The College Admissions Scandal Is a Teachable Moment

By now, you’ve probably heard the appalling news story about the college admissions scandal that rocked the nation. While most of us with kids applying to college were coaching from the sidelines, a select group of folks tried other tactics.

Federal prosecutors charged 50 people, including Hollywood actresses, business leaders, and elite college coaches, in a blatant scheme to buy spots in the freshman classes at prominent American universities. Dozens of parents paid millions of dollars in bribes, test scores were inflated, essays were falsified and photographs were doctored.

Not surprisingly, students, parents, faculty, and admissions counselors across the country are weighing in with disgust, disappointment, sadness, and most of all—anger.  In the Los Angeles Times article, "College Admissions Scandal Shows How Desperate the Privileged Are to Keep it That Way,"a mother and former teacher from Oakland is so irate that she has already filed a half-trillion-dollar class-action lawsuit against the defendants, saying that their kids got into top schools but students like her son didn’t, “not because he failed to work and study hard enough but because wealthy individuals felt that it was OK to lie, cheat, steal and bribe their children’s way into a good college.”      

In The New York Times piece, "What Students Are Saying About the College Admissions Cheating Scandal," many students chimed in about how unfair this was to the hardworking, dedicated kids who work their butts off for a chance at being accepted to a top-notch college.

Instead of harping on how wrong this situation is, Mighty Mommy has four valuable lessons that will allow parents to make a teachable moment out of this public fiasco.

Student Ava Clause from Lakewood, Ohio had this to say, “College admissions are cutthroat for a reason. Only the best and brightest should be admitted into the elite of schools; however, it seems that in many cases, wealth, power, and status are prioritized. This unfair and unfortunate precedent is sending a message to the students of America. A message about the competitive...

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