Bill Gates recently gave a speech at a High School about 11 things they did not and will not learn in school . He talks about how feel-good, politically correct teachings created a generation of kids with no concept of reality and how this concept set them up for failure in the real world.
Rule 1 : Life is not fair - get used to it!
Rule 2: The world won't care about your self-esteem. The world will expect you to accomplish something BEFORE you feel good about yourself.
Rule 3: You will NOT make $60,000 a year right out of high school. You won't be a vice-president with a car phone until you earn both.
Rule 4: If you think your teacher is tough, wait till you get a boss.
Rule 5 : Flipping burgers is not beneath your dignity. Your Grandparents had a different word for burger flipping: they called it opportunity.
Rule 6 : If you mess up, it's not your parents' fault, so don't whine about your mistakes, learn from them.
Rule 7: Before you were born, your parents weren't as boring as they are now. They got that way from paying your bills, cleaning your clothes and listening to you talk about how cool you thought you were. So before you save the rain forest from the parasites of your parent's generation, try delousing the closet in your own room.
Rule 8: Your school may have done away with winners and losers, but life HAS NOT. In some schools, they have abolished failing grades and they'll give you as MANY TIMES as you want to get the right answer. This doesn't bear the slightest resemblance to ANYTHING in real life.
Rule 9: Life is not divided into semesters. You don't get summers off and very few employers are interested in helping you FIND YOURSELF. Do that on your own time.
Rule 10: Television is NOT real life. In real life people actually have to leave the coffee shop and go to jobs.
Rule 11: Be nice to nerds. Chances are you'll end up working for one.
5 comments:
Very good advice. More can be found here.
oh my aching bones - lots of rain last nite.......
The more I think about it, one thing has really been bothering me about this post.
Per Bill's statements... these 11 things ARE taught in school. "His advice" (*un-sourced) only reiterates what any loving parent or teacher instructs their child, excluding the subtle slants of Bill's personal beliefs. Reiteration is good, but actually parents and teachers give more than a 11 steps of condensed peanut advice to youth, and given the complexities of life, our youth require it.
It seems to me that when a man of Gates' stature steps in to imply others aren't teaching these things, he's only riding the heels of idolatry, inferring himself to be a better parent/educator than the very system he portends to support.
Rules 1-11 offer nothing except to say that life is tough. How boring. How droll. How sublimating. It's good "advice" but NOT enough. I'd prefer to also teach the youth of reward, passion, and commitment, and hope most parents can convey those values to the young, not just fear, rebuke and status quo ambiguities.
"11 things they did not and will not learn in school" --- as taught in a school room by Mr. Gates....
Please correct me if I'm wrong. Maybe I just had very exceptional parents and teachers. I'd like to hear from ANYONE who actually feels they did not hear versions of Bill's statements when in their own youth, either said by teachers or parents.
OK - WAIT! I'm right. More blogging rumors posted as "news". Crap!!!
Sorry Mr. Gates, I know better than to trust blogs for accuracy. No offense Jackee or Jacques, sincerely, but this is PULP BULLSHIT.
(http://urbanlegends.about.com/library/bl_bill_gates_speech.htm?terms=recently+gave+a+speech+at)
A long fart posted here would have been better use of this space.
The playfulness of responding to this blog is ill-timed upon hearing the real news of the So. Calif. fires.
My deep regards/concerns to everyone in that area.
Sorry Jackee if my last comment ruffled feathers. My mother is 87, mixed health problems. She's being preyed upon by credit card fine prints, wheeler-dealers, dial-a-prayers, and anything that caters to the gullible. I get into a rant about these sort of things, especially when I, too, find myself fooled by rumor.
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