything else. And how is it inspirational to tell these graduates their reality is bleak? For instance: half will be divorced? (Not really...the rate of divorce for COLLEGE grads is less than a quarter of the divorce rate of those with high school educations...do we simply assume the vast majority are stopping here?). They're nothing "special"? Well, if they're priviledged, as they are presumed to be, than isn't their burden to do something with what they've been given especially great? I wonder how many of those whining about how awful kids are today are actually involved with kids? Do you not know any great ones?? Any idealistic ones? You seriously think every generation that came before was superior? (gee...hasn't THAT been going on since generations existed?) A graduation lecture that's a giant wagging finger from your superior Uncle who thinks you'll never amount to anything and you all applaud this? Ok...I think I'll just move on to enjoying my teens now...

AP-1414066- You REALLY missed the point he was trying to make. Ignore the "sound bites", look up and watch the entire speech. I would have been HONORED to have this man speak at any of my 4 children's graduation ceremonies. Go ahead and enjoy your "teens", the real world will be here waiting for you.

AP - my reaction was similar to yours on separate article/same subject. I'll say the same thing now that I stated in that post. Not all kids will greet this speech similarly. As a former case manager/juvenile probation officer, I had a lot of kids who grew up feeling worthless. It was a tremendous struggle for them to make it through school. Working with the schools in prevention, it was easy to see how many kids straddled that line between having some shot at a future and seeing it slip away. Those kids especially deserve to feel like they're walking on air when that big day comes, and the gloomy report needs to be for a topic in the classroom or at home.

Shared Nest, the speech wasn't meant for ALL kids. It was made to a SPECIFIC audience of children who do not fit the profile you mention. It is important to view this speech both in its entirety AND in its intended context.

BLS744,

Forget your glasses this morning? Your vision is distorted by your inadequacies.

LL

AP,

Our parents could have been told the same thing by our grandparents and our great-grandparents by their parents. Each generation thinks the following generation is not adequate to do the job of life. So it is not refreshing. Its just more of the same.

LL

I watched the entire speech, and I think it was excellent. It is quite clear that he cares about his students. He was not putting them down, he was trying to encourage them to be better people, and prepare them for the imperfect world that is life.

People focus on 'you are not special' and miss the real meaning. Leaving High School, everyone is on a level playing field. Everyone has the same chance to find a happy and fulfilling life. He was actually encouraging the kids, he just didn't blow smoke up their ...

Those who can't, teach.

I think it's ever so ironic when people like BLS quote one of George Bernard Shaw's plays. Shaw was a staunch socialist and wrote brochures and speeches for the Fabian society - a socialist organization in Britain. His plays, essays, and journalism focused on the plight and exploitation of the working man.

It made a good point about some teachers (it was used in context about a student who was criticized by her teacher for a novel she was writing), but now it's some thought-nullifying cliche tossed around as if it's a universal truth. Ridiculous how some people take bumper-sticker slogans and swallow them without a second thought. Maybe because it's too hard for some people to actually THINK about things.



Leaving High School, everyone is on a level playing field

If only that were true.

The speech needs to played in the OWS camps.

Correction. It needs to be played in Congress.

Could not have said it better!

Wonderful Speech. I believe he gave those young folks the truth when all to often people will lie to them, he didn't

This guy is absolutely right. If somebody had sat me down and told me 10 years ago that I wasn't special, that I would fail, and to not to try to live up to everyone else's standards I'd probably be better off. Kids today are even more sheltered than 10 years ago.

Until you ever really failed you really can never learn how to live with it, or overcome it. Some people just can't deal with it. Or they avoid it so long that they never take a chance and do anything in life. It's like the old song says " You can't always get what you want" should be a @!$%#ing mantra for this generation.

It's a sobering realization that life is not going to go your way and that you have to work hard and fight everyday to get it right. The sooner kids learn that the better.

I completely agree.

As I write this, my wife is also writing. She's a teacher, and is preparing a speech to give the graduating class in her school. Bet your bottom dollar I'm going to point her to this gentleman before the final draft is ready.

As a parent, one of the hardest parts of my job was to give my daughter the permission to fail. And even harder: I had to come to terms with the fact that--my permission or no--she would, as I did.

There are seven billion of us crawling around the surface of this whirling ball of blue. Think of just one thing you do very well. Odds are, there are millions of people who can do it better...and some of them do.

The best we can hope for is to use our own successes...and failures...and learn from them. Personal growth means competing with yourself.

