I’m starting to think I must speak some foreign language that my teens don’t understand. Or maybe it’s the other way around. I’ll say one thing and they’ll come back with some ridiculous answer that makes me want to smack my head right down on the table. Hard.
For example, last night we were talking to one of the teens about school work. Or lack thereof. It went like this.
You’re missing three homework assignments from Chapter 1.
Yeah, I didn’t feel like doing them.
Umm…what? What do you mean you didn’t feel like doing them?
I already know all that stuff so it’s pointless to waste an hour doing homework when I already know it.
No it’s not pointless. You do your homework and you get a grade. Right now your getting an F.
This is just the first chapter. It’s not like I won’t do the rest of the chapters.
Homework is your job. You don’t get to pick and choose which homework you want to do. Do you think my boss just says, “Oh, ok. No problem.” when I don’t want to do something at work?
It’s not a big deal. I’ll make it up with the next chapters.
Yes. Yes it is a big deal. You are failing.
But it’s stupid to do it when I already know it.
If you know it, then it should have been easy and would have been an easy grade.
But why would I do something I already know?
To improve. To get an A. To avoid getting grounded. Lots of reasons.
But I already know everything about it. I don’t need to get better at it.
It’s just like sports. The more you practice the better you get. Tiger Woods still practices.
Sports is different than math.
No, no it’s not.
It’s stupid to waste an hour on something I already know. I’d rather play computer or video games.
Well computer and video games are privileges and you know the consequences of not doing homework. You lose privileges.
Fine. I’d rather sit in my room in the dark all night long than do something I already know for no reason.
You’d rather sit in your room doing absolutely nothing for 60 hours than do one hour of homework?
Yes!
And I had to end the conversation there because seriously?!? Did I talk this nonsense when I was a teenager? How do you reason with crazy?
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译文:
青少年是一门外语吗？
我开始觉得自己必须学一些年少时候不懂的外国话。或者，这也许是另一种方法。我要做一件事，年轻人们就会用一些可笑的回答来反击，这些回答常常让我想一头撞在桌子上。难啊~~
举个例子，昨天晚上我们在跟一个十几岁的少年谈论学校布置的作业。 对话是这样进行的。。。
第一单元的三次作业你都没完成。
恩，我不想做。
厄。。。什么？什么叫你不想做？
这里面的知识我已经都懂了，所以既然我都懂了，浪费一小时做作业是没有意义的。
这不是毫无意义的。你做了作业才能取得好成绩。现在你得到的是F 。
这还只是第一章而已啦，不意味着我不会做剩下章节的作业。
你的任务就是做作业。你不能选择自己想做的功课。难道你认为当我不想做工作的时候，我的老板会说“好的，没问题。”
这不是一个大问题，我会在下一章弥补的。
不，这是一个大问题。你在慢慢失败。
但是我懂了还要做作业，那是愚蠢的行为。
如果你是懂的，那它本该是件容易的事，也该是轻松取得的成绩。
但是我要做我已经懂了的功课？
因为你要提高，要获得A，要避免垫底。有很多很多理由。
但是我已经都懂了。我不必掌握得更好了。
这就象运动一样。你练习得越多，做得就越好。就是老虎伍兹也要练习。
运动和数学是不一样的。
不，它们是一样的。
在我已经知道的东西上花上一小时是愚蠢的行为。我宁愿打电脑或者玩视频游戏。
电脑和视频游戏是特权，你知道不做作业的后果。你失去了这些特权。
好吧. 我宁愿在我的房间里不开灯整晚坐着，也不乐意毫无缘由地去做我已经懂的作业。
你宁愿把60个小时花在房间里呆坐却什么都不做，也不愿意花一个小时去做作业？
对的！
我不得不在这里结束了对话，是因为太认真吗？当我还是十几岁时，我也说这些毫无意义的话吗？你是怎样跟失去理智的人辩论的？