"For Once, Blame the Student's" argument is very similar to that of Two Million Minutes in that American kids are lazy and do not try as hard while foreign kids in America get much better grades. Author Patrick Welsh feels that kids today are making even more excuses for the academic failures, and always finding someone else to point the finger of blame on. Dave Roscher quotes, "Kids have convinced parents that it is the teacher or the system that is the problem, not their own lack of effort." I believe if a kid does not want to learn, they are not going to. If the student does not want to do well, then they are simply not going to. These ideas cause motivation and determination (or lack of) and it is up to the students to find that reason to become motivated. What Welsh is trying to get at is it is up to you.
The constant comparison between Asian and American students is getting a little old. we know how much more disciplined they are and how they are so smart and work so much harder...but this article gives the reader a new idea to ponder. "But a clear majority of U.S. students put the responsibility on their teachers. A good teacher, they said, was the determing factor in how well they did in math." Welsh makes it seem like it is absurd for kids to rely on their teachers to learn, but in reality a teacher's job is to teach. It is then up to the students if they choose to listen and learn. In reality, although it is mainly up to the student the teacher has always played a key role in a child's education. Welsh put it perfectly by saying, "As a teacher...who among us would say we couldn't do a little better? Nonetheless, teachers have no control over the student motivation and ambition, which have to come from the home-and from within each student."
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