50 Rules Kids Won’t Learn in School

There is no faster way to spread something inaccurate than via the internet.
Sometimes the fallout from that is very serious but in this case it’s just a matter of giving Bill Gates credit where credit was not due. Making its way to my email was a blub called “The Wisdom of Bill Gates” and it’s supposedly from a speech that Gates made at a high school in which he talked about 11 things students did not and will not learn in school. While it’s entertaining and thought-provoking it’s not from a speech that Gates or any other person made. Rather it’s from books written by author/writer and talk show host Charles J. Sykes with the latest being “50 Rules Kids Won’t Learn in School.”
Among them in abbreviated version:

· Life is not fair. Get used to it.
· The real world won’t care as much about your self-esteem as much as your school does. It’ll expect you to accomplish something before you feel good about yourself. This may come as a shock.
· Sorry, you won’t make $60,000 a year right out of high school. And you won’t be a vice-president and you may even have to wear
a uniform that doesn’t have a Gap label.
* If you think your teacher is tough, wait until you get a boss. He
doesn’t have tenure so he tends to be a bit edgier. When you
screw up; he’s not going to ask you how you feel about it.
· Television is NOT real life. Your problems will not all be solved
in 30 minutes, minus time for commercials.
· Flipping burgers is not beneath your dignity. Your grandparents
had a different word for burger-flipping…they called it opportunity.
· Before you were born your parents weren’t as boring as they are
now. They got that way paying your bills, cleaning your room and
listening to you tell them how idealistic you are.
· Enjoy this while you can. Sure parents are a pain, school’s a bother
and life is depressing. Someday you’ll realize how wonderful it was to be a kid. Maybe you should start now.
· Your school may have done away with winners and losers but life
hasn’t. Despite the wishful thinking of the therapists, counselors and moon-rock peddlers, life does involve competition.
* After you graduate, you won’t be competing against rivals who were
raised to be wimps on the playground.
* Be nice to nerds. Chances are you’ll end up working for one.