its a mixed bag...
in general most are lazy beyond belief and cant put their phones down for 6 seconds without panicking that they might miss a text asking them when the last time they took a pee was...
many are taken by surprise when they find out what a technical field it is and that taking automotive to get out of other classes isn't as easy as they thought it might be...especially when you start throwing the science, math and writing/communication skills at them....
they can find a dirty picture online in 6 seconds, repost it with comments to 50 friends and edit a movie....but ask them to research a repair and they lock up like they've never seen the internet or operated a keyboard...
they skip class on a whim and respond with "i was busy" so casually its like school isn't a requirement at all...
I had 3 seniors stop participating in class in the last 3 weeks last year because they had enough credits to graduate and figured why should they try if it isn't going to make a difference...2 of them lost automotive jobs when I informed their bosses that they failed my class....one of them is one of the smartest I had in my class but just lost interest at the end of the year...he lost a job over the summer and after his mother kicked him out of the house had to move in with his dad and take a minimum wage job....
initiative is poor....many kids are from broken homes and we are in a pretty economically depressed area...some of them are helping to support their families and work so many hours its hard to keep them awake in class...
on the other hand....I have some brilliant students who I have placed in dealers and independents and if they keep up their interest will probably become top techs some day...
the hardest thing to get past is the education they are receiving today...teachers are training them to pass standardized tests instead of training them for life....they are not taught the mechanics of why they do things a certain way....instead they are just shown how to do something so they can get through the state requirements...when they come to us and we teach them how and why something works...then how to diagnose, repair and confirm they are baffled and have a hard time retaining the information for any amount of time...
when I sit down with my daughter and help her with homework I explain how she would use what she is learning in the real world and she gets it....she asks why they don't teach it that way in her classes....I cant answer that but I know they are failing these kids miserably...they are throwing work at them with no purpose and the kids dont see value in it...they end up lost with no direction...
most of my students come right out and say my class is their favorite because they are actually learning something with value...I have several students who enrolled in multiple classes with me and one who spends the entire day in all of my classes even though he wont be able to get credit for one because its sequential and out of order...he wants the knowledge though....
there isn't a hard and fast answer to your question....in general the kids today have been cheated out of a quality education and its hard to say if we can turn that around with our limited contact...some are gems and doing well...others just don't have the interest or the aptitude....add to that the fact that the schools need the numbers to survive and you are a part time babysitter for some while you try your best to make sure the ones who want it are getting what they need and enough of it...
its a juggling act and I am starting to understand why so many teachers are against the type of evaluations that are getting pushed on them...we are forced to take students who don't belong in our curriculums and someone wants us to turn them into something they will never be...if we cant it is our failure...quite the conundrum....
for now it is working as much magic with the ones who want it and trying not to let the ones who don't stand in the way...weve turned out some gems who are doing well and we just keep plugging along sorting through them looking for the bright nuggets...
its easy to tell which have had a good family influence and which haven't...there are still a few dads who work their kids and show them what they know and how to be successful....but there are a lot of less than appropriate attitudes that are hard to deal with as one wrong word sends an instructor home and advances a future criminal because they know how to paly the system....
as an instructor you lay your hope in the good ones and give them everything you can...just hoping they follow the right path...if they can stay committed....
