CNN 2000ats Page 101
C H A P T E R 1 0 :
FACING THE FUTURE
Overview
Most students are very confident about their future. They believe that their lives will
be better than their parents', based on having better jobs and more education. The
majority also believes that education will improve during their lifetime. Parents' opti-
mism for their child's future is slightly more tempered. Teachers show the most
reservations about their students' achieving their goals for the future.
Confidence in the Future
Most students report confidence in achieving their goals for the future. Six in ten stu-
dents say that they are very confident, a finding that has not changed since the last
time The Metropolitan Life Survey of the American Teacher gauged teen confidence,
in 1997 (62%). While a majority of students are very confident, only half of parents
(52%) are very confident that their child will achieve their goals for the future.
Teachers do not display this level of confidence regarding their students. Only two
in ten (19%) are very confident that their students will achieve their goals for the
future (Exhibit 10.1).
OBSERVATION:
Adults' lower expectations may prevent some students
from reaching their goals for the future.
Exhibit 10.1
Confidence in Achieving Future Goals
Q520 How confident are you that you will achieve your goals for the future
Q555/535 How confident are you that [your child/your students] will achieve [his/her/their]
goals for the future?
% "Very Confident"
93
Competing Voices
". . . I have more opportunities and will have more education."
(10th grade girl)
~
"Life isn't always easy. The world needs help, and people right now aren't
always taking the best care of it."
