Pressures mount early on our young people

Cranky critics of "kids today" surround us, but the truth of the matter is that never before has more pressure been put on our kids at a younger age than now. So while many of us like to complain about young people, we have no idea what it's like these days to be a high school or middle school age child.

In most baby boomers' lives, we had the luxury to contemplate a reasonably successful life without a college degree. There were good middle class jobs, usually in manufacturing, offering benefits, retirement plans and other goodies. Basically the agreement was, be a good employee and you had a job for life. Our children have nothing like that waiting for them.

From the earliest grades now many parents pressure their children to be not only good students, but top performers, constantly pressing to be "special" and in advanced this or that. We're not criticizing these parents. We all want our children to be the best. But the pressure on some kids is intense. This is true in academics, sports and every other pursuit.

When these children reach middle school, the pressure is on for FCAT and other standardized testing. They feel the pressure and so do their teachers and administrators. That only builds as they move to the high school, where students are trying to take advanced placement classes, IB and anything else that allows them to get ahead.

Again, we are not against students being challenged. In fact, it's good for them. But the basic feeling among a lot of parents and students is that a person's future is won or lost in high school. If the right grades are not being made to get in the right college it will affect their ability to get the right job. It's ridiculous.

Jobs after high school are very limited. No more going to work at the local manufacturing plant for a decent wage and benefits. The best they can hope for is to work a low-paying job in the service industry with no benefits and pray something better comes along. Even a four-year degree is no guarantee for anything.

Pressures were different decades ago. Back then people married and started families earlier, but there still was plenty to stress about. These days, however, the future seems more uncertain for our children and grandchildren. For those of us who only want our children to have it better than us, that's a scary proposition.