Posted on 09/28/2015 1:14:35 PM PDT by rightistight
Writing on the increasing fragility of the American college student, Dr. Peter Gray, a research professor at Boston College, detailed in Psychology Today about different cases where young adults showed an astounding inability to cope with minor hurdles in their lives. His article is titled "Declining Student Resilience: A Serious Problem for Colleges" and was published last week.
One incident that Dr. Gray describes is when two students saw a mouse in their off-campus apartment.
According to Dr. Gray, the students saw the mouse, panicked, and called the police. The police responded to the call, then set up a mouse trap for the startled students.
The students then sought counselling for what they had been through.
Dr. Gray explains that he has received emails from other college professors and Counselling Services which claim, "Less resilient and needy students have shaped the landscape for faculty in that they are expected to do more handholding, lower their academic standards, and not challenge students too much."
Other statements from faculty include, "Faculty, particularly young faculty members, feel pressured to accede to student wishes lest they get low teacher ratings from their students. Students email about trivial things and expect prompt replies."
As well as, "There is a sense of helplessness among the faculty. Many faculty members expressed their frustration with the current situation. There were few ideas about what we could do as an institution to address the issue."
Dr. Gray concludes, "If we want to prepare our kids for collegeor for anything else in life!we have to counter all these social forces. We have to give our children the freedom, which children have always enjoyed in the past, to get away from adults so they can practice being adults, that is, practice taking responsibility for themselves."
Oh man, comedy gold. I love hearing/learning new things at 50!
We have a family of mice (one adult, four little ones)living in our garden. We find them entertaining (as long as they stay out of the house)
Women had only been voting for 20 years. Not too much damage yet.
Really? I heard it first on the Greaseman show on WWDC 101, Washington DC back in the 1980’s.
Anyone who lived in that area back in the 80’s and remember the Greaseman? I was on his show and met him—gave him a plaque from us guys at the Pentagon.
He had some good bits, but his mouth sure got him in trouble too.
Saw him once at a Sushi place in Rockville, apart from ordering, didn’t say one word.
I mostly listened to WHFS first from Cordell Ave. in Bethesda 102.3, then Annapolis 99.1.
Tell her that mice will attract snakes.
Ask her if she’d rather the cat or a snake get the mice...
If I were the librarian, I wouldn't be so tolerant of rats. Besides posing an obvious health hazard to patrons and employees, rats seem to find book bindings to be tasty, probably because of the glue. A library cat would be advisable.
Seems like a day like you had would kill one of these college twerps.
My daughter is a freshman.
Lots of bat-sh*t crazy kids around.
Way, way, WAY too many people going to college.
"However did they win?"
The kind of life preparation that this researcher describes cannot be provided in a school setting; it must come from the parents.
During my teaching career I was truly astounded to encounter 16-year-old boys who had never used a hammer before in their lives.
Yeah, when I saw the part about the mouse trap, I immediately figured pretty, giggling girls.
I went to an elite public high school in suburban NY. I took all the AP classes I could. I graduated from college and medical school with honors, and I’ve done OK for the past 40 years.
The three most valuable classes I took in HS were wood shop, metal shop, and electrical shop.
Of course, they don’t offer those any more.
You sound just like a guy I work with and had to check your page to see what state you’re in. Different state. One of his stories about 70s college is just like yours.
I must be honest here. As a former biology teacher, I have handled my share of disgusting and creepy creatures, and I am not much of a sissy girl, but I have also done the chair thing at the sight of a scurrying mouse.
Auto and wood shop were two of the most useful classes I took in typical public school.
I was in some kind of gifted learning program that involved a lot writing essays and not much else. It was pretty useless.
I shared a dorm room and apartment with a 10 foot boa constrictor, have assisted in surgery (animal), am not afraid of large animals, but will shriek like a little girl if a mouse comes near me. However, I would never call the police or seek counseling.
I remember the Greaseman. He was a jerk, in my opion, but I’m a woman.
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