They Don't Listen To Us

June 8: We have all heard of adults doling out that fearful thing called a report card to children year after year to remark on their academic performance. But as the school year comes to a close in the US, the Uhlich Teen Report Card, released in Chicago, is bound to raise many eyebrows. Here adults don’t give grades, they get graded by teenagers on their ability to handle issues affecting the youngsters, says a report in the Hindustan Times.

Created and sponsored by the ‘Uhlich Children’s Home of Chicago’, the Report Card consists of 10 grades and is presented by a group of teenagers every year. This year’s presentation, on June 5, marked the third year of the Report Card. And the observations of the teenagers are quite revealing.

For instance, adults seem to think they have their jobs cut out in trying to discourage the teens from drinking, smoking and using drugs. But the youngsters across US don’t believe their efforts are particularly effective!

For the third year in a row, adults received a D+ in their efforts to stop them from drinking. Parents fared only marginally better in their efforts to stop teen smoking and drug use, receiving C- grades in these two areas.

Adult efforts to get rid of gang formations also received a C-, but they got a C+ in their attempts to keep schools safe from violence and crime. The highest grade, a B-, went to creating job opportunities, providing quality education, spending time with their families, fighting AIDS and preventing child abuse.

“The Uhlich Teen-age Report card encourages a dialogue between adults and teenagers,” Tom Vanden Berk, president and executive director of the Uhlich Children’s Home is quoted as saying in the report. “We hope this year’s results once again inspire adults to hear the teens out.”

Hear hear!

315 words | 3 minutes
Readability: Grade 8 (13-14 year old children)
Based on Flesch–Kincaid readability scores

Filed under: world news
Tags: #chicago

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