Just how stupid are we?

Seeing as how I graduated high school back in '07 I might as well throw in my .02 cents...

The biggest problem with the public schools are standardized tests. All the general classes; the English, math, history, geography, even gym class, are all geared towards students passing those tests and not a damn thing else. Those tests were what the sun rose and set on during the school year; and I never once saw any good come from them.

If those could be gotten rid of we'd start to see students coming out of school able to do simple math without a calculator; and read at an age-appropriate level. (For the curious, I was issued a calculator for my senior year math exam; all I had to do was plug in the numbers.)

Teach a child to pass a test and they'll pass one test; teach him to succeed in all tests and he'll be better off.
 
Critical thinking skills, yes, great idea. When was the last time you saw essay questions in anatomy, physiology, biology, astronomy? Also how long is the school season and length of class day? Takes a lot of reading to really learn. They'll have to put away the cell phones, limit recreational computer time and TV time. Not gonna happen... When I was a kid, daily homework usually took a couple or more hours. Then we had assignments to take home for the weekend. How many hours daily do kids spend on homework now days?
 
I should point out that I am not "an old fart preaching to the choir". I graduated from high school in 2001 and I graduated from college last year (yes 6 years because I switched from mechanical engineering to Economics). I was simply shocked at the statistics. I mean... if you can't name the 3 branches of government... I dunno, it's just hard to come to terms with.
 
The fact that many students can not name the three branches of the government does not mean they are moronic.

What it means is that they are uneducated...which is the fault of two parties: the parents who don't participate in their children's education and the education system those parents send their children through.
 
Many parents lay total responsiblilty for education on the school system, and can weasal excuses for not participating, the most readily available being work. Many parents do not themselves value a lifelong thirst for knowledge and critical thinking.
 
Excessive TV does tend to breed a moronic culture!
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T.V. is a great benefit to education in some respects. Shows like Sesame Street are great for immigrant children in homes where English is not the primary language. Studies show that they master English and begin to work at an age-appropriate grade level much more quickly.

And there's a lot of good programming on the History Channel, Discovery Channel, etc. It gets back to parental control over what kids are allowed to watch.
 
My mother was a grade school teacher for 24 years. Now she is a professor at the local university back home (West Virginia). I guess this was a great benifit to me, as my sisters and I were not allowed to use pore grammer or manners for that matter. I concider myself to be very well educated. But the difference was I was still somewhat at school while at home.

Every generation has their own "lingo", style of dress, and beliefs and world views. I suspect the further those generations are apart the more idiotic the younger ones seem to the older ones. And thus you get this image of the kids being "dumbed down".
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I agree that there is definately differences between gererations. Lingo's and language styles vary, even between regions of the same generation. The difference is having your own style and being educated enough to know when to turn it off and "Not write a formal paper how you talk".

If you heard me speak, at first you would think I was the biggest hick you had ever heard. But listen to me a while and you'd see there was more to me. But I can turn it off and join in anywhere and sound as educated and as any doctor. I just talk this way cause it's easier. There is a gross decline in the will and desire to learn. It's not the cool thing to do.

The uneducated voter is our (those of us that love, know, and excercise our rights) worst enemy. They can be suaded by the media and basically told what to think. The media says that the war was unfounded and was bad. They will believe it and vote for those that are against it. They are told the lies about how guns are the devil, and they vote for those who oppose them. Because of all the Illegals flooding our school systems, now it's ok to let whomever come over our borders. The mexican kids in the school in CA that hung the US flag upside down under the mexican flag should have all been deported. Sorry, thought just came to mind.

So yes, there is a real threat to society with the many voters out there that the have no clue about how the world actually is.
 
Well... our Founding Fathers did try to warn us:

"Educate and inform the whole mass of the people... They are the only sure reliance for the preservation of our liberty. " -Thomas Jefferson

"If a man empties his purse into his head, no man can take it away from him. An investment in knowledge always pays the best interest. " -Benjamin Franklin

"A general dissolution of the principles and manners will more surely overthrow the liberties of America than the whole force of the common enemy.... While the people are virtuous they cannot be subdued; but once they lose their virtue, they will be ready to surrender their liberties to the first external or internal invader.... If virtue and knowledge are diffused among the people, they will never be enslaved. This will be their great security." -Samuel Adams
 
Well, it's complex. We've evidently decided to train all kids with a K-12 education as a springboard for them to become liberal arts professors. I suspect the biggest weakness in public school education is a lack of vocational training. A lot of these kids (everybody with an IQ < 115) will not benefit from a liberal arts education or from college. They need job skills, in short, a trade. Also, many of them are products of cultures (e.g. Mexican culture*) in which secondary education makes less sense than apprenticeship.


