Dear Gen Z learners:
Good day!
How are you all today? I hope you are all coping in the midst of the punishing pandemic and the sickening incongruence of both DepEd and CHEd in terms of sustaining both online and modular learning. It is indeed difficult for all of us to undergo a paradigm shift, especially for you learners who are the future bearers of our national identity and the future movers and shakers of our society.
I can only shake my head in disbelief and disappointment over the vapid, dense pronouncements and the haphazardly implemented edicts your estimable Secretary Leonor Briones and your erudite Chairperson J. Prospero de Vera III have done since the beginning of the pandemic. They do not actually care for you for they seem to think of only their own glories to bask in.
Being human (and given their track record in the academe), the two educational honchos also have their own skins to save and so they are not really being responsible enough and tough enough to admit their shortcomings wholeheartedly.
Throughout the pandemic, I have been observing how you study and how you behave towards your peers, your teachers, your parents, and others in general. You have your own principles and you think and feel that you can explore many opportunities. With the vitamins and minerals that your parents have been feeding you from your entry into this world, you eventually become inquisitive, courageous, and technology-savvy.
It is not enough that you have strengths in terms of aptitude. I would like to emphasize that many of you lack emotional intelligence and spiritual development. I cannot wholly blame social media and technology for raising people like you who assume that you know everything. As a result, you have been condescending, impulsive, impetuous, and (to a fault) vacuous. In addition, you Generation Z kids have become more entitled than the Rothschilds or, to provide you with a modern context, Jeff Bezos, Bill Gates, or Warren Buffett. Though I can see that your minds and hearts are underdeveloped for now, I hope and pray that you all see the light.
Why have I said that you have not yet totally grown up (but I believe that you will, especially now that you are forced to grow up)?
First of all, you have been complaining about distance learning and the amount of school work that you have to do. The latter has been prevalent since time immemorial. Need I say more?
Second, for every rebuke you receive, you fight back and claim to assert your rights even if it turns out that you are at fault. One example is the impetuous, impertinent brat who is Dennis the Menace personified and whose mercurial grandmother and lackadaisical mother complained about the teacher who was only rebuking the little boy because he forgot to return his report card. Sacre bleu! You complain too much yet learn too little, mind you!
Third, you have all been hooked on online games and as a result, you have not been performing well in school. Do not ever blame me if I censure you because all I care about is your health as well as your well-being. If you cannot minimize your game playing, you might as well read about the young Korean gaming addict who died from dehydration because he did not eat, drink, urinate, and defecate. I would not be utterly shocked if one day, you collapse while doing TikTok.
Fourth, the way you communicate with your parents and elders is atrocious at most. You cannot even learn how to listen and to take turns, let alone tell the truth. Have you learned it from TV shows where people save their own skins instead of caring for others? Considering that you have been answering back at them, your mouths reek of human waste and are more foul-smelling than a chain smoker’s mouth or smoke coming from the exhaust pipe of a bus or truck.
Be warned that this is for those Generation Z kids who have not learned the art of humility and responsibility.
As for those Gen-Z kids who step up and shape up, I salute you and your parents for a job well done! Keep it up and you will keep holding your heads up!
You are the hope of the future and of our country, so take advantage of the opportunities to learn, grow, and prosper!
Listen to Aretha Franklin’s “Respect” so that you would gain even a modicum of wisdom about respecting everyone. Wake up!
Sincerely,
Your Mestizo Ilocano Educator
If you have suggestions in terms of the education-related topics that you want me to feature, please feel free to send me an email to edteo.ramos@yahoo.com or to coachjet.inspirations@gmail.com and I will reply to you as soon as I receive your email.
