So I started a new class last night…a class that’s had the roster set since about February. A class for which my syllabus was posted 10 days ago, and for which it was made clear a week ago that a paper was due on the first night. The grade sheet I’d be using to score the papers was even offered on the course website, so people could see EXACTLY what was expected. And last night, 10 minutes after the start of class, one student comes strolling in, empty-handed, interrupts my discussion by raising his hand, and asks, “What was due tonight?”
Are you freaking kidding me?
Which goes to something I increasingly find myself saying, much like the figurative old man shaking his fist at passing traffic, “What is with students these days?”
What is this sense of entitlement, this blatant disregard for the rules and authority of a teacher, the flat-out “sorry, didn’t do that paper” attitude. I wouldn’t have DARED not do a paper in college. I’d have been terrified! Where did this come from? Is it the fact that we now give students trophies just for showing up? The rise of the litigation solution? I don’t know. But I have to bit my lip to keep from biting off heads, and it keeps getting worse.