Say goodbye to the days when your teachers held your hand and gave you a homework pass when you had a rough night, because it’s time to grow up.
For many of us, this will be our last year in high school, and then it’s off to the real world where there is nobody reminding us to do our laundry or to clean our room or to study for a test. We are all on our own, and to be honest, I don’t think that a lot of teenagers are ready for that kind of responsibility.
Every day I see teenagers that depend on their parents and teachers for everything; like if they aren’t given what they need on a silver platter, they will self-destruct from incompetency. Even just the simple things are hard to get done without serious help. According to the Daily Mail Reporter, 32 percent of 18-year-olds do not know how to boil an egg and 42 percent do not know how to iron a shirt. When I think about the struggles these teenagers will  face once they move out and go to college, I get very clammy and nervous for their fate.
Just the other day in one of my classes, a kid threw a big fit because we had to take our notes on binder paper instead of the pre-made worksheet that our teacher usually gives to us. I mean, are you serious? What are they going to do in college when their professor lectures for an hour and they haven’t learned how to take notes properly? My guess is that they’re going to stare around the room with a confused look and say, “where’s the worksheet?” News flash: teachers are not going to hold your hand in college, so you should learn how to hold your own hand.
I am also very taken aback by the number of teenagers who have never worked a day in their life. According to the U.S. Department of Labor, only 32 percent of teenagers 16-19 had a summer job. I understand that some students have extracurricular activities or homework, and have virtually no time for a job. But I still firmly believe that having a job is the best thing you can do because it teaches you the importance of punctuality, how to be a professional, and how to work hard.
I’m not saying that we are completely hopeless in this, but I am saying that we need to take on a little responsibility and push ourselves out of the nest to succeed in the real world, and that’s just the way it is.
