[Adam Richards]

Originally Posted by Ashley Christine

Something I notice [and I am sure others notice] is that many young people look for people to lead them which is what you are supposed to do when you are young, but its more like they use it as a way to be... lazy. They rely too much on others. They dont take initiative and they lack confidence. I have noticed on robotics teams that many times students dont try to step up, because they have the mentors to lead them. And when said student does step up -- the other students do not always listen because they dont have authority. Where is the respect for your peers?

As others have said, there will always be leaders, and there will always be followers. The leaders normally know what needs to be done, and do it, while the followers normally sit back and watch, perhaps aiding if they want to. Commonly I've seen this happen on some of the larger teams, where there isn't exactly enough work to interest most of the students.

One of the problems with other students not listening, while I really don't want to rationalize it, is with the normal cliquéiness of high school, social groups normally only seen during school arise in the closed club environment. Whoever is in the 'highest' social group will probably turn someone into a pariah, and others will follow their lead like cattle just because it's the 'cool' thing to do.

Originally Posted by Ashley Christine

I feel that kids today are exposed to too much, and struggle to make decisions on their own. They always seem to need someone to tell them what to do. There are so many choices you can make that are right or wrong. I think television and videogames are not so great for society. I know 8 year olds who dance like Britney Spears or Missy Elliot and swear like Eminem. But then again, are their parents trying to help them make the right choices when they are young?

You're absolutely right, yet what can any of us do about it beyond our choices for our own children? Sure, we can instill values in younger generations, yet there will always be the peer pressure of their friends who didn't have parents who instilled the same values to do something against what they've been taught. Most kids (yes, including us) will probably turn to a friend who hasn't gone through something before rather than attempt to talk to a parent, teacher, mentor, neighbor, etc., just because of the age similarity and the belief that they might understand a situation more than an older person.

Originally Posted by Ashley Christine

Another area was how kids arent getting the right direction. Today schools are more worried about a childs self esteem than whether or not they understand the material. They are not holding kids back because it could hurt their self-esteem. This doesnt teach them anything for later in life. As Kim brought up.... What are they going to do when they get into college? In college they arent going to care about your self-esteem. They are going to go by the choices you make. Whether you decided to go to class and do your work, and take initiative and get things done.

Yet no one is truly telling the schools outright that what they're doing is wrong, and that they need to cease and desist. Their "goal" is to provide students with a learning environment that, as many put it, "creates productive citizens." They don't really seem to believe at all that it matters how much the student learns or gains from any material that's taught, but rather that they just graduate and move on with their life. The whole education system revolves around that principle, and many of the people designing the education system nowadays disregard strictness in favor of allowing children to "express themselves," which has proven itself to work completely against the intended purpose.

Originally Posted by Ashley Christine

One way in which I would like to relate this to FIRST is that [I know there are many student leaders] But I really think more students should be able to step up and take initiative in FIRST and strive to get things done.

Agreed, but with students being shoved out of the way, it should often be the job of graduating upperclassmen to delegate who should be leading the club, so a legacy of power can be maintained, allowing for the maintenance of a leadership.