It's a humbling experience not many adults--let alone kids--are capable of.

Bravo to this teacher and his wise words.

@AP

"What is happening to our young people? They disrespect their elders, they disobey their parents. They
ignore the law. They riot in the streets inflamed with wild notions.
Their morals are decaying. What is to become of them?" PLATO

Certainly better than the commencement speech at my high school about how great and wonderful we were and how we'd change the world. The world doesn't owe you a thing and if you want to do well you better get used to it.

@LizzieFromBoston -""....but the people you mention aren't special because of how much they have or where they live but because of how much they've contributed to the rest of the world"

very nicely said!!



AP 1414: you missed the message. I suspect your attitude is the reason why. IT appears you think you ARE SPECIAL and so you reject the message before allowing yourself to listen to the message entirely. The concept of context is important.

Bravo, Sir!

It's about time someone in this PC ridden country we live in spoke the truth! When you start raising kids that play tee ball with no score, when you send children to schools that don't give grades, you are producing the epitomy of a sheltered, limp person with no lessons learned.

The only way you succeed in life is falling down and getting back up and learning from it.

This teacher gave those kids something very valuable as a parting graduation gift.

Wise words on his part.

"Those who can't, teach.

I've rarely come across a teacher where I could envision him/her competing out in the real world." - BLS

My high school physics professor said that to me once. But of course, that was after working half a career as an engineer on the B-2 stealth bomber for Martin Marietta, as a chemical engineer for a perfume company, and for a couple of different robotics companies. He left the private sector because he wanted a change of pace. There was a guy who could do, as well as teach. Now, thanks in no small part to his guidance, I work in the aerospace industry as a manufacturing engineer.

As to this teacher's graduation statement, it's a message that (if heard by the students) will serve them better than half the classroom education they have received. We are not inherently special, rather we are special through our acheivements and our efforts. Those who forget this, or choose to ignore it, end up at the bottom of our society. . .and all too often wonder how they ended up there.

There is a time and a place for "tough love" lessons. A commencement speech is not it. That's the time to celebrate an accomplishment.

More than that, though, there is a fine line between teaching the value of hard work and just being depressing. Most people are willing to work hard if: A) they believe the reward is worth the effort required to get it and B) if they believe they are capable of attaining the reward. While I completely agree that many young people fail to appreciate the value of hard work, the issue is very much more complex than many of the posters in this thread seem to realize.

Many young people simply do not believe that hard work WILL be rewarded. They see unemployed adults with advanced degrees. They see hard working parents that can barely put food on the table. A message of "work hard and you'll be rewarded" falls flat when everything a young person sees tells him that hard work doesn't get rewarded.

The main problem is not that young people are lazy or spoiled. It's that they are smart enough to see that hard work doesn't get rewarded. That being the case, it's entirely possible that a commencement speech like this does more harm than good.

Junicon
...
The main problem is not that young people are lazy or spoiled. It's that they are smart enough to see that hard work doesn't get rewarded.

I couldn't disagree more. There are always exceptions, but in my experience, those that work the hardest and smartest, get the most rewards.

As to the work ethic in the US, I do think the work ethic of the average person has been steadily decreasing in the US since the Great Depression. My parents worked harder than I did, and their parents (from the depression) worked harder than they did. Personally, I think it's just a factor of how good we've had it the last 80 years. Our basic needs (food, shelter) are now easily obtainable, and people are not willing to work as hard for non-basic needs. I expect the trend will continue until we have a prolonged economic downturn again (which we may be starting now, but that's another topic).

Telling them all the TRUTH about what they will face..Great speech!

Good for him! Kids need to realize that there wants and needs are not top priority in this world. If you want something work for it, if you fail, work harder. Crying and complaining isn't going to change your circumstances. It's about time someone stopped babying teenagers and set the record straight. Life is not rainbows and unicorns. Great speech!

Contrast this teachers message with the story this last weekend of a Mom who screamed at yelled at her' kids graduation that his deploma was held by the school as enforcement against the Mom for breaking the rules. People who listen to and heed the remarks of this teacher will do well in life and be the builders and contributors in society. The people who think the inaprorpriate screaming of family is just an exercise in personal rights will not be the contributors. They disregard that they ruin the reading of the name and accomplishements of the next kid in line. Selfishness and disregard for others is part of them. And that characteristic is why they can't succeed. Despite being told they are special.

