When life gives you lemons

A study done showed that with the same technology, same level of education and same time frame China managed to produce 90 something cars while SA managed to produce 20 something. Where did we go wrong?

The problem wasn't education, as it was equal. The problem wasn't technology as it was the same. The problem was discipline, we are being raised in a nation, a society in which we expect things to be done for us. Not just in SA but in the world (in America when comparing International math and science quizzes, America came 25th out of 30 in scores but ranked highest when asked if they beat other countries, this is a combination of a high focus on self esteem and low expectations) are we allowed to settle with complacency as long as we feel positive.

You cannot educate discipline, discipline comes from your upbringing and values. Parents in SA are being given grants based on how many children they have, which yes in an economic manner makes sense since they have more children to look after, however, this also means the poor are just making more and more babies to get a bigger and bigger grant to support themselves (who knew even the poor are greedy?). Surely at some point we should stop allowing people to "free-ride" off of their own selfishness. The more children you have, in impoverished conditions, means its harder for them to be raised effectively (law of diminishing marginal utility even applies to the number of children) and so the cycle continues with the poor becoming poorer.

Maybe if the Government stopped giving out child support grants and started educating parents (yes parents) and helping them ONLY while they get an education so that the parents can get a job and teach their child by acting. No matter how many times you tell someone smoking is bad, if you do it with a cigarette in your hand they wont believe you. We need to instil discipline through actions, even with rich parents that are never home, children are being left behind, without proper guidance and without a proper figurehead children will remain children and never really amount to their full potential.

6 million people pay tax in South Africa, if you only use people between the ages of 18-24 there is a 75% unemployment rate, this means one of a few things, children aren't being given enough responsibility and are not trusted by the elder generation to run things, the youth are not properly educated or there is just no room for newcomers. If its the third problem then we really do have an employment crisis on our hands as people will refuse to step down and no one will force them ( I personally am against forcing retirement as I believe if you can work, you can work, regardless of age), but if its the other 2 then the problem can be addressed and dealt with. We need to raise the youth in a more productive way, to teach them to make lemonade rather than tell them too, to SHOW them how to deal with situations through your actions. And no matter how good your education system is, if a child goes home to an uneducated parent, majority of them will not succeed, if a parent beats a child, studies show that in all likelihood that child will beat theirs and the circle will continue, we need to educate parents on how to raise proper children.

It is not only the education system that is at fault but also how it is taught and how children are being treated, when teachers go on strike, children should not celebrate and be happy, they should strike against the teachers striking, we have to want to be here, we have to want to make a difference! It is up to us, the children to say, hang on! something is wrong here, and we have to stand up for it and speak out against it, not through violence, or protests, but through speech and communication, through education and understanding, would you want to teach someone who stood outside your house and shouted at you? No, so its time that we started wanting to learn and not just expecting to be taught everything. Its time for us to read more than the set workbook, to research more than just the school syllabus, to actually find common sense. It is our responsibility as children to make sure we are educated ourselves if we are not given the right environment to do it.

Please feel free to leave comments, I really would like to start a discussion on this :) do you think I have given too huge a burden on children to do things themselves? Or that I am not giving enough thought to those without "real opportunities"?