WWTBAM Bored

Coming home from KC on Sunday, we were listening to Glen Beck on the radio. He was talking about a recent 60 Minutes story about people now entering the workforce, who have an overinflated sense of their importance. Apparently, employers are reporting difficulties with getting them to work.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/11/ ... 5200.shtml

My favorite part of the story was that parents are calling up employers and complaining about performance evaluations given to their precious darlings.

It is just a logical outgrowth for helicopter parents who spent their child's educational years complaining about grades and calling teachers onto the carpet for daring to imply that their child is less than perfect when something happened at school.

My wife asked me what I would do if my boss told me that he got a call from my mom (whom he knows) about my performance evaluation.

I told her that I would say that I was deeply sorry, and I will go pack my things up.

I have one of those working for me right now.

And she's 54 years old.

Grumbles about having to do "tedious" work.

Appa23 wrote: It is just a logical outgrowth for helicopter parents who spent their child's educational years complaining about grades and calling teachers onto the carpet for daring to imply that their child is less than perfect when something happened at school.

When Jeff and I went into Emma's conference, we discussed Emma's lone "B" a "B+" in Pre-Algebra. If she had earned two points more, she would have had the "A-."

I told him that I saw the grade as a learning experience because she was making careless errors and she thought that her intelligence would be enough to bring her up to the "A-" as she has always done in the past.

He told me that most other parents didn't see things the same way. He said that he had one parent who tried to get their child's 85% in Math bumped up to an "A" because it was "so close to being an "A." I can't believe that a parent would do something like that, but he says it happens all of the time.

I will definitely confirm what Emma's teacher said. In a way, I can understand the parents, since so many scholarship[s and such have gone to GPA as a determining factor, and the world is so much more reliant on things like test scores.

But that doesn't make it right.

If the parents are doing this in 6th grade, I can only imagine what they will be like when their kids get to high school.

During Parent/Teacher conferences last year, I had a parent pitch a fit because her little darling didn't have an A on her report card. The child had not handed in a couple of homework assignments, and her comprehension quizzes reflected that she had not been keeping up with the novel reading. The mom continued to make excuses and try to push it. I finally opened my grade book, picked up a pencil, looked her in the eye, and asked, "What grade do you want me to write down for your daughter?" She stared at me for a moment, and then stood up and left the conference. I never heard another word from Mom.

hermillion wrote:During Parent/Teacher conferences last year, I had a parent pitch a fit because her little darling didn't have an A on her report card. The child had not handed in a couple of homework assignments, and her comprehension quizzes reflected that she had not been keeping up with the novel reading. The mom continued to make excuses and try to push it. I finally opened my grade book, picked up a pencil, looked her in the eye, and asked, "What grade do you want me to write down for your daughter?" She stared at me for a moment, and then stood up and left the conference. I never heard another word from Mom.

It almost seems like the parent was standing up for herself and what it might look like if the daughter didn't get that A, rather than being concerned over the grade based on the knowledge aspect of things.

I that would much rather have a solid, "I tried my hardest and got a B, and I understand the things being taught" than the "Yeah Mom, I didn't turn in 4 assignments, would you talk to the teacher and see if I can do some extra credit" argument. I love the life lessons that are being learned by DD, after she watches someone else and realizes that life isn't so grand when you do things the borderline dishonest way.

PLUS, I would be embarrassed if my mom stomped in there and did that, Hermillion!