This article is from last fall, which probably means things are even worse today. Read the whole thing to get one teacher’s view of how we’d be going to hell in a handbasket if there were anyone younger than 50 with the skills left to make one. Are any candidates talking about this, Presidential level or lower?
We are, as far as urban public education is concerned, essentially at rock bottom. We are now at a point where we are essentially churning out ignorant teens who are becoming ignorant adults and society as a whole will pay dearly, very soon, and if you think the hordes of easily terrified, mindless fundamentalist evangelical Christian lemmings have been bad for the soul of this country, just wait.
It’s gotten so bad that, as my friend nears retirement, he says he is very seriously considering moving out of the country so as to escape what he sees will be the surefire collapse of functioning American society in the next handful of years due to the absolutely irrefutable destruction, the shocking — and nearly hopeless — dumb-ification of the American brain. It is just that bad.
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Recently, after giving an assignment that required drawing lines, he realized that not a single student actually knew how to use a ruler.
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[T]he dystopian evidence seems overwhelming indeed, to the point where it might be no stretch at all to say the biggest threat facing America is perhaps not global warming, not perpetual warmongering, not garbage food or low-level radiation or way too much Lindsay Lohan, but a populace far too ignorant to know how to properly manage any of it, much less change it all for the better.
Too far? Ask yourself how many of the average high school graduates this spring could read that excerpt and define every word. Could GWB?
Thanks to Brother Uncle Don
“Ask yourself how many of the average high school graduates this spring could read that excerpt and define every word?”
Dave, when you post an article that criticizes peoples’ education, don’t put a question mark at the end of an imperative sentence.
The article makes a good statement about education in this country. The sad part is that most of the teachers know little more than their pupils. In many schools it’s the blind leading the blind.
States should pay attention to New Mexico. They will train, starting in grade schools, computer skills that will bring the jobs back in this country. The Dept. of Education needs to be shut down.
This is only a solidification of our class stratification. The gulf between rich and poor is getting wider and deeper, sadly. Only the most industrious can hope to better themselves in such shocking poor educational environments.
Equally sad is the shrinking comfort of middle-class life, which for the most part is a wage-slave treadmill, with a frighteningly large percentage of us three paychecks from the street.
Even in Geek world kids are stupid now.
When I was in Highschool when I first build my new PC from Fry’s, it was a 386DX with 896K of ram. There are a few other kids that I know build computer. When i get into HS there were bunch of us tweaking our PC to the max changing crystals and playing with jumper etc.
Now if you know how to post in your picture in myspace you’re computer genius!
I go visit local HS because they needed some help with their computer in lab. Simple networking problems (They were on Static IP from another network), I told the teacher I’m surprise that he could not find a student to fix these problem. He said last year there were a few kids that build their own systems and had a lan party in class. But none this year.
No worries… the USA is on track…
You can blame the liberals for the sad state of education. Feel-good rules and political correctness have created an environment where not hurting the child’s feelings is more important that making him learn anything. Historical facts are manipulated or omitted to fit certain political, moral or personal agendas. Under-paid teachers are also in the mix as well as declining moral values and 2 family incomes where parenting is almost non-existent. Also watch the news or your favorite web news site and listed as the 2nd or 3rd top story is a piece about nut job Britney Spears flashing her snatch or Lindsy Lohan and Paris Hilton bombed out of their minds. And what is one of the most popular shows on TV? American Idol. I think we are really doomed.
I think the wording of this article is more of a rant than anything else. While I don’t doubt that his friend sites studies, I question the validity of the conclusion, “He cites studies, reports, hard data, from the appalling effects of television on child brain development (i.e.; any TV exposure before 6 years old and your kid’s basic cognitive wiring and spatial perceptions are pretty much scrambled for life)”
However, we do have major problems in our schools in America. The whole “No Child Left Behind” program has become a monster, instead of teaching subjects, schools are forced to teach students how to perform on the aptitude tests or loose their public funding.
I’m guessing the original intention was that if you teach a subject well enough, the students will perform acceptably on the test. But when a school’s future and teacher’s career is riding on test results what choice do they really have?
And its not just our schools, there is an insidious anti-science, mind set in our country. Being an intellectual is viewed they same as being an elitist. There seems to be an all to common defensive reaction, “If he is smarter or knows more than I do, he must think he’s better than me…”
How can we expect our children to take science seriously when parents treat illness with homeopathy or go to psychics to talk to the dead? How can we expect kids to want to excel in school when that kind of achievement is ridiculed or marginalized?
