What do you know about taking responsibility for your actions? When was the first time you had to take responsibility? I remember when I was a little girl, I used to walk around the store with my hands out, touching everything in sight. My mother would become angry and tell me to stop touching everything. She did not want to have to pay for something that one of her children broke because of carelessness of disobedience. In America, there is a saying: Your break it, you bought it! It means if you break this item, you now must pay for it since you were so careless. I remember being in a store in Louisiana and walking down the isle with my hand out touch every single item in that isle. I walked down that isle as if my life depended on touching each item. After my mother telling me so many times that I would break something....I broke something. My mother made me bring it up to the register and apologize to the cashier for breaking it. I don’t remember what the cashier said but I don’t think I’ll ever forget the moment that I had to take responsibility for my actions. It was a turning point in my life.
American culture teaches that we take responsibility for our actions even if the outcome is painful. At school, if your parents did your homework for you, you could get into big trouble in your school. The idea was that learning from life lessons and learning how to be a capable human being was much more important than just pursuing good grades. Many students were straight A students and they did not know how to function in the real world. How would it help them if they were just “book smart”? Could they clean their house? Could they get a job and contribute something positive to society? This is the goal of many parents in America. Getting good grades is very important, however many people would rather have a child grow up into an honest member of society working at a job that is not best rather than going to the best school, getting the best job and being unhappy and unable to cope with the issues of life.
Discussion:
What about you? When you graduated from high school, did you just have good grades or could you take care of yourself? What about after graduating from college?
If you have not graduated yet, what skills do you think you should have after your graduate from high school?
What are some good skills that you should acquire to help you in your adult life?
What are some life skills you should have?
Written by Michelle Donnatien, December 12, 2020
Story and questions can be shared with the permission of the author by contacting Michelle Donnatien at michelledonnatien@live.com. The content may not be shared on another website without the written permission of the author. A direct link with the author’s name must be displayed when sharing this article.
