The Absence of Accountability

The Absence of Accountability
It seems to me that we are living in the age of passing the buck. No one assumes responsibility anymore. As a teacher, I see more and more students refusing to take ownership of their own academic success. When I don’t remind them that an assignment is due, they blame me for not remembering to turn it in. They are given an assignments list and due dates on the first day of class, but they do not refer to it. They want their hand held throughout the entire course. They want ME to ENSURE that they remember to do it.
Is this a problem infecting all the young people today? I myself am young. (27 years old) Actually, many of my students are older than I am. I don’t think they can use youth as an excuse. Perhaps in academia we are creating the problem. More and more schools are treating students like customers instead of students. This is causing students to believe that they are paying for a degree instead of paying for the opportunity for a degree. There is a huge sense of entitlement among students any more. The authority is being ripped from the teacher. The teacher is viewed as a salesman there to please.
I believe the root of the issue is that college is no longer viewed as a place to share ideas and knowledge. It is no longer a learning community. College is merely a place you HAVE to go. Since jobs very rarely offer onsite training, people think of college only as a necessity and not an opportunity.
It is my opinion that we are offering students a disservice when we do not demand better than average. We need to give them critical thinking skills. We need to hold them accountable. Treating college as a big business is the wrong thing to do. We do not want to fill the world with customers. We want to fill it with free thinking, creative, and knowledgeable human beings.
We are creating a foot stamping, I want it right now and I deserve it society.