Are the kids idiots? Or are we the idiots who are failing to be the right kind of examples for them?
#1: It started out as a question, then wandered away on it’s own. Fixed.
7,
What do you consider “political correctness” and how exactly do you attribute to it the ruination of our schools?
Where do you draw the line? Is it being “politically correct” to say a gay teacher can teach? Does his or her sex drive have anything to do with their grasp of the subject at hand? Is it allowing black kids to attend the same school with white kids? Where is it? What is it?
I’m sick of you and your ilk throwing around labels without definitions. Make some specific accusations or shut the fuck up. If you don’t have anything intelligent to add in your next comment don’t expect a reply.
Fun reading an article and listening to out-of-touch geezers agree with each other in blog comments.
My main reason for voting for Obama is flush the toilet on the Baby Boomers (Hillary, McCain, etc.).
I would venture to guess that half you octogenarians were likely dumb as box of rocks when you were children. And guess what? You still are!
Notice the world only started becoming a truly better place somewhere around the mid-1990s when your generations incompetence started to get displaced.
So the whole article basically amounts to “why back in my day…” and “kids these days…”
Where’s the article about how many people over 50 don’t know how to turn on a computer or program the clock on their vcr (which they still have) or use a gps or know who Steve Jobs is or the rules for soccer or any of a ton of other things that teens know?
#10 I don’t expect a reply, especially from you, just stating my opinion. If you don’t like it, don’t read it. Simple as that.
#12: A lot do and most of that is useless knowledge anyway.
Every generation has thought the children were going to hell in a hand basket. Kids nowadays have a different knowledge that is caused by the times we live in. Raised with television, video games and instant access to information is causing this. Whether it’s good or bad, we will find out in the future.
On the subject of computer “knowledge”, this generation is going to a huge pain in the ass in corporate environments. They fancy themselves computer experts because they can use a web browser and are going to wreak untold havoc on enterprise security.
What about this is a surprise? I could have told you how stupid Americans are without reading the article. The current generation of Americans are the stupidest people to have ever lived on the planet. The dumbest Neanderthal was smarter than the average American.
16,000 Americans are murdered EVERY YEAR, yet the fascist government that controls the damned nation have the majority of American imbeciles cowering in fear because a few dark skinned people, of Saudi (not Iraqi) decent, killed a couple of thousand in one fell swoop.
Need I say more?
Anecdotal, alarmist poppycock. Has his “friend” actually analyzed the quality of students going through his classroom? Has he actually failed anyone for being stupid? Has he routed them to remedial courses and touted the ones that know what they’re doing?
Or is he just a whining soon to be retiree that would rather throw anecdotes built from a small number of cases to shore up his conclusions and attempt to frighten everyone around him?
In any case, regardless of what the codger may say, the entire, complete and unadulterated truth is that any stupid kids are the fault of their parents. Not the liberals, not the conservatives, not the various boogie men and claptrap garbage about over testing or under testing. Parents are always to blame for raising stupid, lazy, dependent kids.
You said
On the subject of computer “knowledge”, this generation is going to a huge pain in the ass in corporate environments. They fancy themselves computer experts because they can use a web browser and are going to wreak untold havoc on enterprise security.
Wow… such a scary threat to the country’s future.
I take it that you’re an American… it shows.
Jägermeister said
No worries… the USA is on track…
That film is complete Science Fiction.. due to it’s absurdly optimistic tone.
#17 JPV
Well if it isn’t the modern day Oedipus Rex slithering from the shadows. Thanks for proving that your IQ is the same as your mothers bra size.
By the way at your age you should probably stop playing with those, people are starting to talk.
Dr Dodd said
Well if it isn’t the modern day Oedipus Rex slithering from the shadows. Thanks for proving that your IQ is the same as your mothers bra size.
By the way at your age you should probably stop playing with those, people are starting to talk.
And once again, my comments are proven with stark clarity.
#17
Care to count the number of fallacies, unsupported assertions, and general silliness you put in just two paragraphs? And you are critiquing the general thinking ability of young americans?
Everyone
I teach middle school in an urban environment and there are certainly moments (many, to be honest) when I would agree with this article. But there are many more where I realize this is more of a typical whine by older people. One thing I have learned in my two decades of teaching is that the teachers who gripe the loudest about “those kids” are not necessarily the better teachers.
