I know a LOT of parents judge (and even favor) their children based on how well they did in school. I had a learning disorder and so I did not do good in school as a child, and was put down and called lazy constantly by both my parents, which only made learning even harder for me, not to mention they never got me the help I needed.
My older sister, who was favored above my younger sister and me, was always encouraged and did very well in school. My parents are both gone now, but until the day they both died they still never quit with reminding me that I was not good in school. I took care of my dad while he was suffering with cancer, and he still, at 82 yrs. old, told me that my older sister was 'better than' me because she got her high school diploma and I never did. He could not answer me though, when I finally reminded him of the following: My older sister with the high school diploma did nothing after high school but get high and sleep around, was arrested at 18 for drugs, never had a job until she was 30 working part time and then quit in less than a year because she could not stand to have to work, got married and divorced and got high with her two daughters when they were young teenagers, and finally got a job (because her child support stopped), watering plants because she didn't want a job where she had to 'think'!
As for me, I got a job doing filing in an office, then decided that I wanted to learn more without going through the horrifying experience I always had in school, so I went to the library and started reading, and came across a book on Accounting. I checked out that book over and over again, and in spite of my learning problems, I was determined to prove to myself and my parents that I can learn, but I couldn't do it while being called lazy and being accused of not trying. I got my first accounting job doing billing for a small company, and I began to thrive. I studied even more and then got a job doing general accounting, then sales auditing. After a few years of working hard, I ended up learning payroll, being promoted twice, and eventually became the assistant controller of a construction company. For years I would sometimes look at what I had accomplished and say 'I can't believe this is me'. That is what years of being put down and compared to a sibling can do to you.
I am not better than my older sister, we are just different people. But my point is this: I think education is one of the most important things there is, however, there is more than one way to get it, and having a piece of paper that says you did good with a teacher standing over you and memorizing what is within the four corners of a book does not make you better than anyone else. Bill Gates never went to college; Lucille Ball was told she would never amount to anything; and the greatest teacher of all time never opened a book but ended up teaching the elders in a Temple at the age of 12. :tickled_pink:
My older sister, who was favored above my younger sister and me, was always encouraged and did very well in school. My parents are both gone now, but until the day they both died they still never quit with reminding me that I was not good in school. I took care of my dad while he was suffering with cancer, and he still, at 82 yrs. old, told me that my older sister was 'better than' me because she got her high school diploma and I never did. He could not answer me though, when I finally reminded him of the following: My older sister with the high school diploma did nothing after high school but get high and sleep around, was arrested at 18 for drugs, never had a job until she was 30 working part time and then quit in less than a year because she could not stand to have to work, got married and divorced and got high with her two daughters when they were young teenagers, and finally got a job (because her child support stopped), watering plants because she didn't want a job where she had to 'think'!
As for me, I got a job doing filing in an office, then decided that I wanted to learn more without going through the horrifying experience I always had in school, so I went to the library and started reading, and came across a book on Accounting. I checked out that book over and over again, and in spite of my learning problems, I was determined to prove to myself and my parents that I can learn, but I couldn't do it while being called lazy and being accused of not trying. I got my first accounting job doing billing for a small company, and I began to thrive. I studied even more and then got a job doing general accounting, then sales auditing. After a few years of working hard, I ended up learning payroll, being promoted twice, and eventually became the assistant controller of a construction company. For years I would sometimes look at what I had accomplished and say 'I can't believe this is me'. That is what years of being put down and compared to a sibling can do to you.
I am not better than my older sister, we are just different people. But my point is this: I think education is one of the most important things there is, however, there is more than one way to get it, and having a piece of paper that says you did good with a teacher standing over you and memorizing what is within the four corners of a book does not make you better than anyone else. Bill Gates never went to college; Lucille Ball was told she would never amount to anything; and the greatest teacher of all time never opened a book but ended up teaching the elders in a Temple at the age of 12. :tickled_pink:
