jrichmond Saturday Nov.8 past vs. present

In class we briefly touched on whether kids were worse today than in the past or not.  I started my teaching career as a substitute and teacher's aide in 1994.  Are the parents worse?  I think they are a little because parents in 2008 do not respect teachers and principals as much as they did in 1994.  I am not sure the kids are that much worse.  Some problems are different.  (In 1994 for example, no one had cell phones in class.)    However, maybe I think kids are not worse because I have gotten better over the years at discipline.  As a beginning teacher, from say 1994-1998, I was not as good at discipline.  As we said in class, discipline is generally not covered in undergraduate teacher preparation programs.  You have to learn as you go along.  So from 1998-2008 have I just gotten really good at managing student discipline, or is it that the students are just as "good" or "bad" as they were in 1994?  Hm, food for thought. -- Jennifer Richmond