Kids These Days, with Their Laptops and 5.0 Grades

(Note: Thou shalt not mention names, for these names will come after thee carrying daggers to stab thy arse, no matter what depth the truth thy writings bear. But ere they forget, they shalt prove first that I bear false accusations. Peace to ye all and to all mankind.)

I graduated from college March 2006, and it can be said that's not too long ago. However, in three years, so much evolution has occurred. By evolution, I mean that of students - their study habits, principles and disposition, lifestyle, and study gadgets.

After graduation, I taught for one year in a local college (sans the masters degree - that's the magic of connections haha just kidding). Being allowed to wear whatever I wanted (as long as it's politely presentable), I had the opportunity to sit amongst students in the school cafeteria, and just "look around."

One big thing that simply failed to go unnoticed: kids these days have laptops that they bring around their [wi-fi ready] school. How much does an average laptop cost these days? If I'm not mistaken, it almost costs as much as a whole semester's enrollment fee. That's around Php 40K-50K. Bringing to mind the proportion of students that pass the board exam [please don't ask me what course they're in, but it's definitely not computer-related], it's not exactly a rate to brag about.

Back during the times when I was studying for an achievement test, I spent my free time in the school library. And guess what: except for the librarian and myself, nobody else was there. Nada. So much for the academic pressure that only college life can bring. Apparently, it's not pressuring enough for the students.

I think what I'm trying to draw here is that students nowadays afford to be carefree, and tote their expensive laptops around while getting grades that are way below the passing rate. I'm not saying that it's wrong for them to own an HP, Dell, or whatever, it's just that... letting everyone see you have a laptop plus failing grades - not a very cool sight. (Parang ganito: may laptop ka na nga to make research and other projects easier, bagsak ka paren)

It's not just the laptop. Here's more.

One of my students, from day one, gave me the impression that she doesn't care enough to bring some effort into her studies. This impression was further emphasized when I gave them a reporting activity (the only one I gave them for the whole semester - all the rest, I gave hand-outs of summarized and outlined lessons). I gave her and the rest of the class two full weeks to prepare. All her classmates gave me decent reports, complete with the written output. When it was her turn, all she did was read out her topic aloud directly from the book. No apologies, no nothing.

If I were in her position, I wouldn't even have to SHOW MY FACE to my lecturer, coming to class inexcusably unprepared.

Another interesting incident here. I was invited to be a part of a panel for a thesis title defense. It seemed that the group that made the presentation (if it really was a presentation, which I doubt) never truly understood the weight of what they were doing. It was a thesis title defense: at least they should have worn formal attire, or not let us notice that they had no idea what to do with their title. Allow me to enumerate the rest of their antics, because I fear that this entry would get painfully lengthy if I don't:

• As was mentioned, they wore casual clothes.
• The presentation was due 10AM. By 10:40 AM, one member was still in the comfort of her home. Their level coordinator sent her an SMS, enlightening her a bit about the beauty of their situation. She texted back, "Ma'am asa bahay pa po ako, hindi nyo naman ako tinext agad." (huwatdah3ll??!!!!1!!)
• One guy member kept saying, "Ma'am hindi ko nga alam kung bakit ganito to e, hindi ko maintindihan....." Owkeeeeyyyiii...you're supposed to DEFEND this title, remember?
• As we pointed out some corrections on their thesis title and first three chapters, NOBODY WAS WRITING DOWN ANYTHING, until we told them to do so. I mean, we're giving out so much back then, shouldn't they at least have the initiative to write down the things we were saying?
• They kept complaining that the topic they have was too difficult to tackle. Mind you, their research was simple descriptive type. It wasn't even comparative. It wasn't even experimental.

I'm not generalizing, though. These things I've just said are the things I've seen and experienced first-hand. But in what way can this city, and the students in it, be any different from others? I say...not much.