Mall Era
Recently, during a parent dicussion it mentioned " I'm not as concerned about my child's academics, I want to make sure they are prepared for the real world." This sentence was surprising. Mainly - because I feel in today's world there is such a heavy focus on academics and everything that comes along with - grades, scholarships, getting into the dream college, etc. Secondly - isn't mastering academics and preparation for the real world hand in hand?
I remember cramming for tests, stressing over assignments, completely freaking out about my SATs because it was engrained in me that if I did not get good grades, I would be going no where in life.
Thinking more about this, what is the rubric for preparation into the real world? I'm 39 and usually don't think I'm prepared most days. Thinking back to my days as a middle schooler, it was filled with school days making plans for the weekends, spending my weekends at a skating rink, mall or riding a bike to someone's house all completely unsupervised. Labeling unsupervised weekend times as " Mall Era."
The weekend, is where I learned how to have conversations with people, budget ( making sure I had money for my Claire's earrings, a pretzel, and change for the pay phone for a phone call home), make plans, figure out time management, and all the other things I would consider in this preparation rubric.
Now, our children tap a card ( dont even have to swipe!) for a purchase amount, buy tickets online prior to gettting somewhere, as parents we are able to track all steps of our children through our phone ( no one is hopping on a bike knowing the have to be home by dark).
So I wonder, did the Mall Era naturally prepare us millennials for the real world, and that is why there was such a heavy focus on the academics?
I remember cramming for tests, stressing over assignments, completely freaking out about my SATs because it was engrained in me that if I did not get good grades, I would be going no where in life.
Thinking more about this, what is the rubric for preparation into the real world? I'm 39 and usually don't think I'm prepared most days. Thinking back to my days as a middle schooler, it was filled with school days making plans for the weekends, spending my weekends at a skating rink, mall or riding a bike to someone's house all completely unsupervised. Labeling unsupervised weekend times as " Mall Era."
The weekend, is where I learned how to have conversations with people, budget ( making sure I had money for my Claire's earrings, a pretzel, and change for the pay phone for a phone call home), make plans, figure out time management, and all the other things I would consider in this preparation rubric.
Now, our children tap a card ( dont even have to swipe!) for a purchase amount, buy tickets online prior to gettting somewhere, as parents we are able to track all steps of our children through our phone ( no one is hopping on a bike knowing the have to be home by dark).
So I wonder, did the Mall Era naturally prepare us millennials for the real world, and that is why there was such a heavy focus on the academics?