What can we expect of working students?

This year's students seem to have more responsibilities outside of school than those I had last year. I've not run numbers, but I cannot think of a student last year who had children to care for but this Fall I've got at least a half dozen if not more.

But, as in the past, the most common responsibility outside of school is working for pay. Of course school is more important than working at Foot Locker (Someone came to class in their refs outfit from that shoe store and we learned that they have removed the peas from all of their whistles so that they are merely ornamental. A typical assault by corporate America on the freedom of the working woman!). Yet the immediacy of work conflicts with the importance of school.

Consider the example of a young woman who failed World History with me last Fall and is back for another go. Last year she never bought the text the class and didn't make a regular habit of attending class. This year, she still has not activated her Salem State email account and still has not bought the book. Then she fell ill. We spoke one evening last week about what she needed to do to avoid a repeat of last year. She's already missed two classes on account of the illness and needs to get ahold of the book. Equally important she needs to get well and come to class, I reminded her. The problem she tells me with both of these needs is work. She can miss class, but she cannot miss work.

That really hurts. Sure, it could be a dodge, an excuse for which any other would do as well. But knowing this student I don't think that's the case. Instead, the consequences of missing work are more immediate and potentially harsher than missing school. She's already given up playing sports for Salem State and has taken summer classes to get back on track. So somehow in America it is not worth the government paying a student $10.00 and hour to go to class, but it is worth letting Foot Locker pay that student $10.00 an hour to work at the mall. I guess we get the society we deserve.