"Do you know what you are doing to my mark?"

This is a comment I have heard from a few students. My response? "I'm only marking what you give me, so you are responsible for your own mark. If you don't hand things in or put in any effort, that's not my responsibility."

I find it sad and disturbing how much people need to blame someone else or something else for their problems. Take responsibility for yourself because excuses will only get you so far... and with me, excuses don't get you very far. You know, I understand that you have a learning disability, but you still have to hand in SOMETHING. I understand you have a crappy home life, but you still have to behave in class and be respectful to your classmates. At a certain point in time, people have to realize that they are directly responsible for what happens to them and they are responsible for what they happen to do. Truth is not relative no matter how much you have deluded yourself into thinking so. I just hope that my students can learn this earlier rather than later.