You might not be paying too much attention to the Occupy Wall Street movement but it might be time you took a look at some of the grievances from a parent’s perspective. College students make up a large majority of the Occupy Wall Street protestors who claim they are the 99% that will no longer tolerate the greed and corruption of the 1%. According to an unofficial poll conducted by the Occupy Wall Street movement, 64.2% of respondents who support the movement are under age 34.
There isn’t one unified message other than they are against corporate greed and corruption. However, a large majority of the students are calling for creditors to forgive student loans, believing they have been unfairly saddled with a debt that is impossible to repay. MoveOn.org has drafted a national petition that has already collected 600,000 signatures requesting that all student loan debt be forgiven.
The Occupy Wall Street movement has made me question whether or not parents actually prepared or are preparing their kids to become responsible adults. You can blame the economy for their inability to get jobs, but why so much debt? Is it possible to attend college without going into unrecoverable debt? Who dropped the ball in educating these students about financial responsibility and consequences to their actions?
Here are some questions that you might ask yourself when you start the college process:
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Have you communicated to your students that everyone is responsible for their own choices?
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Have you communicated to your students that financial accountability will shape their future?
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Have you communicated to your students the difference between "wants" and "needs"?
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Have you communicated to your students that anything short of hard work and perseverance will produce success?
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Have you worked with your students to choose colleges that are affordable; and have you looked at the college cost calculators to determine the actual costs involved?
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Have you compared colleges as a consumer and are you helping your students make the best choice for their higher education based on the financial aid statistics for each college?
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Have you communicated to your students the moral qualities you expect them to exhibit in college and in life?
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Have you encouraged your students to become their own advocate and taught them to speak for themselves?
Above are some critical questions to ask yourself as you prepare your student for college and life. Focusing on academics, testing and extracurriculars will help them get in, but after they are in will they become independent, responsible adults? At some point, we ALL have to claim responsibility for our actions. If you want your student to become an independent responsible adult, teach him that all actions have consequences and that he always has a choice. The Occupy Wall Street movement should peak your awareness of these important character traits and cause you to make some changes in the way you look at your student’s college choice.
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