I started wondering about personal accountability in eighth grade, when after a class trip the teachers and administration gathered us in the cafeteria and berated us for our “horrible and disappointing” conduct.  I thought back to my own actions as a teacher droned on and on about how ashamed the faculty was of us and how we may never get to go on another class field trip again because our behavior horrified them that much.

As far as I remembered, none of the students behaved badly, save for the students who always misbehaved no matter who told them to stop. Did the wrong actions of five students constitute a lecture to the entire class of a hundred students?

Schools don’t teach personal accountability anymore. Sure, if one person makes a mistake, they get in trouble for it, but if three or four students make a mistake, suddenly the entire class must take responsibility. If a substitute teacher complains about the behavior of a few students, the whole class receives a lecture because they needed to stop the people from misbehaving.

Group punishment only works in kindergarten and first grade, when kids want to learn and are willing to pressure other students into good behavior.

Peer pressure doesn’t work like teachers and administrators think it does. People in this world will do what they want when they want, no matter what their peers think about it. Usually when a teenager is “pressured” into doing something, he or she wants to do it in the first place, but wants to have the reassurance that other people will participate as well.

Personal accountability is an issue that should be important to everyone. If America raises a generation taught that they’re not responsible for their actions, then nothing good will come out of them. People will become lazy and slack off because everyone else will go down with them or make themselves the perceived victims of some form of discrimination.

Group accountability has its place. Most sports thrive on working together and the group dynamic, so it makes sense to have group punishment when a part of the team messes up. However, most classes do not use teamwork on a daily basis therefore students should not be punished or lectured as a group for the bad behavior of a select few. The select few should have to face the consequences of their own actions and suffer the punishments on their own.

Personal accountability should be a part of growing up and maturing. As people get older, they should realize their own mistakes and take responsibility. America needs to teach accountability to this generation so that the country does not end up suffering the consequences of people who turn themselves into victims or people who put forth no effort because they know that others will take the fall with them.