Have the three Eâ€™s replaced the three Râ€™s?

Those insisting our nation’s greatest problem is the deficit, the environment, national security, exorbitant military spending, or some other oft-discussed issue are overlooking internal societal alterations which have steadily and stealthily taken place over the past several decades. These changes have led to seismic adjustments in the priorities of too many Americans who have unwittingly become addicted to instant gratification. Thanks to incessant and insidiously effective marketing, the ease with which nearly anyone can obtain credit and the inherent greed that’s present in many human beings, the notion of there being a difference between needs and wants has long since disappeared. For far too many that line of demarcation, if it still even exists, now separates mere “wants” from “immediate wants.”

This troubling phenomenon has made the challenge of educating America’s youth even more daunting. Locally, a prime example is ongoing at the high school where I’ve taught for nine years. Every student there has access to taxpayer-funded public transportation (the school bus), which comes reasonably close to each youngster’s residence every morning. However, some prefer the luxury of having a personal vehicle at their disposal, or feel that taking the “Loser Cruiser” with younger students each morning is somehow beneath them.

Meanwhile the local school board, which is comprised of elected volunteers who try to get the district’s students the best education possible while keeping taxes reasonably low, has floated the idea of having students pay for the privilege of parking at the school next year. Their initial proposal calls for an annual fee of $50.

Some students with access to cars have no problem with paying for convenience, but a significant number are having trouble controlling their indignation over the proposed assessment.

“It’s just another way for the school to get money out of us!” one complained in a recent essay. “My parents already paid their taxes,” grumbled another. “Why should we have to pay again?”

Many of those reactions can be chalked up to youthful ignorance and/or arrogance, both of which can be outgrown with time and an open mind. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for nominal adults who, like too many of their ideological peers in other parts of the country, have been brainwashed into thinking they are entitled to certain things simply because they were born to United States citizenship, and that any and all taxation is unfair and/or a sure sign that our already-too-powerful government is trying to control every aspect of our lives. These people cannot, or will not, make the connection that federal, state, and local governments cannot provide services without revenue, much of which comes from taxes.

The parking lot behind Kennebunk High School was last repaved seven years ago. At the time it was in dire need of repair; its cratered surface contained countless potholes the size of manhole covers, and the lines marking individual parking spaces had been all but erased by the ravages of weather and time. The cost of resurfacing the lot in the summer of 2004 was just over $77,000.

Of course, few students currently attending KHS remember that; they were in elementary or middle school at the time. All they know is the parking lot looks fine to them today, so why should they pay to have it repaired? Apparently not many have considered the unfairness of waiting until the lot resembles a mine field to have it fixed and then having town taxpayers, a majority of whom have probably never used it, fund its repair. Or that the proposed $50 per year charge works out to approximately 28 cents per seven-hour school day.

The timing of the suggested parking assessment has added irony to the griping of some of those who are opposed to it. Many of the students most vocally appalled at the prospect of paying four cents per hour for parking next year are currently making plans to attend this month’s high school prom, which given the combined price of tickets, attire and related accoutrements will likely cost several hundred dollars. Far too few (including some who proudly call themselves environmentalists) see the incongruity of willingly paying several times what the school board has suggested they pony up for an entire year of a convenience (which many don’t truly need) for one lavish evening on the town.

Such individuals who today are euphemistically referred to as “entitled” would in past, less-nuanced times have been seen more clearly as “selfish.” More significant though: Given the increasing number of people seemingly incapable of thinking outside of their own little world and seeing things from other points of view, it’s worth pondering whether American education’s holy trinity of Reading, Writing and Arithmetic has been permanently superseded by Elitism, Egotism and Entitlement.

Sign In: