Teacher’s Plea to Students: I shouldn’t care more about your academic success than you do!

I don’t know when it happened; I don’t know how it happened. All I know is that it’s a reality:  too many students don’t care about being successful in school. 

I can hear the gasps and comments now:  “How dare an educator say such a thing!” “This is sacrilege!”  

Well, I’m saying it loud, and I’m saying it clear.  In fact, every year for the past seven years, I’ve said it to at least one student (but more often an entire class).  

What has led me to this conclusion? Students who sign in late; students who sit in class and drool in the proverbial cup; students who use the filthy desks as makeshift pillows; and students who sit and wait for the answers to be given to them. But more often than not, students who hate my guts because I won’t give them answers and instead force them to think for themselves; students who I bend over backwards for who basically tell me they’ve given up.  

Case in point:  An extremely frustrated co-worker of mine, who serves as a mentor for at-risk students, signed a senior up for the ACT test in an attempt to help him fulfill his Reading graduation requirement. Twice. He didn’t show up either time. 

We are charged with helping these kids who won’t even do us the honor of showing up.

Another example:  I notice an at-risk senior has failing grades. I call him in. I give him a pep talk. I advocate for him with his teachers, and he promises to do all the work. In fact, he informs me, all of his completed work in his car. I wait patiently for said work and, he proceeds to sign in late every single day and rack up even more zeroes.  

Don’t get me wrong; I do have motivated students who strive to succeed. They thrive on discovery, inquiry and learning. And they make me very proud.   However, their numbers are shrinking. It scares the crap out of me, mostly because I do not get it and don’t know what to do about it.

Each year, I find myself standing in front of these kids, not yelling, not screaming, not crying, but pleading to them to care – to give a rat’s ass about their own futures, to believe they are valuable enough to work through their struggles.  And, I know they have challenges – bigger challenges than I’ve ever faced – but I know they must overcome to realize success.  

“I shouldn’t care more about your academic success than you do,” I’ll calmly say as I’m pushing them out of their comfort zones.  “Success comes with a price tag, and that is hard work. Period. There is no way out of it,” I add.  

What I really want to do is shake them as I scream, “CARE already, would you?” 

But, that will land me a special spot on the news, and an even more special spot in jail, and most likely, a very special place in Hell.  

Here’s what I don’t care about:  I don’t care if all of my students go to college. It’s not for everyone. I don’t care if all of my students pursue a technical certificate.  I don’t care if they fit into a mold. 

I DO care that each one of my kids finds something to be passionate about and pursues that passion wholeheartedly.  I DO care that they are fired up enough about something, ANYTHING, to work hard to achieve their ultimate goals.  

I think the sitting around waiting for answers is the thing that pisses me off the most. I know that successful people do not sit. Successful people do not wait.  So, sitting AND waiting is doubly annoying to me.  

What I don’t want to churn out are limited thinkers who can roll the dice and land on a “right” answer from four “in-the-box choices”.  Those people find themselves in limited roles answering to management instead of being management.  These are the elderly cashiers, servers, and “grunt” workers who look and act miserable at work because they have been stuck in the same dead-end job for decades. They only know how to walk a beaten trail, not blaze their own.  Don’t get me wrong; I am not knocking any job. However, I do not want my students to be stuck in the same mundane position, becoming bored, unmotivated, depressed, and a burden to themselves and society.  It may sound harsh, but let’s face it: you’ve witnessed it a thousand times. You’ve seen it in a waitress that slams your plate down and never checks back to see if you’re happy; you’ve seen it in the eyes of the gas station cashier who keeps looking at the clock hoping time has sped up. You may have even been the one delivering piss-poor service at your first job as a teenager schlepping burgers and fries at a fast-food joint or helping some fat chick trying to squeeze into a dress one size too small at a clothing store. 

What I do want to foster are out-of-the-box thinkers who can argue a point in a logical manner. I want to help create people who will go out and change the world for the better.  I want to be inspired by my students. I want them to be successful and anything and everything they want to do.  I want them to see and realize their potentials.  I want kids to love learning the way I do. Forever.  I envision one of my talented writers penning the next great American novel. I see a few tech-savvy kids coming up with the next piece of technology no one can live without.  I even picture my behaviorally challenged yet brilliant kids defending a criminal in court.  

So, kiddos, if you’re unlucky enough to be sitting in mean Mrs. Ferry’s class, get ready to keep those heads up, eyes open, chin drool-free, minds reeling and mouths moving.  That is what is takes to be successful, like it or not.