Let the smart kids go to college, let the average kids learn a lucrative skill, and let the less intelligent kids learn a lower level trade. Not what anybody wants to hear, I know. But I'd much rather be a good truck driver or a good machinist than a college graduate waiting tables. It's also a better basis for a nation's economy.


*People constantly complain about the Hispanic dropout rate (50%). These kids know we're wasting their time. They want to start their apprenticeships so they do.
 
We've evidently decided to train all kids with a K-12 education as a springboard for them to become liberal arts professors.
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You should go back and look at tests for 6th graders a hundred years ago. They taught a lot more reading/writing/'rithmetic back then.

I have no idea where you got the basis for that statement. There are kids graduating high school that can barely read. The curriculum is terribly simply.
 
Test Scores

Recently I saw a comparison of SAT scores of students schooled by different methods. The highest score were from home-schooled kids, the next highest were from private schools, and guess who had the lowest scores? Students that were educated in the public system averaged the lowest scores.

The main problem with schools is the lack of discipline, both at school and at home. I went to Catholic school up to the eight grade. We had a Mother Superior that was about the meanest old woman you would ever want to meet. Yes, corporal punishment was freely handed out. As afraid as I was of her, it paled in comparison to fear I had from my parents. My mom and dad were not the strictest parents on the block except for school. There was no mercy from them when a teacher called or sent a note home.

If the school called home with a complaint against me it wasn't a matter of my word against theirs. I was guilty period, end of conversation. The punishment I recieved at home made me want to go back to Mother Superior.

In other words, my parents instilled in me the respect for authority. If a teacher, a cop, a store clerk mentioned I did something wrong, my parents took their side.

Now a days, if you so much as look at a kid cross-eyed, you'll find yourself either arrested or sitting in a civil court.
 
Recently I saw a comparison of SAT scores of students schooled by different methods. The highest score were from home-schooled kids, the next highest were from private schools, and guess who had the lowest scores? Students that were educated in the public system averaged the lowest scores.
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Let's see what the possible causes of that could be:
1) Public schools suck - did they suck 50 years ago?
2) Private and home schooled generally have higher incomes (better nutrition, more opportunity for the child to study rather than work to help the family, better study aids, etc)
3) Nearly all developmentally disabled children are in public schools
4) Private and home schools get to choose what kids attend. Low test scores? See ya!

While it could be #1, that isn't the only option. I think #4 is much more likely.

But yes, the rest of your post is good stuff: You want a smarter child, be a better parent.
 
Re:sec def

Here is something you should do. Go the library of any university on a Friday night. Look at the nationality of the kids in there studying. Hold up one hand and use your fingers to count "American" looking students. If you have a cup of coffee in the other hand, don't worry about putting it down, you won't need those fingers to count.

The big difference in the kids there and the kids out partying is the parents. One set has parents that discipline them towards becoming smart and the others have parents that don't give a flying...
 
Here is something you should do. Go the library of any university on a Friday night. Look at the nationality of the kids in there studying. Hold up one hand and use your fingers to count "American" looking students. If you have a cup of coffee in the other hand, don't worry about putting it down, you won't need those fingers to count.

The big difference in the kids there and the kids out partying is the parents. One set has parents that discipline them towards becoming smart and the others have parents that don't give a flying...
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I agree that parenting has an enormous impact. So much so that I think that if you polled those students in the library, you'd find that they are closely related to actual percentages of students in public/private schools.

Yes, there is a better chance of students in private schools attending college. However, those kids that give a damn on Friday nights in the Library? fully parental.
 
Seeing as how I graduated high school back in '07 I might as well throw in my .02 cents...
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The tests came into being because of the large numbers of students "graduating" high school that couldn't even read their diploma. If the tests stared earlier and covered more then we wouldn't have a generation that can't make change for a buck without a calculator.
 
Who's responsibility is educating children????

Parents!!!!

Schools are not the end all be all of education. And SHOULD not be. I think depending on schools for the intellectual and social development of our children is what's wrong with people right now anyway.

The only place a kid reads should not be at school, parents should be reading to them and should be making them read at home. Not just reading, but math, science, and history should also be taught in the home by the parents as well IF they want their children to have more than a cookie cutter education.

My son knew all his letters (by sight as well as name and sound), colors, shapes, and some Spanish before he started Pre-K. I'm not saying that's outstanding but the point is WE taught him and he was way ahead of his classmates. We will continue to do that so he will remain ahead of the curve and be able to question/think about what he is told vs. just soaking it up like a sponge to pass a test.
 
Stupid enough to continue voting for the Democrats and Republicans despite the mess they have made over the last three quarters of a century or so.

Stupid or insane enough to keep doing the same thing over and over again, all the while expecting different results.
 
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