Re: “Why Schools Create a Culture of Failure” by Frank Sanitate, (News-Press, Voices, Jan. 17).
Most humans live a life of both success and failure. Disciplined people tend to be more successful than the undisciplined. People who fail, choose not to try, don’t understand how to be successful or both.
All kids start school with certain capabilities, discipline and goals to be successful. Parent(s) have a major role in a student’s early expectations.
Most teachers teach so students can succeed. Students who do poorly most often don’t try. Success is not important, or they are intellectually incapable of success.
Most teachers want students to succeed. Teachers teach because they like working with young people and enjoy seeing students succeed.
All students succeed at different levels. For some 90% is success; for others 70% is successful. Not all students are successful in the same subject. I was more successful in history, English, and P.E. while others were more successful in math and science.
My interests played a major part in my motivation and as a result success in various subjects.
It is often a student’s choice to do homework and study for tests or watch TV and play on the phone. Learning to set goals and being disciplined starts early in life and is very necessary for being successful throughout one’s life.
The system does not “force teachers to create failures.” Parents, students, and teachers create the environment for success. Students who choose to fail at education most likely will also fail at life, marriage and parenthood later on.
Here are my answers to the questions Frank Sanitate posed in his article as a homework assignment.
1. Define success. A successful person achieves their goals and has a happy successful life.
2. What must happen for No. 1. Learning to set goals early in life — with the help of good, supportive parents, and good, supportive teachers — creates a good, supportive marriage and family.
3. Different for each child? Yes! Each child is different but successful older siblings create successful younger ones. Often a very successful or poor teacher can change a student’s life for good or bad.
4. How would you measure each child in a family? Very easy! What type of adult life do they have? Successful job, marriage, parenting or a failure in any of these three areas.
5. Why (the reasons for success or failure)? For failure, it’s bad parenting when they were a child, lack of setting life goals, or just plain dumb, bad luck. Most children want to be successful so adapt to their teachers and environment to do so. Those who fail to adapt have a very unhappy, miserable life.
Jim Coombs.
Santa Barbara
