With every graduating class, we rack our brains with questions on why our students are the way they are? Why do we have rebels, stoners, and students who skip class? Students who attend college to become teachers may not realize how much of an influence they will have on students. Going through school, the people we see the most of outside of our classmates are teachers and our parents. Our parents instill within us the core values in how to live our lives. We live by influence. If we have parents who may be around minimally, children will learn in an improper manner. If our parents are in our lives teaching us core values of leading a good life, such as working hard, being considerate of others and aiming high in our goals, then we will take those rules throughout our lives. But if we have parents who show laziness and lack interest in the lives of their children, then our students are going to be lazy and unmotivated. As parents, they need to realize that our actions are always influencing our children and the generation below us.
Teachers also do not realize how much influence they have on their students. They need to realize that students watch their every move and take their every other word seriously. Students want to feel as though they are respected by and important to their teachers. Teachers may face a large number of students but cannot lose sight of making every student feel as though they are important to them, whether it be by using name plates to remember names or having their students hand in their assignments with their photo attached as to help them remember the students’ names.
I have gone through elementary school, high school in a rural area, in through private schools and then through college facing the same media coverage and outside influences as students within the city. I am part of a blue collar family as well. Yet I have been goal oriented to follow through with academics and aim high in my life. My parents have pushed me to do well in school and become part of organizations. I treat others as how I would like to be treated and am considerate of others. I have seen the same media influence such as the indecency in our music lyrics and their videos as well as the violence in movies, television, and video games, yet I have not let that violence influence my actions or those indecent lyrics or videos affect my demeanor. I know the difference and want to aim high in my life and hope that teachers and parents will realize how much of an influence they are on our future leaders of America. Please keep in mind that our students and children today are our future leaders of America. We need to help them stay motivated and learn as much as they can. There is a great amount of knowledge out there that is available to our students and we need to help instill that yearning in our students for the good of every generation to come.
Suzanne Brady is a fourth-year student majoring in Spanish education. She can be reached at SB619873@wcupa.edu.