Not quite sure where you are getting that there is a lot of hatred here for whiners. And I’m not certain what makes you think that students are somehow “weak”. Mostly it just personal observation. I personally don’t think that students whine any more than they did in the past (heck, I whined and complained myself as a student, although never directly to an instructor). What MAY be different is the extent to which this is vocalized to the instructor, under what circumstances, and the institution where the student is enrolled. Part of it, I think is just being on “the other side of the desk”, so to speak. One tends not to notice whining when it’s just you that’s doing it. However, when you’re on the other dise of the desk, you tend to notice it more because NOW it’s more than just you (whining as a student) - it’s a group of other people (whining to you as a whole now that you are an isntructor).
Besides, it’s usually only a small percentage of students who whine anyway (at least, that’s been my experiece; most of my students are great). And, well, we educators are just like any other human being - we like to whine about things ourselves from time to time 
Sadly, I would have to agree with you. There is a potion of the student population that would be better served if they weren’t in college. But I’m sure that employers would make similar comments if they often had to deal with a segment of their workforce with the attitude that they were only working at a particular job because it was something to just get through until they found a better paying job. (In fact, I suspect that there probably IS a segment of the business world where this happens - would be interested to hear if this is common).
Not a good example. A better one would be hiring someone with the expectation that the person you hired would do the job you hired them for. But that person coming to you and whining about being docked for pay (even though they didn’t do the work they were required to do in the time frame specified); or whining about having to come to work every day and complaining that “my previous employer let me come anytime I wanted - why can’t you?”; or asking for an annual bonus - even though your work performance didn’t warrant one (and you were specifically told beforehand that all employee bonuses would be based on work performance) - because if you don’t get one then you won’t be able to pay your mortgage.
I don’t hate whiners, but I really, really dislike it when people use my precious class time to whine. Because it means less of the material will be covered in class. It may mean more time with the books, or perhaps the professor will just skip something. I “paid for this class” too, and I’d like 100% of the syllabus covered in full, I’d like to hear someone regarded as an expert (or at least someone who knows more than me) speak to it - or I’d like to spend my time with my classmates in a discussion that might lead to deeper understanding of the material…
Not a deeper understanding of why 70 pages worth of reading is “too much” and how you are taking two other classes and hold a part time job and just can’t find time to read all 70 pages once, much less read them for the type of comprehension the professor is expecting when he hands out a multiple choice midterm! Besides, your boyfriend took this same course from a different prof last semester and almost everyone in the class got As or Bs and it isn’t fair that this prof has a different standard of grading and doesn’t consider 40% correct on a multiple choice test a C.
Seriously, I saw 45 minutes of a 3 hour night school session lost in a whine fest (this one may have been justified as only 6 out of 30 people passed the midterm. But since the instructor was immediately willing to make corrections to his teaching style, immediately volunteered extra credit opportunities to help people pass, 45 minutes was excessive - and then we still had to cover the “most commonly missed” material from the midterm - which when the mean score was somewhere around 52, meant most of the test).
I have a five year old at home. I really don’t need more whining in my life.
That can’t be true. I just finished my Inorganic chemistry course and we have a curve and bonus points. I calculated out that if it weren’t for the bonus points and curves only 10% of the class would’ve gotten a 70% or higher, and they would’ve all had C-s with a few Cs.
And these are not stupid people, over 70% of chemistry majors want to get a doctorate someday.
http://pubs.acs.org/cen/coverstory/8147/8147employment1.html
According to the chart called “CHEMISTRY DEGREES” 50% of bachelor holders get an MS or a PhD in chemistry. That doesn’t even include all hte pre-med, vet, dental, pharmacy, etc. bachelor graduates, so that 70-80% figure is just about right for graduate school.
Graduate school in any of these fields is high stress and requires 80 hour workweeks. When was the last time you heard an 8 year old at career day say ‘I want to work 80 hours a week in a sleep deprived, high stress job someday’? Well, 70% of the people I take classes with say it and I doubt that your generation was somehow able to get 90%'s in the same class w/o a curve or bonus points. These people crave the sacrafices of having 80 hour workweeks and intense stress, so to call them all lazy is bullshite at best.
This has to be a lie about there not being a curve, there is no way people of 30 years ago could get As and Bs in classes like Inorganic chemistry when my class (which is 70-80% pre doctorate) only 10% can get a C or a C- with everyone else getting a D or F w/o a curve and bonus, I’m going to post on GQ and ask.
Wesley,
The Wright Bros. graduated a little more than 30 years ago.
I wasn’t referring to the Wright Brothers, I was referring to ‘previous generations’ which means people who took college 30 years ago, which describes several of the people here.