Wow. Someone who tells it like it is. Too many kids think the world owes them something. They walk out the door to proceed with their own life and BAM! Life kicks them in the teeth because they weren't properly educated to truth and the realities of life. These are thing they need to know.

Well said, Mr. McCollough!.

Moreofusthanyouthink - Since when did commencement speeches address just certain students? It should be profound for ALL students. Granted, this is a difficult time for a lot of people and they feel frustrated on several levels. But adults projecting their insecurities during a time of celebration is wrong. We'll agree to disagree.

I agree... and this guy was 100% correct if the Wellesley they mentioned is Wellesley, MA. It's about as whitebread and sheltered as you can get in a major metro area. The kids attending that high school have never known real hardship... the worst they probably ever experienced was having to be picked up in daddy's Mercedes to spend the weekend at his McMansion instead of mom's McMansion. Someone had to tell them.

No, life is NOT fair, and the sooner we all realize it, the sooner we can all move on with our lives. It's too bad that our "leader," our POTUS does not understand this simple fact and is willing to foist upon us the idea that everything must be "fair" in order for us to "feel good" about ourselves. Accomplishing something against all odds, whether that be discovering a cure for cancer or simply providing for your family, should make anyone "feel good!"

"Fair" has become the latest four-letter word in my vocabulary. If life was "fair," we all be the recipients of the campaign promise joke about all the congressman's constituents receiving an above-average income. Think about it for a minute.

"Fair" should have no place in our daily vocabulary. I grew up as the fat kid, chosen last, etc, etc, and I managed to put myself through two degree programs, provide a good living for my family, raise two children who are solid citizens, and provide a decent retirement for my wife and I. Was life "fair" to me? No! Everything my wife and I have, we had to get and scrape and dig for it. So when a 30-year-old infant tells me life isn't fair, I almost have to laugh at him (or refer him for psychiatric counselling) and suggest that he reconsider getting a life by changing his attitude about fairness.

OK, Bob in KC,

Now I have to say something. It seems to me that many people have been listening to a certain TV station, which is dedicated to destryoying the president. All manner of negative qualities have been attributed to him. Those of us who do not watch these shows are really confused as to why you think, for example, that the president does not understand that life is not fair. You were fat, I had a learning disability, many people deal with unfair challenges, including the president. His father left him and his mother, and he grew up half white and half black. Can you honestly believe he does not realize life is unfair? Please try to turn off the TV and look at things they way they are, using your own mind. We need to be united in this world, not at each other's throats and tearing down our own president.

Life isn't fair. That's why in addition to trying to educate myself, workhard and take care of my business I also have a policy of no lying and cheating. I don't cheat people I do business with, and by God anybody who cheats me will find out in the end that they'll hate the day it happened. And I find in my later years that I have a reputation for fairness and am not to be crossed. I find life is easier now as it should be on an old guy. So life isn't fair, but it gets fairer if you are honest and are willing to war on those that would cheat you. Funny how that works.

Well put, Maxx. When I was a kid, we got a trophy for being exceptional/champions, not just for signing up. This false self-esteem the children are being given these days is not doing them a favor.

I always thought trophies were kind of pointless. Either you are good at something or you are not.

Trophies (in any form) can and should be an incentive to actually try to improve your performance. To say you're good at something or you're not is an excuse not to make an effort.

That was profound! (no I am not being sarcastic which is hard to tell from text). I agree 100%

Define sport for me raggedyann. I played sports in school and decided I wanted to join the military. I knew I wasn't good enough for college sports, although I was bright enough for college. But the GI Bill paid for a lot of my college so service to my country wasn't wasted. Not to mention the fact that even though I thought I had self-discipline I really didn't and learned it.

I'm retired now and sure I pine for the 'good ol' days'. But I also know that so many things are better now than then, especially in medicine. When I was growing up, an 80-year old was ancient, now 95 is. I don't know if that makes us better off but it does give me hope that people will be more and more productive later in life.

That teacher was definitely right. Nothing is free and failure teaches as much if not more. Imagine where we would be without Gordon Moore, Neil Armstrong, Galileo, and all the rest who failed more often than they succeeded. I failed more often yet I was successful because of it.

So raggedyann, sport is the game of life. Failure is built-in, as much as success. When I learned that I could fail, I became a better person for it, learning to move on from it and try some other way to succeed.

raggedyann

Here is another lovely story for you to carry on. My school district last week decided that there will no longer be a valedictorian because it was unfair competition. In the Department of Educations search for mediocracy, I say they have found it.

major league batters in baseball are considered huge successes if the have a batting average of .300% which means that .700% they are failing but they don't give up because it's how the game is played. They understand that

We all used to get certificates for participation. Only the kids who excelled got trophies.

