Signs of the Times

By Albert Mohler
Beyond The News

Oxford University has decided to require new students to sign contracts obligating them to attend classes and lectures, and to fulfill course requirements. As "The Observer," a major London newspaper, explains, the university faculty is concerned about possible litigation from students who accuse the university of failing to educate them--when they failed to attend lectures or to complete assignments.

This is surely a sign of the times. The very fact that a university would have to require students to sign such a contract tells us a great deal about the students, the times and the culture of higher education today.

Some students now expect to get good grades and receive degrees, even if they do not bother to attend classes or do assignments. Our entitlement society has produced people who think they deserve a degree simply because they are smart. Who needs to study?

Beyond this, if they fail, it must be someone else's fault, and so they sue. Indeed, we are living in very strange times.