Month: May 2016

For the adolescent mind (and for some adults), social media is like cocaine.

Snapchat, Instagram, Yik Yak, Facebook and Youtube are the tried and true drugs in which most of us are already aware. However, Burn Note, Whisper, MeetMe, After School, Skout, Omegie, are newer narcotics that have eluded most parents and school officials. In fact, these new forms of dope won’t let anyone over the age of 18 use them, so it’s impossible for adults to monitor the app their children are getting high to!

Social Media has always been a distraction in terms of school, homework, and family life. Moreover, these apps have morphed into highly addictive – life altering opiates our children openly carry around in the palm of their hands. These drugs lead to health concerns such as severe sleep deprivation, low self esteem, anxiety, depression, violent behavior, and suicide (Yes, social media kills people).

Parents, we CAN NOT monitor social media. It has changed. Social media is now way bigger than us all. It’s smarter than every one of us. It’s power and it’s reach will circumvent us 99.99999% of the time! The engineers, psychologists, and behavioral specialists that work for these billion dollar technology companies have designed these drugs to be insanely addictive and our children are their main target!

Like all drug dealers, these marketers give our kids the app for free, with hopes of hooking them for life. It has always worked and will continue to work – if we let them.

The only way to win this battle – this war, is to take our children’s “smart” phones away. Give your child a phone, but make sure he/she can only call and text you. Their phone should not have Wi-Fi, should not have internet, and should not have social media –  cocaine!

 

Maurice Guest Jr., is an education administrator in Little Rock, Arkansas.

Unintentionally, we are damning our children.

All of us are guilty.

We as Fathers, Mothers and Educators are teaching our children to pursue their passion. We advise our youngsters to search for something they are passionate about and then find a way to make their passion their life’s work. This sounds good, but this message is fundamentally wrong. Let me explain why.

In 2015, 150 ninth grade students in Little Rock, Arkansas were given a sheet of paper. On this paper was the definition for passion and one question.

• Passion- A strong or extravagant fondness, enthusiasm, or desire for anything. (Dictionary.com)
• In one word, what is your passion? __________________

 

There was no dialogue or explanation. The students could not ask any questions and there was absolutely no prompting.

The following list represents the top 10 answers to the above question. The answers are in ranking order.

1. Music
2. Social Media (Snapchat -34 | Instagram – 17)
3. Fashion
4. Sports
5. Shoes
6. Video Games
7. Family
8. YouTube
9. Weed
10. Drawing / Art

The students’ answers are not passions. These are hobbies.

Do we really want our children to be so invested in their hobbies?

Do we want our children to make a committed effort to transform their hobbies into careers?

Don’t misunderstand me. Some of our children will become professional musicians, professional social media experts, fashion designers, professional athletes, video game designers and professional gamers, Youtube Videographers, Legal Marijuana Entrepreneurs, and Professional Cartoonists, Illustrators and Artists. However, these professions make up less than 5% of the world’s workforce – combined! All of our children can’t make it in these fields – it’s mathematically impossible!

So what is the answer? What do we tell our children?

We all want our children to achieve greatness. However, we must put our children on the right path.

We must raise our children to be intelligent, hard working, and well disciplined. We must push our children to read more and play less. We must push our children to do more math and do less socializing. We must make our children work. We must teach our children to work hard! Any child that reads at a high level, is good at math, and has an outstanding work ethic, is a child that can become anything they put their minds to! This brings me back to “passion.”

Our goal as parents and educators is to raise intelligent, hardworking and well-disciplined children. These children, because they are so well equipped – can then pick a career and life that sounds interesting. And because they are more intelligent, harder working, and more disciplined than their peers – they will win. Winning gives birth to passion.

Getting good at something and working hard to develop a craft, builds passion. Putting in the work and becoming great at something makes us passionate.

Passion cannot be pursued.

Passion is built as we experience success and as we dedicate our lives to a cause or our life’s work. And to sustain this success requires intelligent decision making, hard work, and discipline.

Success is what produces passion.

Passion can’t be pursued. This is not a game of “tag” – we can’t chase passion. Passion is a by-product of success. Passion must be created. Passion must be built.

 

Maurice Guest Jr., is an education administrator in Little Rock, Arkansas.

 

“I will do it later” is a phrase rooted in mediocrity. We are all guilty of being seduced by procrastination. She whispers to us early in the morning encouraging us to hit the snooze button. She cries that we are too tired to work out today and we can wait until tomorrow. She tempts us to put off the project until the timing is “just right.”

We can’t allow her words to control us.

To fulfill our destiny and maximize our potential – we must declare war against the phrase “I will do it later.” When we hear the phrase rise from within, we must kill it with action! “Action” is our sword and shield!

 

Maurice Guest Jr., is an education administrator in Little Rock, Arkansas.