If you walk into a store or restaurant, you will most likely see a number of children and young adults with their heads down. They are not down due to lack of confidence but because they are completely consumed with the piece of technology they hold in their hands. I would say around sixty-five percent of the children I met in the last ten years did not lift their eyes from their phones to say hello when we were being introduced. My nieces, currently in high school, stay up late hours playing and chatting on Facebook, and they are extremely tired the next day for school. According to ABC News, "A growing body of research suggests that more and more young people are becoming sleep-deprived because they can't put down their high-tech toys." Students must be taught by parents and educators how to control their time with these toys.
Also, I believe parents have a great responsibility to express the importance of education to their children. For example, my parents told me they never liked school, and as long as I passed they would be happy. Obviously, this did not motivate me to strive for good grades. I just did what I needed to do to pass, just like I was told. Now thirty years old and a mother of two amazing kids, I know my parents made a grave mistake with their approach on education. Catherine Wehlburg Hickman said, "The authors of the Coleman Report indicated that about one-half to two-thirds of the variance in students' achievement could be accounted for by home variables rather than school variables." It is up to our parents to show and teach their children how important education is for their future. If they do, the young adults in college will be better prepared for the responsibility and motivation needed to get to class.
