American kids, dumber than dirt

[MotF Bane]

I'll agree with that whole thing, and I'm still a senior in high school. As a vast majority, even at my private school, there is a preponderance of idiots. It's not just the school or the parents failing them - a lot of them just care about the next huge party with alcohol and drugs. I would gather that in comparison to my time at public school, there are more (as in quantity of such) motivated students at the private school. The parents seem to teach a lack of responsibility, particularly as a rich private school, a lot of sixteen and seventeen year olds are traveling around in BMW's. The general dumbing down seems to be mostly from the cultural trends - MTV, Hollywood, "reality shows", money/drugs/sex, and the idea that intelligence = geekiness = not popular, same for studying in school.

 

[MagnusTheBrewer]

The problem with being smart but not literate is that you are at an extreme disadvantage trying to convince others how smart you are. I have noticed an increase in the lack of critical thinking skills and problem solving amongst our children. I blame this lack on parents being too busy trying to make a living, the "no child left behind" bullshit and, American society's determination to make EVERYTHING easier, faster, and more automated. (Apologies for the run on sentences)

 

[Exterous]

Originally posted by: InflatableBuddha

Originally posted by: Geocentricity
Umbrella is 3 syllables and "fo shizzle my nizzle" isn't even comprised of real words.

Need I say more?

No, just say it correctly .

Isn't 'my' a real word? Hmm....

That aside I agree that kids aren't dumber, just lazier and that parents are dropping the ball. Granted this is only based on my wife's experiance as a teacher and my own oberservations.

Case in point: My wife has had 5 kids so far this year with failing grades. She has talked with all 5 parents. 2 of them were horrified and there was an immediate change. The students were suddenly willing to come in after school for help and started turning in complete homework. They now have a B- and A- respectivly. 1 kids's parents seemed to care a marginal amount (now getting a C) and 2 kid's parents seemed like they could care less (currently getting a D and E)

This is not the first time we have seen these types of repsonses. The parents who step in and take an active role generally have students who apply themselves better. Parents who don't care seem to have kids who don't care.

Again, this is only based on her experiance and my feelings but if the previous generation believes this generation's kids are stupid and incompetant they only have themselves to blame. After all the genes had to come from somewhere

 

[Exterous]

Originally posted by: MotF Bane
I'll agree with that whole thing, and I'm still a senior in high school. As a vast majority, even at my private school, there is a preponderance of idiots. It's not just the school or the parents failing them - a lot of them just care about the next huge party with alcohol and drugs. I would gather that in comparison to my time at public school, there are more (as in quantity of such) motivated students at the private school. The parents seem to teach a lack of responsibility, particularly as a rich private school, a lot of sixteen and seventeen year olds are traveling around in BMW's. The general dumbing down seems to be mostly from the cultural trends - MTV, Hollywood, "reality shows", money/drugs/sex, and the idea that intelligence = geekiness = not popular, same for studying in school.

I would argue that this is the parents failing

 

[Captante]

Originally posted by: InflatableBuddha

People are dumb because they're too impatient and busy to stop and think.

This statement sums my opinion of this article up nicely ... the ability to reason things out is whats being lost.

 

[TehMac]

Originally posted by: blackllotus

Originally posted by: GTaudiophile
They won't get jobs, they'll think it is unfair that certain people succeed, and they'll vote for the Liberal Democrat who will throw money at them, to enjoy life on welfare.

Because people get soooo much money from welfare. Not.

I've seen people buy some pretty pricey items with their welfare checks. Nice.

 

[IGBT]

Originally posted by: FoBoT

Originally posted by: IGBT

Originally posted by: FoBoT
my kids are purty smart

ya'll sit around the deliverence porch?

yup, i am posting from my laptop
http://www.pics.bbzzdd.com/bet...wcc/rednecklaptop1.jpg

..:thumbsup: need sum banjo tunz.

 

[Inspector Jihad]

Originally posted by: MotF Bane
I'll agree with that whole thing, and I'm still a senior in high school. As a vast majority, even at my private school, there is a preponderance of idiots. It's not just the school or the parents failing them - a lot of them just care about the next huge party with alcohol and drugs. I would gather that in comparison to my time at public school, there are more (as in quantity of such) motivated students at the private school. The parents seem to teach a lack of responsibility, particularly as a rich private school, a lot of sixteen and seventeen year olds are traveling around in BMW's. The general dumbing down seems to be mostly from the cultural trends - MTV, Hollywood, "reality shows", money/drugs/sex, and the idea that intelligence = geekiness = not popular, same for studying in school.

ah yes, i see. your immense knowledge, wisdom and more importantly experience is more than enough to make such statements.

