Know The Students

The New York Times has published a rather lengthy article on the concept of a new developmental stage known as “emerging adulthood.” The hallmarks of this proposed addition to birth, childhood, adolescence, adulthood is a constant sense of limitless potential, a meandering attitude towards committing to a particular path towards that potential and a disinterest in setting to work on the “normal” milestones of becoming an adult in our society. Sound familiar?  Take a look at your classmates/students.

“If emerging adulthood is so important, why is it even possible to skip it?”

Now, not all twenty-somethings have been placed into the same boat.  Not everyone has helicopter parents or access to parental financial backing - or abuses it, if they do.  Not everyone is completely adrift upon graduation.  But the reality is that there is a new way of becoming an adult taking shape even if it’s not necessarily a hard and fast life-stage. So, when classes start again next week, be sure to take into account the fact that today’s students are not all here as adults.  But some of them might just emerge that way by the time their ride through Washington College is through.

(From Instructional Technology)