Customer Reviews

50 Rules Kids Won't Learn in School: Real-World Antidotes to Feel-Good Education

5 star:		(19)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

I heard this author on a local radio station. He was very entertaining but spoke about important issues I've been seeing in young adults today. I bought this book and enjoyed it so much that I'm purchasing more to give to others I feel should read it as well. His rules are right on and they are delivered in a real but amusing way.

If you are interested in helping a young person in your life become a better, stronger young adult, I highly recommend this book.

Charlie Sykes, once again, proves that common sense isn't completely dead.

A few examples:
Rule #1: Life is not fair. Get use to it.
Rule #9: Your school may have done away with winners and losers. Life hasn't.
Rule #14: Looking like a slut does not empower you.
Rule #30: Zero tolerance=zero common sense.
Rule #35: If your butt has its own zip code, it's not because McDonald's forced you to eat all those Big Macs. If you smoke, it's not Joe Camel's fault.
Rule #36: You are not immortal.

Some simple truisms that could benefit both kids, and adults!

There was a lot in this books that really opened my eyes to why kids do what they do. I had a pretty boring opening day for deer hunting season, so I read it in one sitting. This book is a commentary basically on the loss of common sense, respect, and proper parenting that many kids are experiencing today. Most of it I agreed with, though some points may have been a bit unnecessary, but probably were inserted to make it to the magic #50.

I would say that I would recommend this book to any high-school junior or senior (maybe even college freshman). However, the writing style gets to be monotonous. If you've ever heard Charlie Syke's radio show, you know that he writing in much the same way as he speaks. I think that it doesn't translate very well to text. However, some great points are made. He is very direct and does not mask his intentions, and that is what I really loved about this book.

"Ain't it awful" is what people talk about when they have exhausted the weather and other topics for idle conversation. Everyone can agree that prices are too high and kids these days have no respect and on and on. So who could possibly take issue with Sykes' 50 rules? Well, I guess I can.

For all the clucking of agreement I did as I read this, it didn't begin to tell me HOW to get these messages across to kids (call me lazy.) I will continue trying to teach these things to my children and my students as I always have but I have learned no new insights as to how. Kids are bombarded by messages that tell them they are the coolest and most important people in the universe and anyone who says different is both mean and wrong. During PSA commercial breaks and during experimental curriculum time at school, they get opportunities to exercise their eye-roll muscles when adults tell them they will someday have jobs and responsibilities. The collective and canned message of adults in general is one giant mind-f**k to them and they don't trust it.

Some of the examples Sykes throws out don't support his case as well as he thinks they do. Take the fourteen year old girl who jawbones her mother into letting her get her nosed pierced, leading to high drama at school. Now don't get me wrong--I think the piercing thing got out of hand decades ago and I get tired of hearing the word "rights" defined as whatever some jerk feels like doing at any given moment. But a willful young woman, a spineless parent and a rule-bound school bureaucrat are hardly exemplary of the world coming apart at the seams. Thus has it ever been.

After reading the book, Sykes' title puts me in mind of those come-ons for new books like: "The book [add name of political figure] doesn't want you to read." It's not that kids won't be taught these things in school; it's that kids have never wanted to hear these things since time immemorial and teachers compromise their relationship with kids by badgering them and preaching to them.

As someone who DOES teach children, I'd like to see each of Sykes' 50 lessons paired up with workable and proven techniques for delivering the message to young folks. Otherwise, it is just something for cranky people to read to get themselves primed up to write that letter to the editor about how the weather forecast is never right and what happened to their favorite comic stips.

The best book I've read in years. A very interesting perspective of what kids and adults are missing. It's nice to read something that verifies what I have been thinking and dealing with in a business setting for a long time.

50 Rules is not just something kids should be required to read, but something every new parent could benefit from. While being part of the Baby Boom Generation, I was raised with these rules but somehow my generation wanted to do things differently than their parents. We were going to coddle our children, we were going to treasure them to make up for what we felt was neglect on our parents parts (we couldn't see that our parents were busy making a living).

