School Advice - Sykes
Read the following article by Charles Sykes.
How do you feel about this advice?
What are the three best pieces of advice, and why are they the best?
Which piece of advice applies most to you and least to you and why?
Make sure to answer all of these in your blog.
200-250 words.
Due FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 21st.
Advice You Never Learned in School
Although the following list of eleven useful "rules" you did not learn in school is typically attributed to Bill Gates, it is actually from the book "Dumbing Down our Kids" by educator Charles Sykes.
RULE 1: Life is not fair; get used to it.
RULE 2: The world won't care about your self-esteem. The world will expect you to accomplish something BEFORE you feel good about yourself.
RULE 3: You will NOT make 40 thousand dollars a year right out of high school. You won't be a vice president with a car phone, until you earn both.
RULE 4: If you think your teacher is tough, wait till you get a boss. He doesn't have tenure.
RULE 5: Flipping burgers is not beneath your dignity. Your grandparents had a different word for burger flipping; they called it opportunity.
RULE 6: If you mess up, it's not your parents' fault, so don't whine about your mistakes, learn from them.
RULE 7: Before you were born, your parents weren't as boring as they are now. They got that way from paying your bills; cleaning your clothes and listening to you talk about how cool you are. So before you save the rain forest from the parasites of your parents' generation, try delousing the closet in your own room.
RULE 8: Your school may have done away with winners and losers, but life has not. In some schools they have abolished failing grades; they'll give you as many times as you want to get the right answer. This doesn't bear the slightest resemblance to ANYTHING in real life.
RULE 9: Life is not divided into semesters. You don't get summers off and very few employers are interested in helping you find yourself. Do that on your own time.
RULE 10: Television is NOT real life. In real life people actually have to leave the coffee shop and go to jobs.
RULE 11: Be nice to nerds. Chances are you'll end up working for one.
I feel that this advice is both realistic and completely useful. It tells people flat out that life isn’t how they are going to expect it to be so they need to take responsibility and action to do something in they’re own lives. I find that the best three pieces of evidence are rule 2, 9, and 11; these are the best because although they may not be nice they tell the truth. You don’t get a break in real life to find yourself, no one really cares if you are happy with yourself and they won’t stop if you don’t, and those nerds that you bully probably will be your bosses—that’s just fact. These may seem “mean” or “hurtful” to some but these are true facts of life that no one will tell you in school. Honestly, nothing against helping kids, but schools hinder children by telling them all of the things that they can do and that they should be happy with themselves, which they should, but no one will really care in the working adult world. Life is hard it’s not all happy once you’re out on your own and I feel like sometimes schools don’t properly prepare you for a harsh world that you’re being thrown into. Word Count - 212
ReplyDeleteI think that everyone needs to hear all the advice that was given by Charles Sykes; our society would be a lot better if everyone knew and understood all of these rules. The three rules in my opinion that are the best are rule 1, rule 6, and rule 10; I feel like these rules can relate to anyone. These rules show that life is not going to be perfect and that we need to figure things out for ourselves because life is not fair. Most people think that if something bad goes wrong, there is no possible way that it is their fault. They blame any one they can; when you are living at home you will blame your parents for your mistakes and you will whine to them about it. People need to learn that the mistakes they make are no else’s fault but their own. The rule that fits me the best is rule 1, Life is not fair; get used to it, this fits me because I always complain when things start piling up on me. I never know what to do in situations that I need to pick between two different things. The rule that least applies to me is rule 3. I know for a fact that after I graduate high school that it will be a very long time until I am getting paid 40 thousand a year. I know that I have to work to afford anything after I leave for college. Life is not as simple as most people make it out to be. (WC-263)
ReplyDeleteI think that this article is a perfect description of how the world is these days. No school until up to high school even mentions the phrase “life isn’t fair” when in reality everyone in this world is trying to take your spot in society. The second rule is total correct because bosses will give you projects that will take you weeks to finish and they don’t care what it costs you to get it done by the deadline. A lot of people do blame their mess-ups on others especially their parents. They don’t think that mess-ups will eventually end up on their shoulders to haunt them in the future. Number 9 in my opinion is the one that we will all think is weird when we get out of school. We are all used to the 3 moths during the summer of, and unless you have a construction job you will not be getting anytime off during the year. If you have a construction job you will be getting 3 winter months off. And haha to the nerd thing, its funny now but it’s the truth. They will be the ones up in the CEO’s of jobs. All of these rules are somewhat present in our school.
