Generation X parents

[KarenC]

I thought this article was interesting. I see a lot of myself here.

 

http://www.educationnews.org/ed_reports/edu_assoc_articles/31478.html

 

I don't know how to link, so I cut and pasted the link.

 

Karen

[Penelope]

I look forward to reading this-thanks!

[LauraGB]

I can see a lot of both dh and me in that article.

 

To credit the author, I can't tell if he admires us or hates us! :D

[babysparkler]

This is so true for us:

 

They will evaluate the transaction on the basis of the value it appears to offer. If it doesn’t offer the right value, they will take their business elsewhere — whether another school district, a charter school, a private school or home schooling. It is practically impossible to persuade most Gen-X parents they should relinquish their choice for the sake of some great public good.

[swellmomma]

This quote from the article

 

"In God we trust. All others bring data"

 

Made me LOL and think of the Hive. After all how many discussions include the words "where is the proof? Link studies"

[jenL]

Great article! I've shared it with some of my FB friends. I also send it to some of my teacher friends. I think they'll enjoy it as well.

 

I've definitely taken my business elsewhere! :)

[cani e porci]

 

I've definitely taken my business elsewhere! :)

Same here. I cracked up when I read

Some Xers may skip the discussion stage entirely and move immediately to a decisive action — suddenly filing a lawsuit, for example, or withdrawing their child from a school with no warning.

I wasn't even considering homeschooling when I reached the end of my patience with my daughter's school and took her out. The principal was a Boomer, so she was foolish enough to tell me that I shouldn't do it and should trust her expertise. :lol:

[elise1mds]

Fascinating. I am actually a in the Millenial Generation (aka Gen Y), but I'm right on the cusp, so while I can relate to some of the things he's saying, some of them I can't. I'd be interested to see his take on my generation.

 

ETA that according to his timeline, my son is also in my generation, my husband is Gen X, and my daughter is Homeland... interesting.

[Saille]

First, assume no trust. Given their generally positive or at least empowering experience with education institutions, Boomers generally have trusted the school bureaucracy to do right by their children. Not today’s younger parents. Schools must gird themselves for Xers who feel they have no reason to trust the schools’ competence — and take steps to justify their performance in every area, from physical safety to academic achievement.

 

As Gen-X parents generate a rising demand for a wide spectrum of educational choices and credential substitutes over the next couple of decades, other Gen Xers entering midlife are likely to rise up to meet this demand. Gen-X entrepreneurs will find ways to provide new options outside the traditional school setting, through auxiliary programs, online courses, career modules and home-schooling aids. Gen-X info-tech designers will steadily improve the efficacy, flexibility, interactivity and entertainment value of teaching tools.

 

Meanwhile, as Gen-X voters, executives and elected officials replace Boomers in top leadership roles, they may agree to relax the credentials and help legitimize these end runs around the system. K-12 schools can deal with these new options by working with them, adopting them or outcompeting them. They cannot simply ignore them.

 

These both spoke to me. I am mildly grossed out by the concept of "rebranding" schools, though. Sounds like the "feed" talking.

[TravelingChris]

I am a late Baby Boomer but I have to say that us late Baby Boomers weren't anything like the early ones. We were the kids who grew up with looking at hippies and riots. It wasn't something we wanted to emulate. We became adults in the Reagan years and trust but verify is a slogan from our time. It seems that the difference he outlines is between liberals and conservatives.

[Heather in WI]

I thought parts of it were really interesting and valid, like:

If it doesn’t offer the right value, they will take their business elsewhere — whether another school district, a charter school, a private school or home schooling. It is practically impossible to persuade most Gen-X parents they should relinquish their choice for the sake of some great public good.

 

 

 

Other parts, such as:

Boomers always have cared deeply about the higher moral and civic goals of education, for the ultimate purpose (recall the ’60s!) of creating a more ethical and socially conscious community.

{snip}

Many Gen Xers believe they live in an individualistic world in which there is no common interest and people do best by looking out for their own interests.

convinced me that the person who wrote it is a boomer who entirely misunderstands his own and my generation!

 

Frankly, I look at the boomer generation as entirely materialistic (think hippies morph into yuppies) and obsessed with superficial fixes and outcomes.

 

I look at my own generation as rejecting the failed theories of boomer generation and wanting more for my own family.

[Jean in Newcastle]

I am a late Baby Boomer but I have to say that us late Baby Boomers weren't anything like the early ones. We were the kids who grew up with looking at hippies and riots. It wasn't something we wanted to emulate. We became adults in the Reagan years and trust but verify is a slogan from our time. It seems that the difference he outlines is between liberals and conservatives.

 

I'm from that same generation (in fact both my older brothers were bona fide hippies). I agree with your first 2 sentences. But could you clarify further your last sentence? I'm not sure what you mean.

[Jenn in Mo]

Very interesting article. Working with kids in church classes, I noticed a HUGE difference in kids' attitudes when the current graduating class was entering 6th grade...that would be what? 2007? I noticed it in community-wide events, not just my own church. It was a huge shift that left an impression on me mostly because I couldn't figure out where it had come from and how it came about seemingly overnight. It never occurred to me that it could be generational differences in the parents. Interesting thought.

[Hockey Mom]

These both spoke to me. I am mildly grossed out by the concept of "rebranding" schools, though. Sounds like the "feed" talking.

 

That creeped me out as well.

 

I also took the author's comparison as:

 

Boomers = "it takes a village"

 

Gen X = "I'm not letting the village anywhere near my kid"

[muffinmom]

I find it interesting (and see it in myself and friends) the high level of mistrust we Gen Xers hold toward nearly everything.

[TravelingChris]

My last sentence was referring to what another person noted as the "it takes a village" idea. The ideas he was saying that boomers had like let's make everything fair (redistributing tax revenues from wealthy school districts to poor school districts), busing, and thinking that the school should focus on the poorest students are traditional liberal ideas. Ideas like having competition in schools (school choice) and each individual making the best choices for himself or herself are traditionally conservative ideas. Liberal: It takes a village. Conservative: It takes a family.

[Jean in Newcastle]

My last sentence was referring to what another person noted as the "it takes a village" idea. The ideas he was saying that boomers had like let's make everything fair (redistributing tax revenues from wealthy school districts to poor school districts), busing, and thinking that the school should focus on the poorest students are traditional liberal ideas. Ideas like having competition in schools (school choice) and each individual making the best choices for himself or herself are traditionally conservative ideas. Liberal: It takes a village. Conservative: It takes a family.

 

Ah - gotcha. I'm unabashedly on the "it takes a family" side. But technically I am one of the last of the boomers!