We do have a crisis in education. Some of it is because of an overly inflated fear of lowered self-esteem; some of it is due to lowered standards and lazy parents, students, and teachers; some of it is because of NCLB; some of it is because we are trying to teach every kid to a high standard. I know in my state (Arkansas) we attempt to teach more math at a higher level to more kids than we have ever done in the past. We just haven’t figured out how to do it well. I see kids who I know can do math but come off as idiots. Most of this is, I think, teaching a curriculum that is a mile wide and an inch deep. But we have this curriculum, not because we want to make it easy for the kids, but because we expect the childeren to learn everything that we can think of.
#23 JPV
I was at least hoping for clever, but you give me pathetic. I can see why you like to call people stupid because it’s what you know.
#4 – zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
I can only hope English isn’t your mother tongue.
“Are any candidates talking about this, Presidential level or lower?”
Interesting you should ask… Obama, thoroughly criticized around these parts, has recently said “It’s embarrassing when Europeans come over here, they all speak English, they speak French, they speak German. And then we go over to Europe, and all we can say is, “merci beaucoup,””. This is the same speech that took a lot of criticism for saying “you need to make sure your child can speak Spanish”, Spanish clearly being an example. The point is, he’s trying to get across the fact that it’s important to get education — in this case learning a second language. So I guess the answer to the question is “Yes, at least one candidate is actually talking about education.”
Smartalix makes some good points. Here’s another one: When was the last time you were in a retail store where a kid could make change for a $10.00 bill with a purchase total of $8.79 without reading the register – twice, and then doesn’t have trouble adding up a buck, two dimes and a penny?
But I’m certain such a fine young person could whip my butt at GTA.
There are still a lot of kids interested in the sciences and math (even chess), maybe it’s just not “cool” anymore to advertise it.
“28
It has been a long time. I did not learn to make change.
I teach middle school mathematics (and not to the advanced students) and I would have no problem getting my students to count back change. But where do I fit it in when I have to prepare seventh and eighth graders (not the advanced) to write and solve linear equations (these are not algebra students,) use substitution to make three equations into one they can solve (better make no mistakes, otherwise the student drops one level on the NCLB), or understand the parallel postulate from geometry. Keep in mind, the benchmark exams change every year, so the stuff above will also change every year.
And why stop with the difficulty kids have in making change. These kids really ought to be able to convert from a hogs head to gallons. What about pecks? Or the dram? Our kids just don’t know what we used to know, do they.
People have been saying the same old tired thing since Socrates day. Not only has the human population survived, it has advanced to where we can touch the heavens and land on another planet. We can split an atom to kill millions or save a life. We can entertain millions at a time. We can communicate instantly around the world. We can peer inside a fallopian tube and watch a sperm cell impregnate an egg.
No longer do we need “gods” to explain the stars. No longer must we wait or use some witch to know the sex of a child before birth. No longer must we drink wine so we don’t get water borne illnesses. No longer are togas mandated in public, but they are an option at parties.
This guy’s rant is full of crap.
To my eyes, this comment says much more about teachers (or at least one teacher), than students.
“I know in my state (Arkansas) we attempt to teach more math at a higher level to more kids than we have ever done in the past. We just haven’t figured out how to do it well. I see kids who I know can do math but come off as idiots.”
I’ve met some absolutely brilliant high school students, and some seemingly dumb as a rock high school teachers. The students were interested in learning had a supportive family and saw education as a means of improving their lot in life. The teachers were frustrated by a system that was focused on maximizing state funding at the expense of education. Beligerant students were tolerated in order to get funding, rather than focusing on teaching the students with a real interest. Lowest common denominator wins.
While the US unlearns how to teach, India and China are learning how to teach. Just think in 20 years, instead of “Hop Sing” being the family cook on Bonanza, John Smith will be the cook on a Chinease TV show, with the Lee family.
Proof that the older Americans today are lame based on their childhood:
1. The Beatles sucked. And they looked really gay. If I were to judge based on taste, I would have to say older Americans had no sense of taste.
2. Mickey Mouse. Lame and boring. It’s no surprise Disney doesn’t make Mickey Mouse movies today. Proof that today’s older Americans were eating lead paint and ingesting mercury when they were kids.
3. The Mouseketeers. Absolute proof positive the 1960s kids were the queerest ones ever. WTF was that shit???
It is little surprise that this batch of 1950s and 1960s children would cause so many computer problems, need spell checker invented for them and install malware the second they used a computer and email each other viruses while racking up $10 trillion in debt and thinking younger Americans will be paying for their SSN (Ha!).