Again, his comments were cherry picked. Others are saying that if you listened to the whole speech it *was* uplifting.

When starting out on a rewarding yet dangerous adventure, you don't tell those going with you that there aren't any dangers and everything is fine. You give them a word of warning, prepare them before they go.

"Commencement" is exactly that. The beginning, striking out. He got it right and said it just right. No more coddling. 10 years from now if those young folks are asked, "Was that teacher right?" You can bet they'll say yes, he was.

"I agree with the commentary, but perhaps not the forum. It was commencement, and he should have been positive for the day in question."

The most positive thing he could have done, is reveal to the students that they are entering the adult world. . . to really inform them what they are about to face, and that everything changes for them as of this day. That's what he did.

For many of those students, this will be the most important speech they ever hear. . .aptly given on one of the most important days of their lives.

Classic turn of the phrase - if individually we believe that each one of us is special, then no one is special - into - if you believe everyone else is special you WILL become special. The movement from coddled, selfish, self-centered - to self-less, caring, and engaged, is what accomplishes the turn - and leads to personal transformation. This was both spiritual and inspiring.

I think the speech depends on the audience. It's not what you would rather listen to, it's what you should listen to.

I agree and disagree. It was the teachers who supported me instead of berating me that got me further though my education. Those who recognized my struggles and helped me past them were the great teachers. Those who ignored them or emanated to humiliate me were crushing to my education. The education system today is broken. There is, however, a happy medium between 'paddling' and 'coddling'.

Well stated.

Teachers should take command, I agree, but they are thwarted with every attempt. It's a witch hunt out there and the witches are the teachers. They have to watch their backs and the kids and parents get away with it. Sure, there are anomalies of abuse, but by and large, teachers are good people who work incredibly hard. It's the system that makes them less than effective.

Unfortunately, the government and districts are working AGAINST teachers these days so their hands are tied. It's really very sad.

Don't forget the Unions too. Last year the teachers at my kid's school were working without a contract. The union mandated that they rip down all the bulletin boards displaying the elementary school art work and come in exactly on time and leave exactly on time. They could not stay late to work on lesson plans or decorate the classroom. All the teachers individually said they were against it because it wasn't promoting the best interest of the child but collectively they would not go against the Union.

It makes me think of that line from the last Rocky movie, when Rocky was reaming out his whiney son:

"The world ain't all sunshine and rainbows. It's a hard and mean place, and it will beat you to your knees and keep you there permanently if you let it...it ain't about how hard you hit. It's about how hard you can GET hit and keep moving forward; how much you can take, and keep moving forward. That's how winnin' is done! If you know what you're worth, go out and get what you're worth, but you gotta be willin' to take the hits..."

Every kid in the world needs to hear that part in its entirety, and every kid in the world needs to learn to approach life like that. If you get knocked down, get up. You're going to get hit. It hurts. GET OVER IT and keep fighting. That, I think, is what this teacher was getting at.

Reminds me of the graduation speech at my sons' school, Bellingham (Washington) High School, by former principal and serial crybaby Steve Clarke, who inexplicably was promoted to the district office. Now they've got a racist who puts his rants in writing, Jeff Vaughn, sitting in as principal. First an emo freak, now a racist anti-Semite.

Clarke's entire graduation speech was about the Beltway sniper kid, Lee Boyd Malvo, and in whose trial Clarke testified, because the kid went to Bellingham High School.

Clarke talked about how he put his hands up to the glass (in the visitation room) and about how he just had to LOVE this kid, and how his heart went out to the kid because his life was over -- he was bawling IN PUBLIC at my kid's graduation about this unrepentful murderer!!!

Then he told the graduating class not to end up like that. Nothing about their futures, not a word of congratulations to the kids who worked so hard for four years (some of them five), nothing.

We live in a very nasty time in history. Future for us doesn't look too good either. Get used to chopsticks, people.

Nothing special here. Nothing exceptional. Similar speeches like this are given every day in a thousand different places.

That may be true, stick, but that is why the speech is so great. He is not special in this world, but he gave a great speech to 400+ kids. He may not inspire the world, but if he reached any of those kids, to them he was special. All he was trying to do, is do right by those kids. That is the point.