Argumentative Essay
It is the desire of every person to acquire the highest level of education for lifetime enrichment. They however fail to acquire life skills such as managing failure in most instances as the kind of education one is equipped with is success oriented. Students are more inclined to passing and attaining success in their endeavors without realizing that failure is part of life. This weakness has caused the present generation to fail in managing their lives and their surrounding irrespective of the situation. The study argues that the present educational skills generate mediocre students. From life experience, students tend to achieve academically and yet fail to recognize that failure is part of life. In higher learning, students are offered the opportunity to drop a course poorly done and begin anew, making it difficult for them to identify with any form of failure. However, in the real world, a person’s history is defined with failure other than success.
The rise of equality and egalitarianism in academics has generated ill-equipped students who are less focused on failure even though they are equipped with all skills of attaining self confidence. This results to a generation who are unaware of the substandard schoolwork and value of a failing grade. This is depicted in some of the sports activities where scores are avoided so that no winner or loser can be realized. This is contrary to the present society that lacks sympathy and concern over an individual’s self-esteem. In reality, substandard world generates negative effects like losing of a job. Students are formed to be mediocre and afraid of assuming risks. According to Neusner, “students should fail in their life and learn from failure, to be equipped with tenacity, common sense, and character’’ (Neusner, 72). One is toughened up and made to bear all the inevitable challenges of life.
Mediocrity in our learning institutions results to personal stress when an individual is faced with life experiences. Most of the graduates are academically successful, yet they fail to manage stress that is caused by varying forms of failure either in their careers, social lives or financially. It is estimated that more than half the population of citizens have to grope over financial stress, statistics that is attributed by absence of life skills in managing financial crises in life. This is the other reason why there is an increase of behavioral and psychological patients. If left untreated, these health challenges become chronic and results to other physical problems like poor immune system, high blood pressure, and insomnia. Neusner goes on to assert, “College has deprived you of adequate preparation for the last 50 years” (Neusner, 72).
The main objective of introduction of formal education was to overcome economic demands in the industrial revolution. This achievement is not fully reflected in the current global climate since the education system has failed in producing people who can meet societal needs. Since the society is ever evolving, it requires people who are equipped with life skills and can succeed in life regardless of their academic achievements. Real life demands people who are all rounded physically, emotionally and mentally. Neusner affirms that, “we had to do it, for the sake of education” (Neusner, 72).
Mediocre students produced from the formal academic entities are however emotionally weak due to features prevalent in formal education. For instance, students are compelled to spend most of their time in school with their teachers who are unable to instruct every student in what they ought to be equipped with. Teachers are overburdened with some roles parents and the general society ought to bore. Additionally, most of the academic institutions fail to acknowledge gifted and talented students apart from the brightest and most advanced students. All students are forced to acquire remedial assistance to attain the minimum grade even though they are ill equipped with life skills. Even though most of the students pass and progress in their academics, they are emotional fragile to accept real life facts such as talent that highly differs from academic success. Nuesner states that, “College has spoiled you by reading papers that don’t deserve to be read, listening to comments that don’t deserve a hearing, paying attention even to the lazy, ill-informed, and rude” (Neusner, 72).
Work Cited
Neusner Jacob. The Commencement Speech You’ll never Hear. Rhode Island: Brown
University. 1984. Print