markcadioli
Reged: Apr 25 2002
Posts: 1405
Loc: Australia
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Bill Gates' SPEECH TO MT. WHITNEY HIGH SCHOOL in Visalia, California.
Worthwhile reading for anyone. Love him or hate him, he sure hits the
nail on the head with this! To anyone with kids of any age, or anyone
who has ever been a kid, here's some advice Bill Gates recently dished
out at a high school speech about 11 things they did not and will not
learn in school. He talks about how feel-good, politically correct
teachings created a generation of kids with no concept of reality and
how this concept set them up for failure in the real world.
Rule 1: Life is not fair - get used to it
Rule 2: Rule 2: The world won't care about your self-esteem. The world
will expect you to accomplish something BEFORE you feel good about
yourself.
Rule 3: You will NOT make $40,000 a year right out of high school. You
won't be a vice-president with a car phone until you earn both.
Rule 4: If you think your teacher is tough, wait till you get a boss.
Rule 5: Flipping burgers is not beneath your dignity. Your grandparents
had a different word for burger flipping-they called it opportunity.
Rule 6: If you mess up, it's not your parents' fault, so don't whine
about your mistakes, learn from them.
Rule 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
rain forest from the parasites of your parents' generation, try
delousing the closet in your own room.
Rule 8: Your school may have done away with winners and losers, but life
has not. In some schools, they have abolished failing grades and they'le
the coffee shop and go to jobs.
Rule 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 on your own time!
Rule 10: Television is NOT real life. In real life people actually have
to leave the coffee shop and go to jobs.
Rule 11: Be nice to nerds. Chances are you'll end up working for one.
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Chiffonade
Reged: May 01 2002
Posts: 45
Loc: FL
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I generally can't stand this guy because he's got a legalized monopoly - but he does have very valid points (thanks to whoever wrote them for him).
I had a similar conversation this morning with my husband - in our efforts to "give our kids a life that was better than ours" we've created a generation of lazy people who think the fruits of life will be handed to them. Our 13 y/o is not the WORST offender - by any means - but she seems to always be contemplating the easy way to do things instead of the right way. Her life seems to be about getting away with stuff (not cleaning litter box, not making her bed, etc.). This drives me crazy because if she'd just do what she's supposed to do, my voice in a shrill would not be the last sound she hears before leaving for school. Yes - everything in perspective - these are "small annoyances" compared to parents whose kids are in a lot deeper trouble.
My only disagreement with Gates regards rule 6: It is the parents' fault. Out of good intentions, we taught kids they don't have to work for things, they get handed willingly over. Some of this is the "better life" mentality - some of it is "well I work 60 hours a week and never see my kid" guilt. Which of our grandparents had sneakers that cost $100? I don't care if you refer to them as "athletic shoes" - they're sneakers.
I think I'll hug my kid today - then have her clean the garage.
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