Lest you think this is much ado about nothing, we have published reports about how students who never liked school have "succeeded" nonetheless. In this sad tale our budding diploma wielder habitually overslept, missing classes that he himself had signed up for. This prompted a call from the professor. And not during office hours or other down time, as apparently this professor shut down class for all other students (presuming any of them showed up) to call the groggy genius. As he relates the story, upon telling her he would make it next time she stated:
"No, you'll be here in twenty minutes."Wow. Did she really delay class almost a half hour awaiting that "tardy" arrival?
Back in the day, a college diploma even in a field not directly related to the job at hand indicated the applicant was self-motivated, capable of managing their own time and when given a goal, achieving it. Through hard work. An employer knew this was not a person requiring daily supervision but someone who can be presented with a challenge that they will take on. And succeed.
But we as a society have decided "if it ain't FUN it don't git DUN" as the new educational paradigm. And none of our overpaid "educators" object. None are pointing out that many things worth learning require work. Work that often is not fun. Work that is almost always hard. They are no longer accepting only those prepared for college--in intellect, in education or in maturity. Asses in classes means raises in paychecks. Since any ass counts, even a "tardy" one, nothing else even matters.
So what is next for college professors? Will they hold Wee Willee Winkee for every student who raises their hand to excuse themselves in hopes they can assist with a shy bladder? And what about the disruption to the rest of the class? Does anybody in any part of the Georgia educational system give one hair off a rodent's backside about students who are prepared, responsible and ready to learn?
Is that the new koolaid? Are parents demonstrably incapable of potty-training their Kinder now going to be encouraged to abdicate the remaining shreds of parental responsibility? Apparently so. And we seem so enamored of the relatively worthless spawn of this state that we'll toss the baby so we can sip the bathwater.
But expect those babies of merit to land in a state that does care about academic excellence while we mindlessly chase an arbitrary number of diplomas. We will succeed in doing little but proving to the world that a college degree from Georgia means the graduate has endured another four years of "adult high school" and has learned little more than how to drink.
And it can't be stopped. It looks like the Guv and Board of Regents are hell-bent on giving the on-line diploma mills a run for their money as they race to the bottom of the academic barrel.
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