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  • Drama Mama: 8 Things That Terrify Me About This Next Generation

    By Anjalee Deshpande Nadkarni June 20, 2008 9:33 am

    1. Low boredom threshold

    “The book was the worst…no just the first couple of pages. I skimmed a summary on wikipedia for the rest….what do you mean, she dies in the end? I didn’t get that at all! Oh well I already wrote my paper – I’m not going back and re-doing it now.”

    2. Lack of follow through

    “The thing is I really meant to be there, I just didn’t wake up. No I have an alarm. I just slept through it.”

    3. Splintered focus

    “My mom is always on me about being ‘focused’. Like tonight. I’m writing a paper, checking my ex-boyfriend’s status on facebook, replying to a text on my chocolate, uploading new music to my ipod and im-ing to two different people. Clearly I’m focused – it’s not like the TV is on!”

    4. Boasting about things that should embarrass them

    “I totally bullsh-tted my way through that discussion, I never read the essays.”

    “Me neither. You can do that in most classes if you just listen to the first people that talk and then just re-phrase what they said.”

    “My friend said he graduated without ever finishing an entire book.”

    “Oh cr-p, I have a paper due tomorrow – no big deal. I’ll write after lunch tomorrow – the class isn’t until 1.”

    5. All or nothing mentality (the if you don’t really try you don’t really fail thing)

    “I just couldn’t get it done well so I didn’t write it at all. I’m a perfectionist.”

    6. Codependency

    What r u doin?

    in class. U?

    me 2. how’s it going?

    Not sure.

    Me neither. U need a haircut.

    Can you see it from where you are sitting?

    Yeah. You want to go to wendy’s 4 lunch?

    7. Helicopter Parents

    Beep.

    “Hello? This is Tim Smith’s mother. I wanted to speak with you regarding his final grade in the class. I’ve discussed it with my husband and we just don’t think that a B is really fair. I mean the amount of reading you expect these students to do in one semester is completely over the top. Please call me right away. “

    8. Questionable taste in clothing

    Well – actually I can’t mock them there. The 80’s are back in fashion. We were all questionable once….

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Comments on Drama Mama: 8 Things That Terrify Me About This Next Generation

  • Posted by Lisa B. on June 20, 2008 at 11:45am EDT

  • 4, 5, and 6 aren't really new to this generation, either. Every generation has had people who were proud of things their parents find embarrassing or wrong (sixties, anyone?). Perfectionism is a very old one as well, and co-dependent relationships are nothing new either, although they may be more visible now because they can just text each other right then instead of saying "I'll have to think about it".

    Don't be too quick to turn 'these particular young people aren't like I and my friends were' into sweeping generalizations about entire generations. There were people who didn't value school 30 years ago just like there are now. Fewer of them went to school, and you probably didn't associate with them then just like high-achieving and/or ambitious students don't associate with them today. But that doesn't mean it's a new phenomenon.

  • good rundown!
  • Posted by Ann M. Little , Associate Professor, History, at Colorado State University on June 20, 2008 at 12:20pm EDT

  • Lisa B. has a point that some of the things that younger people do that annoy older people are perhaps not entirely new. However, the behaviors that Drama Mama is complaining about are objectively wrong in people who are seeking a college degree. Boasting about skating by without actually reading a book? Probably not entirely new. But I don't feel that we need to let them off the hook for it just because some people way back in the 80s might have done it, too.

    I say keep students' feet to the fire. If their parents don't like the results, then they can "home school" them through a university education.

  • Social Learners - Student Engagement
  • Posted by Anita Coley on June 22, 2008 at 12:50pm EDT

  • I concur on most of the arguments presented. But let us look closer at # 3: "Splintered Focus." In 21st Century lingo this may be referred to as "multi-tasking" and has it's place in this global society that is becoming more and more definitive of our lives. The educational system should find creative ways to incorporate this kind of learning. Ironically, I have found that many of our students do very well academically and many will do an excellent job at writing that essay while IMing and listening to the IPOD. So many of our students are social learners but the system has not yet caught up with them. We are not catering to their particular learning needs and styles. Might it be that we are still stucked in the 60s, whatever that means? Or are we looking to creatively engage our students in the use of 21st century tools to enhance their learning? Just a wondering.

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