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I feel like the advice in this article is not only informative to the reader, but it is also very prevalent to how life runs in today’s society. I think the three best pieces of advice in this article for students are the 4th, 6th, and 8th rules. These rules are about owning up to your responsibilities and learning how to deal with people or things you may not like. With rule 4 it tells you about how you may think people are hard on you now just wait until you have a boss who pays you for your work and can fire you when you do not meet the standards. Life will become more difficult as you get older too, once you have kids you life becomes extremely crazy; I know this because I had my first night with the parenting class baby and I am about as functional as a wall. I also have learned over the years I have spent at high school that you can not blame your own shortcomings on others, especially your parents, who are truly only there to help pick you up when you fall instead of walking over you to get ahead. And finally with rule 8 you must know even if you are told “there are no losers” that when you get out in the real world that statement will come back to slap you across the face and knock you back down to reality where there are winners and losers. (WC 250)
ReplyDeleteI feel like the rules in this article are very true and important to remember for later in life. I think rule number seven is important. We need to remember what our parents did for us and what they give up to provide money and food for us. We need to be grateful for them and for what they do. Also, rule number one is very true. Life will never be fair for everyone and people need to realize that. Many people complain about this issue, but they need to accept it and do the best they can to make their lives better. Rule number eight is important as well. Life has winners and losers. If you want to succeed, you have to give it your all because chances are, you won’t get another shot at it. Rule number three is probably the least important to me because I am planning to go to college instead of working right out of high school so this rule won’t really apply to me because of this. The most important rule to me is probably rule number eight because it reminds me that I have to do my best always. If I want to succeed I have to do my absolute best constantly of I may not achieve what I set out to do. (Word Count: 223)
ReplyDeleteI think all these points are spot on. So many people think the world owes them something but in reality, you owe the world. I think this is part the high schools fault and part ours. The high schools only teach us book smarts. It doesn’t teach us stuff for the world after college, like paying taxes, balancing a checkbook, or paying off loans. Instead we learn things that will only help us in college. I heard a quote one time that was spot on, “18 year olds are expected to make decisions that impact the rest of their lives when a month ago they had to ask to go to the bathroom.” I love that and I think it is very true. I feel the first point is very useful. A lot of people go through the world feeling sorry for themselves. There is no need to worry about things you can’t change. Just accept it and move on. Rule 8 is very true. Very rarely life will give you second chances. Make the most out of everything you do because it is most likely the only chance you get. People need to learn the last point. I have never gotten why people call others nerds. You are going to make fun of somebody for being smart and making the most out of what they are given? Doesn’t make sense to me. I think the last point applies to me because I will probably end up working for one since I’m not the smartest person out there. I feel that I have already learned about rule 4. Teachers are nothing like bosses. My dad is my boss and when he gets mad, it’s not very fun.
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The advice given may come off as harsh but is very true. The real world is a beast in and of itself with virtually no feelings or emotions. The best pieces of advice that I retained from this article would first be that "life is not fair; get used to it." To many people feel that the world should be made wth candy and nuts. This is not the case the world is made of tests and hardships that we as peole are challenged with each day to try and overcome. Life will not always give you another chance or pick you up when you fall. Also how the flipping burgers is an opportunity. This is a great saying for today’s societies for so many are unemployed but in reality you may just have to take a low paying/hardworking job. Money is money and some is better than none. With money comes opportunity. Lastly television is not real life and nor will it be in most cases. The fantasizing won’t do you any good you have to want it. The piece about opportunity applies most to me for in college or maybe even out I will have to take any job I can. The piece about the parents least applies to me for I do not find them boring and I feel that children are not a burden on parents but should be a blessing.
