Things You Will Not Learn In School

Things you will not learn in school.
(Exposition -social commentary)

There are many e-mails circulating around that Bill Gates talked about the rules below during a speech at a high school graduation ceremony. However, the real credit goes to Charles Sykes, who wrote the book "Dumbing Down Kids". The writer listed wrote about how parents and the current education system have not prepared today's generation for the harsh realities in real life.

Below are some extracted from the book. My comments are in brackets. Here I will try to make you kids understand, that if you think about it, some parents and teachers to try to teach you how to deal with life's challenges.

Rule 1: Life is not fair - get used to it! ( Yes, there still exists the concept of justice, but the bottom line is, you will never get what you want all the time. Use your brains, and adopt the right attitude....for unfairness will not get you down.)


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.
(Develop resilience, and a healthy sense of self-confidence. Be your own friend first. In a world what results matters, you do have to work hard to prove your worth...and there is no running away from that.)

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. (My dear kids, the phrase 'money doesn't grow on trees' is true...This is not your virtual world money, and you really will not make much from your Maple Story millions. Instant gratification is not equal to fast cash, easy job, quick promotions.)


Rule 4: If you think your teacher is tough, wait till you get a boss.
(Hehehe...your teachers, at the end of the day, care for you. So really understand that when we scold, nag , push, prod and poke...it's for a purpose.)

Rule 5: Flipping burgers is not beneath your dignity. Your grandparents had a different word for burger flipping: they called it opportunity. (Hard work and responsibility are not dirty words...You need to experience that blood + sweat + tears = stepping stones to bigger things in life)


Rule 6: If you mess up, it's not your parents' fault; so don't whine about your mistakes, learn from them.
(It's again so easy to blame other and everything under the sun. You'll bounce back faster if you face to your challenges, and decide to keep on improving)


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.
(Hahahah....enough said)

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.
( Well, life is not about losing all the time either...It's up to you to adopt a winner's mindset, and not give up when things don't go your way)

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.
(Sigh....now do you understand how heavy that word "RESPONSIBILITY" is? You can't keep on saying "Life Sucks"... and job hop when you find work boring...A rolling stone gathers no moss, and FIND YOURSELF NOW!..)

Rule 10: Television and video games are NOT real life. In real life people actually have to leave the coffee shop and go to jobs.
(Wean yourselves from your virtual world...the faster, the better)

Rule 11: Be nice to nerds. Chances are you'll end up working for one.
(hehehehe...what goes around comes around...)

I am going to find the book...I think I will enjoy finding more gems of wisdom.