Grumpy Side of 60
The generations to come
By Bob Robinson

“Feet on the floor, please.”

“Hey, you didn’t tell her that…”

“I didn’t see it…”

“But this is comfortable…”

Kindergarten? Nope. Junior high? Nope. College. Post-secondary. High school juniors and seniors on the college track.

“Come on guys. Feet on the floor. You’re in college! You are adults!”

She grinned. “Well… not really. Kinda halfway in between maybe?”

Hmm. She had a point. With a little more grumbling – but still smiling – she put her feet on the floor and sat up straight.

While I have sometimes found myself jealous of full time teachers at the K-12 level, even full time instructors at Edison, I think I have a “one up” on all of them… I got to work with “kids” of all ages, from five to 55.

A fascinating experience.

While the vast majority of my sub assignments were in Greenville, I was privileged to work on occasion at Arcanum, Ansonia and Tri-Village. In addition, my Edison post-secondary populations have come from all seven Darke County school districts (Bradford students typically go to Piqua).

Kids are kids are kids regardless of their school, background or upbringing…

I’ve had kids (K-2) tell me things that would tear your heart to pieces; or melt it. I’ve had kids (3-4) hang onto me in the playground, try to pick my pockets or tell me I had bad breath after eating Fritos for lunch. I’ve had kids (5-6) show a new reserve… they were starting to grow up. Or thought they were.

I’ve had kids in junior high struggling to learn while some of their classmates were flexing their leadership muscles, even to the point of thinking they could challenge the sub. They learned otherwise. And I’ve had high school kids deciding it was ‘fun-and-games’ time with the sub until I made an example of one of them and got the attention of the rest.

Then you get the post-secondary students in college classes. They want to be real college students but sometimes haven’t quite figured out how. Others are ready beyond their years.

One student told me she hated high school and spends all her days on the Edison campus. She’s 16 and promises to be one of my stars.

Another student told me what she liked about taking post-secondary classes at Edison… “We’re treated like adults. I like that.”

Unless of course it interferes with a preferred behavior pattern. Then they’re ‘kinda halfway in between maybe.’

Every age group offers a different challenge. Intentionally? Sometimes… but it’s usually just where they happen to be in their emotional curve.

I had to fail two students last fall… they were on a B or C track but then decided (for whatever reason) to stop working. Both enrolled in my summer class.

One – a 40-plus year old adult who should have known better – sent me an email… “So all I have to do is take the final that I didn’t take before and I can pass?”

“No. You failed the class. Now you have a chance to improve on the experience.”

He withdrew from the class.

The other – a 21-year-old “little” girl still struggling to find herself – never complained once, completed her assignments… and racked up an A.

Last week I was privileged to help hand out five Eagles 2177 scholarships through the Senior Scribes Scholarship Fund. Four of the kids were former students of mine and had challenged me often. All were on a fast track to do great things with their lives.

When you are on the grumpy side of 60, you think you’ve heard and seen everything.

You haven’t. Start paying attention to the generations to come. They’ll frustrate and challenge you, but most of all they’ll make you sit up and take notice.

Published courtesy of The Early Bird