HE THOUGHT THE SURVEY WAS THE MIDTERM?? Lazy kid, or did we raise them this way? A first-year engineering professor says one student sat through her midterm on his phone, left early and turned in nothing. When she asked why, he said he'd done the exam already. He meant the teammate survey. Then he told her he doesn't check his email. I laughed, and then I stopped laughing. That kid isn't stupid. He got into engineering school. What he never learned is how to be responsible for himself. Read the syllabus, check your email, and if you're lost, ask somebody. And notice what he didn't do. He didn't apologize and he didn't ask for a retake. He just stared and waited for her to fix it, because somebody always has. That one's on us parents. Every time we fill in the planner, email the teacher and rescue the forgotten homework, we're raising this guy. I'm raising two boys. They will check their own email, and when they fail something on their own, they'll own it on their own. Give them a phone at 8, and you'd better give them responsibility at 8 too.