What children need to know

Hello, everybody, and welcome back to another Cecil’s World in Print. By now, I am sure you have had your second cup of brew to get your day started and you’re reading the newspaper.

If you have kids, your routine is hectic in the mornings, making breakfast and getting them ready for school. Sometimes you think, “I’m not going to make it today. There is just too much to do.”

Hold on a minute! The day is going to get better. Take a break, sit down and relax. Everything is going to be OK.

Picking out their clothes for school and making breakfast was not that hard for me. The hardest part was getting my son out of bed to get ready for school. For a long time, it drove me crazy. After getting him up, I would go back and get ready for work. I would later go back to his room to make sure he was getting ready and guess what?

He would be lying on the floor or still in bed. You could shake him and he would not wake up. One day I discovered the perfect way to get him up.

After several attempts to wake Jeff, I took a small cup of cold water and splashed it in his face. Boy, did he jump up! It was just a small amount of water, because I knew I would have to clean it up. That one time worked and all I would have to say is, “Jeff, it’s time to get up,” and if he didn’t move, I would say, “Get up or I’m coming with the water,” and he would jump up.

When your kids grow up, you are always thinking, “Did I do everything right? Will they turn out OK? Will they be successful in life, and will they raise a family and be good parents?”

I think 99.9 percent of parents today try and do the right things for their kids. Most parents make sure their kids have a good education and are prepared for the real world.

But do they learn everything, or do we spoil them too much? I know I always wanted my son to have all the things a kid his age wanted. Yes, I spoiled my kid. He was taught respect along with good manners. He learned that when he did wrong, he was punished. Not just sitting in a corner — he received those good old-fashioned whippings like I received growing up from my grandfather. I think some of the parents today do not discipline their kids the way they should.

Don’t give me that, “Oh, I don’t whip my child.” Well, that might be the problem. I believe if you spare the rod, you spoil the child. Kids need to learn right from wrong at an early age.

Now, my son has a daughter and he and his wife are teaching her everything she needs to know to make sure she is ready for the real world when she is older. Of course, they are spoiling her just like her grandfather is, but she will be ready to face life’s challenges when she starts her working career.

We can’t teach our kids everything, but we try. They have to experience the real world and everyday situations to learn about life’s ups and downs. We know everything isn’t always picture perfect, but we keep up and learn to deal with it just like our kids, and their kids will learn.

Here are portions of a list written by Charles J. Sykes, the author of “Dumbing Down Our Kids: Why American Children Feel Good About Themselves But Can’t Read, Write, Or Add.” In my opinion, it tells just what kids today need to know.

Rule 1: Life is not fair. Get used to it.
Rule 2: The world won’t care as much about your self-esteem as your school does. It’ll expect you to accomplish something before you feel good about yourself.
Rule 3: Sorry, you won’t make $40,000 a year right out of high school. And you won’t be a vice president with a car phone either.
Rule 4: If you think your teacher is tough, wait til you get a boss.
Rule 5: Flipping burgers is not beneath your dignity. Your grandparents had a different word for burger flipping. They called it opportunity.
Rule 6: It’s not your parents’ fault. If you screw up, you are responsible.
Rule 7: Before you were born, your parents weren’t as boring as they are now. They got that way paying your bills, cleaning up your room and listening to you tell them how idealistic you are. And by the way, before you save the rain forest from the blood-sucking parasites of your parents’ generation, try delousing the closet in your bedroom.
Rule 8: Your school may have done away with winners and losers. Life hasn’t. In some schools, they’ll give you as many times as you want to get the right answer. Failing grades have been abolished and class valedictorians scrapped, lest anyone’s feelings be hurt. ... This, of course, bears not the slightest resemblance to anything in real life.
Rule 9: Life is not divided into semesters, and you don’t get summers off. ... While we’re at it, very few employers are interested in fostering your self-expression or helping your find yourself.
Rule 10: Television is not real life. In real life, people actually have to leave the coffee shop to go to jobs.
Rule 11: Be nice to nerds. You may end up working for them.

Now you are ready for the real world. Buckle up and get ready. It’s not going to be a smooth ride, but it will be fun.

See you next week, right here in the Morning News and on the tube.

— Cecil Chandler is a veteran reporter at WBTW News13. His column appears Mondays in the Morning News.