Essay/Term paper: Americans take their education for granted

Essay, term paper, research paper:  Education

Americans Take Their Education For Granted


Americans take their education for granted. Education has become one of
the most important aspects of a person's. With seventeen years of formal
education, a person can do almost anything he or she wants to do. Yet many in
America take this for granted. Some American students today would rather not be
in school. They would be much happier at home or going someplace with their
friends. Once in school, many students forget why they are there—to get an
education. Instead of going to classes, students might cut class or not even
show up to school at all. I think our decreasing status as an economic super
power can be attributed in part to the effects of this attitude. I believe
there are two reasons behind this attitude--the lack of family values and the
lack of responsibility taken by some of America's youth.
Children often do not understand the value of the education they are
receiving. Parents need to drill the importance of an education into their
child's head. If children are not made aware of how meaningful school is,
chances are they will fail when they are adults. Parents have to instill in
their child the discipline and motivation it takes to do well in school.
Parents have to teach their children that school always come first. Students
need to put school on top of their priority list too. Parents also need to
assure that their children understand their own responsibility to get their work
done well and handed in on time. But parents can only do so much—ultimately it
is the students who have to do the work.
Children must learn to accept responsibility for the results of their own
actions. Students will sometimes blame the teacher or others if they get bad
grades. I have only one response for these students--the teachers aren't the
ones responsible for acquiring knowledge. Students must learn that their grades
are a direct result of the effort they put in to learn the material. Failure to
learn to accept responsibility has often stayed with students after leaving
school. This country could be a lot more productive if people accept their
own mistakes and move on to address the problems.
Many parents may need to parent more and many students have to take more
responsibility for their actions.