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Advice in school is like throwing a needle is a hay stack, anyone can tell you were they think it is but its you that has to choose what you want to do. The number one that I like is that life is not fair. People still hasn’t figured that out yet. Today kids think they can get whatever whenever and not have to try for it. Well news flash life doesn’t just throw out candy you and have to earn it even if that means you get pushed down, you still get back up. Also with flipping hamburgers, you always hear kids say I am not doing that job or I would die before I work at McDonalds. But back in the day any job was a job to people if you were getting paid then you had it good or at least you knew you were doing fine. A job is a job no matter what it is it has to be done. Lastly with making fun of nerds, I have hared that like a million times and actually it is normally true. Nerds are smart and people will work for them. Word count 194
ReplyDeleteI think his advice is completely spot on. I also think that everyone needs to read these and realize that they are not as awesome as they may think. His advise his harsh but seriously needed to be said. One piece of advice that I think is very important is: You will NOT make 40 thousand dollars a year right out of high school. You won’t be vice president with a car phone; you have to earn both of those. I think this advice is very important because there are a lot of people that think this. They are in a dream world that as soon as they get out of high school everything will just fall into place, and that is not the true you will have to work countless hours to get what you want. Another rule would be: If you mess up, it's not your parents' fault, so don't whine about your mistakes, learn from them. I like this one because we are all guilty of this. I know I am. I don’t know how many times something has not gone my way and I have blamed the whole thing on my parents. It rains and I had plans it was there fault, but last I checked they didn’t control the weather. The third rule I really thought was interesting was: Flipping burgers is not beneath your dignity. Your grandparents had a different word for burger flipping; they called it opportunity. This too is so true. With the rise in technology we have been taught that we are above things like flipping burgers when in reality you have to start somewhere. The rule that I think least applies to me would be: If you think your teacher is tough, wait till you get a boss. He doesn't have tenure. I don’t think that teachers are tough enough with certain students. I think that the toughness is needed. Word Count: 320
ReplyDeleteCharles Sykes is a compulsive liar. He claims that these are all “rules” you did not learn in school, but I have basically learned it all in school. “Life is not fair; get used to it.” I have heard that a million times. This is the worst set of rules. Unfortunately, I must follow the assignment. This advice is hideous in my opinion. The best, yet mediocre rules, are “Television is NOT real life. In real life people actually have to leave the coffee shop and go to jobs.” “Life is not divided into semesters. You don't get summers off and very few employers are interested in helping you find yourself. Do that on your own time.” And “Be nice to nerds. Chances are you'll end up working for one.” I suppose these three apply to me because I would rather be doing something productive than watching TV, and I am nice to nerds. I cannot complain enough about this article, I have heard all these pathetic rules before. Most of these are definitely not facts. Charles made it seem like he is the master and inventor of these rules, but they’re just little things I heard on the 3rd grade playground many times before. (206)
ReplyDeleteThis advice is very straightforward. It has been a long time since I have seen or heard advice like this; the type of advice that ignores feeling and brings the meaning straight to your brain. There is no reason to sweeten up advice when it is much easier to drill into someones head by being upfront with them. Rules 4, 6, and 11 are my favorite and are the best rules in my opinion. Rule 4 because I do have a boss, and they are even more strict and care less about any excuses that teachers do. Rule 6 because, when I was being raised I saw what my mother had to go through to get where we are now. I know that when I mess up, there will be consequences that have to fall on my shoulders, and I cannot push these onto my mother. When things happen in YOUR life, they are YOUR responsibility. Rule 11 because, well, I have been called a nerd my whole life. I am pursuing a career that is basically high-level as soon as you graduate, and will require leading a team. The field that I am pursuing is Information Technology, which is considered a "nerdy" topic of education. I hope that people that I once knew in school end up working for me so that they can see exactly what "nerds" can do. Rule 11 means the most to me, and Rule 1 means the least to me only because I have been told that my entire life, so to hear it again is very redundant.(264)
ReplyDeleteI feel like this advice is harsh, but very useful and true to real life outside of high school. Many people in today's society, including myself occasionally, like to feel sorry for themselves. Once you get out in the real world, nobody except your family will care about your problems. One of my favorite pieces of advice is that life isn't fair, so get used to it. Not everything is going to go your way, so you might as well accept it. Also, I thought the "you aren't going to make 40 thousand dollars right out of high school" is good advice because some people think that right out of school you will succeed and they don't understand you have to work your way to the top. Lastly, I enjoyed the "television is NOT real life" advice, mainly because it reference one of my favorite shows: Friends. But that advice is true, television paints a picture that everything in life is perfect when it isn't. Rule 9 applies the most to me probably, because I look forward to summer and winter break but after college there won't be such things. The one that applies to me the least is rule 2. I'm not saying that my self-esteem is through the roof, but when my self-esteem or mood drops I tend to keep it to myself because I know that nobody wants to hear about another person's problems. WC:237
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