And the strong indication that the walls of Jericho are about to come tumbling down occurs when discipline becomes the kind of major problem which it clearly is in many classrooms. It would seem to me that there are three major problems at the present time. The first is that many educators fail to understand why they fail to understand the new generation. The second is that many educators fail to make use of techniques which turn this generation on and render many disciplinary problems null and void. And the third is that many educators have failed to grasp that today s young people do not respect rank and title.
Respect is based on relationship and the personal authority that arises out of that.
Suffice it to say that these young people do not think like their elders, learn like them, play like them, nor will they do business like them. If we want to reach them without every lesson being the equivalent of World War III, we have to cross the divide of misunderstanding which stands between us. Social theorist Marshall McLuhan always saw a downside to technological innovation, claiming that Rock music would make us deaf TV would damage our eyes, and The telephone would enslave us to its bell. And now there is the computer, the DVD, the Internet, WAP cell phones and a whole new world of digital magic. Bob Beatty observes that It s strange, but there are never discipline problems when the kids are using the computers.