I was raised to understand that hard work is necessary. I saw Mom and Dad work hard, expect hard work from us, and push through difficulties. They didn’t make excuses for themselves, and they didn’t allow us to make excuses.

But is that mentality going the way of the dinosaur in the 21st century?

This isn’t a “kids today are so lazy” post. Though I am concerned. But I’m more concerned about the parents than I am the kids. As a teacher, I am seeing more and more parents make excuses for their kids – advocating for higher grades, in spite of a lack of effort; fighting for more freedoms with little responsibility; gasping when their child isn’t given a trophy for something he isn’t actually any good at…

As a result,  I’m seeing kids graduate from high school who aren’t ready to become independent, who expect to be given what they really need to earn – a degree, respect, income.

And I’m concerned.

Parents, we need to do better. You aren’t being a “bad mom” if your child earns a C. In fact, I have so much respect for the kids who earn C’s – especially in the online environment. You’d be shocked (or maybe not!) at how much work is done by parents. They, of course, call it “help”. And justify it because Grades are Important! And My Child Needs to Get In the Best School! But they are training their students to rely, not on hard work and perseverance, but excuses and cheating.

We all recognize that being a teenager today is incredibly challenging. I wish it weren’t. But wishing the difficulties away won’t make them disappear. So instead of making excuses and looking for shortcuts, let’s help this generation develop a work ethic that will enable them to be successful in life. Let’s make character more important than grades. Let’s allow our kids to fail, to learn the hard lessons, to sit the bench.

There are more than enough parents who are raising their kids to believe that if something is Too Hard, they don’t have to do it. Let’s balance those families out with families whose kids make mistakes and learn from them. Those kids, like the tortoise in the fable, will end up winning the race – leading companies and governments and future families.

“Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.” ~Col. 3:23-24