A New Generation of Babies?

I obviously "misunderestimated" the amount of energy and time that would go into this new AP Govt course. It sucks every moment from me at this point. I'm treading water as I try to figure out how to teach this course along with balancing the two other courses I'm teaching. But I'm learning a LOT. It is such a tumultuous time to be teaching government, so that alone gives each lesson an element of spontaneity.

My biggest challenge this year isn't actually the curriculum of the AP course, but the kids themselves. They are so incredibly needy. I haven't met a group of seniors like this in my teaching career. They are the advanced students, but they appear to have gotten into the advanced track by following ALL the rules and doing exactly what they're told so that they get the most points possible. They are so uncomfortable with thinking outside the box, they can barely stand it. Oh, they're great with critical thinking about political/government topics, but when it comes to basic academic skills, they are so rigid, I don't know how they're going to adjust to college. They are complaining that I'm teaching them to write a thesis statement different from their AP English teacher. Of course I'm not, I just say it differently and apply it differently because the context of this course is different. But they are unable to bend their minds around the idea that they can adjust the same basic skill in different ways.

Last week it came to a head in my larger class -- we actually ended up having what amounted to a half-hour intervention. They were so freaked out about the upcoming research paper due for me, they were almost paralyzed. I looked at them and said, "you want to sit here and tell me that you think your professors in college are going to all teach you the same way and require the same things of you?" They just sort of looked at me blank faced like they'd never thought about it. "If you can't adjust to different requirements and different styles of teaching and management, you might as well not apply for a university." (I'd had enough of the whining by that point). They want me to tell them minute details of things I've already told them. My assignment has been a step-by-step research paper where I've taken them through each step and they STILL insist they don't understand what I want because they're sooooooo confused because I tell them one thing and their English teachers tell them another thing.

I know this isn't true (I collaborate with the English teachers)-- and I'm just amazed that they are so unable to be flexible in their thinking and so scared of not understanding. For some reason, they haven't learned how to trust themselves and think creatively. Is this because I'm seeing the first of the new generation of coddled kids where they were given only positive reinforcement and had things, including academics, handed to them? I can't think this is totally true - how could they have gone through at least 6 years of advanced tracking without learning how to think for themselves?

I'm obviously frustrated. I'm probably not going to be their favorite teacher, but on the other hand, I may be the only one who is realistically preparing them for college. I expect a lot of them, and I'm not leaving them to dangle, I'm helping them all along the way, but they are also going to have to learn how to think for themselves.

I wonder what they will be like in the workplace?