Outcast

Read this piece in PDI the other day and I found it interesting.

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YOUNGBLOOD

What for are schools?

By Karen Diane Sta. Maria
Inquirer
Last updated 01:50am (Mla time) 06/07/2007

MANILA, Philippines -- Coeds equate school with wardrobe. More than on books, professors and the curriculum, students allot a lot of time researching on the latest back-to-school fashion and hairstyles. For them, the start of the school year is an opportunity to shop for new clothes -- lumped together with the usual school materials, of course, so that their parents will not notice the purchases.

On the first day of school, students sashay down hallways wearing new shoes, new socks, new blouses and, I bet you, new underwear, too. Each of them walks like a rich kid, even as their parents recoil at the sight of the deductions on their paychecks because of the loans they got for their children’s school expenses.

This is the problem with Filipino kids: They don’t know their parents’ money’s worth. Unlike in other cultures, Filipino parents place upon themselves the responsibility of paying for their children’s education. But even as parents go crazy looking for money for their children’s schooling, the kids go crazy thinking of what clothes to buy, which guy to hook or which girl to date.

These kids never learn to value their education because they do not know the real value of the money that goes into their tuition and other school expenses. They did not suffer high blood pressure or soak their feet in puddles of rain after work, so they don’t realize that they break their parents’ hearts with every subject they flunk.

Most kids see education as just a passing fancy and never realize how hard their parents work to earn the money to pay for their tuition. Have you noticed how fast teenybopper magazines sell in May? That is because May is the month when young girls forage for the latest fads and makeup tips so that come June, they can strut around campus carrying the latest bags or sporting the newest hairstyles. These kids go to school to parade their new stuff or their bodies.

Have you noticed how gym enrollment spikes during summer? Aside from getting flat tummies for summer outings, college kids “prepare” their bodies for the coming school year to elicit “oohs” and “aahs” and hopefully snag the man or woman of their dreams. These college kids go to school to date.

Elementary students have their own back-to-school agenda. Spiderman lunch boxes, Barbie stroller bags and Bratz pencil cases are just some of the reasons some kids want to go back to school. They go to school to play.

Come to think of it, nobody goes to school nowadays to learn. Kids have a hundred reasons for getting excited about going back to school, but they have nothing to do with enriching their minds and broadening their knowledge. And their poor parents often pass up a good meal for themselves so they can save money for their kids who will just play, brag and date in school.
Students never realize the importance of education as they go about their hedonistic ways while in school. For kids, school is time away from their parents and a time to try smoking, drinking, drugs and sex.

It would have been better if Filipino students were to fend for themselves. If they had callused hands or their blood pressure shot up while they were at work, maybe they wouldn’t spend that P100 on a pack of cigarettes and two bottles of beer while hanging out in a nearby pub instead of attending a Math class.

True, education is a combination of intellectual, mental and emotional learning. These experiences are essential for a person’s holistic growth. But students must always remember the principal purpose for which their parents send them to the best schools despite the skyrocketing tuition: so that they may enjoy a good life in the future.

Parents don’t send their kids to school for their own self-gratification. They would spend their money on weight-loss programs or on a new vehicle if that were what they wanted. They spend thousands when June comes for the love of their children and to make sure that when they’re gone, at least their kids have had a crack at success.

But many kids consider it more important than finding answers to their assignment to discover what matches the new blouses they bought at a European brand sale last summer.

It will be a continuing cycle if Filipino kids don’t realize soon to what lengths their parents go just so they may have a good education. Kids will continue going to school to date or to glam up. And parents will continue to break their backs to earn enough for the next year’s tuition while their kids cut classes and watch the latest movies.

Filipino parents will continue to sacrifice while kids keep up with their hedonistic ways. Because parents are too proud to admit to their kids how they cried at night, how they fell from the jeepney during a client call, how they skipped lunches, or how they almost stole some petty cash just to have money for their tuition.

It is high time parents and children discussed openly their family finances. Parents shouldn’t be embarrassed to show their kids their tuition receipts. It’s not like one is saying, “Hey, this is how much I spent for you, you brat,” but it is more like giving them an idea of how expensive education can be and how much it takes to show them one’s love and concern. The kids ought to know how much blood, sweat and tears parents shed to send them to school each year. Kids should know that each pack of cigarette they smoke or each bottle of beer they drink is probably one taxi ride their mothers had forgone during a stormy night so she can put the money aside for their allowance.

Some financial institutions offer wealth planning seminars for youngsters and teens, where experts give advice on how to manage even small amounts of money. If children attended these sessions, they would have a better grasp of the concept of money and perhaps appreciate how much a college course takes away from their parents’ bank accounts.

Then they will learn the real value of education.

Karen Diane Sta. Maria, 24, is a communications professional in one of the country’s leading private banks.

Copyright 2007 Inquirer. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

http://opinion.inquirer.net/inquireropinion/columns/view_article.php?article_id=69917

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The intentions were good but I think the delivery was awful. I smell fits of envy and jealousy. Makes me wonder what kind of school life she had. Seems to me she probably couldn't fit in and never had game.