No more winners!
Is it just me or does everyone think sometimes it’s better for kids if life is just a little bit tough?
There is a new push in New South Wales to do away with honour certificates and academic awards to spare the feelings of kids who don’t regularly feature on speech night.
I think it’s crazy…I don’t think it would come as any surprise to hear that I never won an academic award…of any sort…but I was good at other things (I had a lovely smile mark,…) and I was always proud of the kids who were smart…I was happy for them…and usually they got their rewards because they worked hard for them…
The whole debate has reminded me of the list of 11 rules supposedly written by Bill Gates…they’re a good reminder of real life…(even if Bill denies writing them).
1. Life is not fair – get used to it.
2. The world doesn’t care about your self esteem. The world will expect you to accomplish something before you feel good about yourself.
3. You will not make 40 thousand dollars a year right out of high school. You won’t make Vice President with a car and phone until you earn both.
4. If you think your teacher is tough, wait till you meet your boss. He doesn’t have tenure.
5. If you mess up, it’s not your parents fault. So don’t whine about about your mistakes, learn from them.
6. Flipping burgers is not beneath your dignity. Your grandparents had a different word for burger flipping – they called it opportunity.
7. Before you were born, your parents weren’t as boring as they are now. They got that way from paying your bills, cleaning your clothes and listening to you talk about how cool you are. So before you save the rainforests from the parasites of your parents generation, clean your room.
8. Your school may have done away with winners and losers, but life
has not. In some school they have abolished failing grades and they’ll give you as many times as you want to get the answer right. This doesn’t bear the slightest resemblance to ANYTHING in real life.
9. Life is not divided into semesters. You don’t get summers off and very few employers are interested in helping you find yourself. Do that in your own time.
10. Television is not real life. In real life you actually have to leave the coffee shop and get a job.
11. Be nice to nerds. Chances are you’ll end up working for one.
Love it. Love it. Love it! Any other advice for teenagers?
There is a new push in New South Wales to do away with honour certificates and academic awards to spare the feelings of kids who don’t regularly feature on speech night.
I think it’s crazy…I don’t think it would come as any surprise to hear that I never won an academic award…of any sort…but I was good at other things (I had a lovely smile mark,…) and I was always proud of the kids who were smart…I was happy for them…and usually they got their rewards because they worked hard for them…
The whole debate has reminded me of the list of 11 rules supposedly written by Bill Gates…they’re a good reminder of real life…(even if Bill denies writing them).
1. Life is not fair – get used to it.
2. The world doesn’t care about your self esteem. The world will expect you to accomplish something before you feel good about yourself.
3. You will not make 40 thousand dollars a year right out of high school. You won’t make Vice President with a car and phone until you earn both.
4. If you think your teacher is tough, wait till you meet your boss. He doesn’t have tenure.
5. If you mess up, it’s not your parents fault. So don’t whine about about your mistakes, learn from them.
6. Flipping burgers is not beneath your dignity. Your grandparents had a different word for burger flipping – they called it opportunity.
7. Before you were born, your parents weren’t as boring as they are now. They got that way from paying your bills, cleaning your clothes and listening to you talk about how cool you are. So before you save the rainforests from the parasites of your parents generation, clean your room.
8. Your school may have done away with winners and losers, but life
has not. In some school they have abolished failing grades and they’ll give you as many times as you want to get the answer right. This doesn’t bear the slightest resemblance to ANYTHING in real life.
9. Life is not divided into semesters. You don’t get summers off and very few employers are interested in helping you find yourself. Do that in your own time.
10. Television is not real life. In real life you actually have to leave the coffee shop and get a job.
11. Be nice to nerds. Chances are you’ll end up working for one.
Love it. Love it. Love it! Any other advice for teenagers?
1 Comments:
Hi Caroline, We love your comments and are pleased you now have this site as if we miss hearing you, (We are addicted) we can still catch up and not feel that something is missing from our day.
Mid last year you did a comment on a presentation you gave to a grade 7 class. I would still really like a copy of it if you still have it.
You are a wonderful inspiration.
Enjoy good things, Irene Coventry Warner, Brisbane
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