 

[videogames101]

Well, i'm 15, and i consider myself to be fairly above average in intelligence... But i have seen some of the younger classes in my school district fall behind dramatically in reading/math scores... so idk, i'll i can say is that those damn hours of gaming has hurt me so far.

and i DO know what fatalistic means..... lol



EDIT: also, i can'tt ell you what BS the schools throw at kids these days telling them how they're "all smart", just in different ways.... I've been forced through hour long classes about this over the past years, and it's nothing but a bunch of BS that messes kids perception of hard work...

 

[trung1977]

I blame unions.

 

[KK]

I believe that on average that the kids are morons. Why are they morons, because the average parent is also a moron in the parenting department and its getting worse.

 

[RESmonkey]

"Nukka i don needz hi-skool! I strait up gangsta wit ma fity cent"

 

[lyssword]

I don't agree on most of the things, but one thing might be true. School agenda is to give kids tests and never really talk about the subject. Project this and that, homework here and there, quizzes, tests. Most teachers (some do, however) in my experience don't engage their students, just throw a stack of material that the student has to memorize (and quickly forget perhaps).

 

[grohl]

Each generation assesses the youth of America and they are all convinced of the same thing: the country is going to hell.

Guess what? We've done pretty damn well and the US still kicks ass so suck it old man.

 

[Modelworks]

There is book sense, and then there is common sense.
You have to strike a balance.

I know people that graduated who could answer any problem in a math book, but could not figure out how to change a tire on a car without written instructions.

I have a brother who when he went through school was dyslexic and dropped out in 10th grade. He can't write well or spell well. He can read, but slowly.
He does however have tons of common sense and is very bright and picks things up quick. He runs his own business, that he started 15 years ago and pulls in 10k a month.
More than a lot of people that went to college.

I think whats missing in youth today is life skills.
They have problems managing finances, racking up debt.
Some don't know simple things like how to cook, wash clothes, etc.
They look to others to solve their problems.

A large portion were coddled growing up and can't handle the stress they face when they are on there own. Often coming back to mom and dad when they are in trouble for money or to get them to bail them out of whatever problem they got in.

My mother required all her sons help cook the daily meals, like it or not.
If we asked for allowance or spending money, we were told to get a job.
Go mow lawns, pick up cans, etc.
I didn't like it then but it taught me things that paid off later, that no school could have taught me growing up.

 

[ballmode]

That teacher needs to do less complaining and more teaching if he thinks the students aren't up to par. In my opinion if I was in his shoes, I would be proud that the students that went through me were better than others, it seems in his case however, he has given up. (wants to move etc.)

 

[eits]

i agree. it's sad.

 

[Bateluer]

Some of this is really hard to believe, though I wonder what grade this teacher teachers. I didn't see it in the article. Its hard to believe anyone can't use a ruler. Even if you've never seen one before, its not hard to figure out, especially for simply drawing a line.

 

[1prophet]

George Carlin: education and the owners of America

 

[JulesMaximus]

Originally posted by: moshquerade

Originally posted by: LoKe
Oh, and for the record, you can be smart without being literate.

How far would someone who is illiterate and yet "smart" get though?

Well, we can always use good blue collar workers in this country...oh wait a second, I guess I meant that we could always use more meth labs and/or welfare recipients.

 

[Aikouka]

I'll take on the righteous cause to create some smart kids... who wants to help me with this goal? :Q

 

[Pabster]

Originally posted by: Gobadgrs
I think a lot of it is the parents not being involved, and from a school standpoint, the teachers union does keep a lot of god awful teachers employed too. Unfortunately, in this PC world we live in, our youngsters are coddled too much. Everyone is special, and when everyone is special, no one is. Some people need to fail in life. We need to weed out the ditchdiggers so the astronauts of the world can succeed.

Yep. The Teachers' Union allows thousands and thousands of POOR (not bad, but POOR) teachers to remain teaching. It's certainly a major contributor to the decline of education in this country.

 

[Fritzo]

Originally posted by: LoKe

Originally posted by: Gobadgrs

Originally posted by: akshatp
Cliffs? That shit is too much to read...

Looks like you just prooved her point.

Looks like you did the same.

BAHAHAHAHAHAHA....I should quote this!

 

[HomeBrewerDude]

I've learned to avoid arguments like that article. Its really just one guys opinion... he's got his slant and thats fine. He is paid to be entertaining, and to extract reactions from people. He wasn't horribly off the mark in some cases... urban education systems are SUFFERING. Many have diminishing enrollment (parents are putting their kids in privates) and that creates an interesting situation where not only are the hardest to serve left in the publics, but often the lowest quality teachers. These are statements of averages... certainly there are still very smart and hard working students and teachers in publics, but in general, urbans face a brain drain to privates (plus they've been losing white kids whose parents tend to be more affluent/better educated to the burbs for a LONG time).

IMO, this isn't a very unique story... Its also biased and non-representative. Yeah, US Education has a lot of problems to solve, but the the story isn't as bleak as that article portends.

 

[conehead433]

Dumber than our President?