An Arizona mother is up in arms because her daughter was awarded the “Catastrophe Award” from her teacher. Apparently, the 8-year old had more excuses for incomplete homework than any of her classmates. And her mother thinks the award is humiliating enough to contact local news teams.

I say good for the teacher and good for the school. I hope this is a wake up call for the mother.

Honestly, I am so tired of kids today being coddled by parents, teachers, neighbors…everyone is afraid to do anything that might upset anyone. Which is why the average kid today is not all that motivated to exceed. Why bother exceeding when no one cares? Why be embarrassed when no one cares if you fall short?

I went to Catholic school in the 70s and 80s. Grades were regularly posted on the board. Everyone in the class knew who was failing a test and who was getting an A. You didn’t want to be the one failing because it was embarassing.

Without this feeling of embarrassment, kids have to reason to care. Why bother turning in assignments? Why bother studying? If there are no consequences, why bother? Unfortunately, the message kids are getting is that someone will come along and fix everything. A parent will complain. A teacher will cave. The kid will pass.

Instead of calling local news people, the mother should be horribly embarrassed at her daughter’s award. She should be talking to her daughter about the humiliation of getting the award. The mother should be doing all she can to ensure that her daughter doesn’t get this award ever again in her academic career.

Unfortunately, the mother’s excuse is that she didn’t know about missing assignments and her daughter was going to an after school program for homework help. But didn’t the mother ever check homework? Did she ask the daughter about the low grades on report cards?

I’m not a fan of homework and think it’s something teachers feel they need to do. Often it is just busy work, rarely having anything to do with the school work discussed that day. But I respect the teachers enough to have my child attempt to do the homework.

I also understand that a lot happens between leaving the kitchen table in the evening with completed assignment in hand and when the time comes to turn it in at school. I don’t know how many assignments languished in book bags instead of getting turned into the teacher.

It’s time for our generation of parents to wake up and realize that things are not supposed to be completely comfortable for kids at all times. Bad things happen. Sometimes for no reason, but often because of something you did or didn’t do. And there are consequences when you behave this way.

Instead we shield kids, make teachers the bad guys for disciplining the children in their classes, openly disagree with school policies, and then we wonder what has happened to the American work ethic. Could it be that it is no longer being taught to our kids? Instead we are teaching them that mediocre is ok.

Step up to the plate mom and dads. Make your children accountable for something. Don’t make life so easy for them that they thing they deserve to be treated like princes and princesses at all times.

Yes, sometimes an 8-year old is ridiculed for not turning in her homework. That’s not a good thing. It’s a bad thing.