Now, a generation of children are growing up to a world that not only won't coddle them, but will be determined to knock them down a few notches just for sport. The kids will never know what hit them. After a life time of trophies just for showing up, bad attitude or not, and now they're thrown into a world of uncaring adults who came up the hard way and have no sympathy for little Johnny or Jennifer's 'feelings'.

Bravo for Charles Sykes for spelling it out so clearly for kids new to the world of hard knocks. If young people understand these simple rules they can know what they're up against and have a successful life if they choose to.

When I Dream

This book is filled with common sense advice for children, teenagers and anyone else who needs to face reality. The content of the text shifts the focus off self and on to how to make the best choices so that children can grow into happy, emotionally healthy adudlts. I would recommend this book for teachers, parents and anyone else who deals with young people. I bought this book after buying and reading another by the same author, "Dumbing down our Kids", also highly recommended.

If for no other reason I like the book because it does indeed deal with common sense issues. Now this may sound obvious to those of us who know what common sense is and how valuable thinking before one does something is.

But in an era when so many parents and teachers have allowed children to become dumbed down, don't take well thought out risks, or try sensible new challenges, the author hits the nail on the head.

And its nice to read a book where someone writes about the effect of ideas like childhood games where no one is allowed to win, or the idea that all children are winners, even if they never try to do well.

Reminds me of my Dad and his reminding me that failure is a part of succeeding, and that it in trying over and over again that is valuable and leads in the long run to great lessons as well as success.

Charles Sykes is a radio talk show host out of Milwaukee. He has written several books.

In 50 Rules Kids Won't Learn in School: Real-World Antidotes to Feel-Good Education Charles takes up the challenge to counter act the weak education that students get in public schools. The focus is not algebra lessons or history facts, but lessons about life that so few public school graduates seem to have even heard of, let alone learned. As a sample here are the first five rules:

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1: Life is not fair. Get used to it.
#2: The real world won't care as much as your school does about your self-esteem. It'll expect you to accomplish something before you feel good about yourself.
#3: Sorry, you won't make sixty thousand dollars a year right out of high school. And you won't be a vice president or have a company car. You may even have to wear a uniform that doesn't have a designer label.
#4: You are not entitled...
#5: No matter what your daddy says, you are not a princess...
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This books is written to teenagers. With each rule Charles explains what the rule means and why they need to learn it. The book reads quickly. It is intertaining. There are fun stories, and thoughtful observations. My 13-year-old daughter read and liked it.

One of the main themes of the books is encouraging teenagers to think about long term consequences. Don't do something stupid just because at the moment it seems OK, or it seems you can get away with it.

Another main theme is encouraging teenagers to treat others with respect. Treat your parents with respect because they have sacrificed so much to raise you. Treat you family with respect because they love you. Treat everyone with respect because it is the right thing to do.

Charles Sykes is pretty hard on teachers and especially publich schools. He writes that some of the problem is because teachers get tenure. I was surprised that so few tenured teachers ever get fired. In California over five years out of 220,000 only 62 teachers were dismissed. Over a seven year period in Illionis out of 100,000 tenured teachers only 44 were dismissed. On page 36 Charles writes:

"The paradox here is that we have entrusted the preparation of young people who will enter an increasingly competitive world to people who have effectively insulated themselves from the consequences of failure."

There were a lot of other good observations and thoughts.

This book is good for teenagers, and for parents. I think some times parents are hesitant to establish rules and to enforce them. This book will help remind parents why they need to be parents.

Gave this book to a teenage girl who just graduated from High School, and she was interested right off from the title. She started thumbing through and reading things out of it finding it humorous and cool. Days later her college sister and boyfriend arrived and they too started reading aloud to each other from it. As an adult I found it interesting and easy to read but thought provoking. A good antidote to what many kids are believing today. It's a little alarming the attitudes and lack of understanding of how life works in many kids we know. The 'I'm entitled', 'I don't need to work hard', 'I want it now', 'It's not fair', etc., has been some of how kids we know look at life. If I remember correctly, I think the author starts by saying 'Life isn't fair - get over it'. It's a great book to give as a graduation gift to prepare kids for the 'real world'.