I have a pet peeve toward others blaming the government
for their lack of success. Let’s start with the so called poor uneducated
youth. Yes they may be poor, but if they are uneducated then that is their own
choosing. You do have a free education through the 12th grade here
in this country. However, look at the high school dropout rate. Young people
today do not want to put in the hard work it takes to be successful. Okay, yes
I will also blame the parents. Parents today also do not want to put in the
hard work it takes to make their child successful. Most importantly, the
government needs to make the parents responsible for their children.
College can be affordable to everyone. But the trick is,
you have to work for that affordability. Since the age my children were able to
understand, I have pushed education upon them as the start to a successful and
happy life. I encouraged them to save every penny they could. How did I
accomplish this? I matched every penny they put into the bank. Their $25 money
gift from grandpa turned into a $50 gift toward their future. Alright maybe
you can’t afford to contribute, but you can still encourage them to save that
penny and explain the consequences of that savings.
Another thing I did was to make sure my children worked
first and played later. In other words homework came first. Afterwards they
can enjoy their uninterrupted play time. Always be involved with your
children. This is where parents need to take responsibility for the upbringing
of their children. Again, it may not be easy, but it can be done. After all,
you did somehow choose to become that parent.
I am sure each State has a program in place to help
parents save for their children’s college education. Here in the State of
Florida we have the Florida prepaid college program. Parents can start
contributing to this program from the day their child is born. The program has
evolved since I first contributed to it, but I am sure you will still save much
money by using this program as I did.
We also have the Florida’s Bright Futures program. With
this program, the child can get free money for college only by doing what they
should be doing. That is to study very hard, earn good grades, to show
kindness to others by doing volunteer work and being a well-rounded individual.
Really, isn’t that’s what’s already expected of them?
Colleges also give out scholarships to those individuals
who have excelled in school. Believe me, it isn’t difficult to excel, you just
have to be willing to work for it. And this is where the child takes
responsibility for their own future. And not blame others.
And there is still the Stafford Loans the children can
borrow without the help of their parents. But yes life would be much easier if
all parents became involved in their children’s lives. After all isn’t that
the commitment the parent made when giving birth to that child.
In other words, parents and children stop complaining and
blaming the world for your problems. Don’t use my hard working tax dollars for
your lack of motivation. Your life is in your own hands. The education for
success is out there for the taking.