Youth in the Weekend

Things have been much brighter throughout the weekend.  I've actually had a great time with my partner and our puppy.

Some things to note:  We go to Austin a lot.  It's an amazing city.  And one of our favorites spots is Rainey St., which houses some of the coolest bars I've ever seen.  One place in particular, "Bangers," is the best beer/sausage/german food/southern food I've ever had.  And they allow dogs.  :)

Something that has been on my mind this morning:
    We criticize education, and we criticize the youth.  I wonder if these two go hand and hand.  Every generation has something to criticize about the previous generation, and while I think criticizing can be positive and progressive, I almost feel that a lot of times it inspires a more negative attitude towards the youth.  We tend to strike down their values and skill sets as inept in a world we have successfully upheld, but the facts are, if we do this, we will fail.  Our general disdain to the young, creative thinkers often times leaves us feeling that they are the root of so many problems.  How can we ever expect to be a supportive and progressive society if we shame our younger generations into thinking they are not up to snuff?  As a teacher, I get to know this generation in a way that is different from most.  It's easy for me to be on their side.  The problem is that I'm not.  I'm not sure if that's a problem, but I see it that way.  Is it a generational problem that kids have cell phones but the time their in their tweens, or a societal problem?  How about their work ethic?  What is there to learn when everything is only a google search away?  I'm always going to be a fan of hard knowledge.  But who am I to criticize their way of getting knowledge if it works just as well as my own if not better?  I do think it's a problem that students, youngins, teens, what have you don't read enough today.  But instead of being aggressively critical of them, which in turn most likely leads to a rebellious response (I know I did it at their age), why can't we find a way to praise them for their higher qualities and offer helpful suggestions?  The most common thing I come across is "I just watch the movies."  If it's a book I've read, I usually ask "what did you think about this part?"  And when they say "I don't remember that part," I reply that "it was in the book and really changes a part of the story. I really like the movie too though."  Every time I've done that, the kid went and read the book and came to talk to me about it later.  I related and politely suggested they were missing something from just the movie.  I'm not saying this is a solution or that everyone should be like this, it's just what I've noticed seems to break through today's students.
     I guess the whole point of this is that we have to embrace the differences of the generation if we want the qualities we hold to be important passed down.  Fight the rebellion with kindness and acceptance then maybe they'll see the value in the things we hold dear.

Now to practice what I preach.