American kids, dumber than dirt

[thermodynamics]

If American kids are dumber than dirt, then why are our Universities bulging with smart, young researchers?

Perhaps it's a combination of two or more things...
1. The divide between the "smart" and "not-so-smart" has never been bigger.
2. We're aggressively "testing" everyone, and to our dismay, we're finding out that there are a lot more dumb kids than we thought.

I think the most important reason for kids not being as "good" at learning as in the past is that many kids come to school with sooo much more baggage than in the past. Single-parent homes are quite common today, and often that single parent works more than one job to make ends meet. With less parental involvement, it's easy to see why some of these kids are struggling as much as they are.

Would I say that the American education system is a "failure"? No, far from it. Does it need work? Oh yeah. I'm a pretty good success story, and there are plenty of others like me.

 

[G-Lexington]

>>>BTW, thanks for importing your stupidity to Europe, it's starting here too.

Don't you mean "thanks for EXPORTING your stupidity to Europe"?

Hm, looks like you've already got your share.

Lex

 

[SantaCBear]

thermodynamics,

Come on, party pooper ... You're supposed to put-down the USA

 

[Blatino]

Im still in high school (senior) and this topic really pisses me off...

 

[LarsVenice]

My nephew (in-law - he's my niece's husband) was a teacher in Texas, but he recently moved to Maryland (because my niece started grad school at Johns Hopkins), and he told me that his problem was that the school required him to "teach to the tests" instead of teaching the kids how to think and solve problems on their own. I don't think kids are dumber than they used to be (They should be smarter, since they have better access to information than previous generations), but there are some problems with how they are being taught and how they are being tested and evaluated. I was lucky to go to a private university that was pragmatic in its methods of education and did not have to follow strict, impractical rules.

 

[dpnice]

Im still in high school (senior) and this topic really pisses me off...

That is understandable. Now read your posting a second time and tell us that standards have not fallen.

Sorry some things are just too irresistible not to point them out.

 

[Blatino]

That is understandable. Now read your posting a second time and tell us that standards have not fallen.

Sorry some things are just too irresistible not to point them out.

Excuse me, how old are you?

and

What was YOUR score on the SAT?

 

[okstatecowboy]

Okay time for an American teacher to chime in...

Several of you have raised interesting points -while others have reverted to childish bickering (memories of "I know you are, but what am I?".

First, the American education system is in turmoil and well on the path of chaos. NCLB has basically mandated that we teach to the test, rather than focus on teaching thinking. Out of 185 educational days (in my district), 15 are for inservices/professional development (as mandated by the state -in order to receive federal funds), 60 are devoted to testing (various local, state, and national requirements), and 10 for various holidays (we won't mention the days missed for various sports related stuff ). That leaves me with 90 days to teach. If I didn't have to worry about all the testing, I might be able to encourage independent thinking. But, I have to worry about AYP in order to ensure the building receives funding and maintains our accredition status -which is in peril at this time due to 2 years of low test scores.

Next, Most of my students are low SES, first generation immigrants (in layman terms -poor and underachievers). I do my best to pull the kids up to grade level, but the lack of internal motivation hinders this -"I'm gonna drop out and work at NBP where I can make $10 an hour, so I don't need no algebra." The parents have low educations and think it's fine for the kids not to do work. I'm not allowed to discipline students anymore -Heaven forbid I might hurt their self esteem by rasing my voice or requiring them to turn in something.
Are students dumber? Not really. They just don't understand how to make connections with the knowledge they have to unknown/new situations. They haven't had the opportunities to think in such terms. And thhink of all the things they understand/know that older generations have difficulty with. It's a challenge to keep them from texting students in other classes -half the time they have the cellphones in their hoody pockets and are doing this without looking at the devices (and we wonder why spelling is so atrocious?).

Someone mentioned medications. Very true. Several of my students (mainly the weathlier white students) come in so doped up on prescription medications that they can barely focus enough to write their name without mistakes. And the days the kids are without their prescriptions flowing through their systems, they're sharp as a tack. the meds are simply because mom/dad don't want to deal with the typical teenage angst.

Okay, I'll get off my soapbox now. The presidential candidates/hopefuls haven't mentioned education much -yet. I'll really be interested in their views on the topic.

mikey

 

[Circe Infuria]

The "dumb" virus affects members of every generation, race, color, and nationality. It's not just young Americans.

While it is true that there may be a lot of "dumb" American members of Generation Y, I run across tons of older dumbasses as well.

I have also run across a lot of very intelligent younger folks, and they give me hope. I try to focus on them, and not let the dumb ones cloud my vision too much.

Dumb is everywhere, but there are plenty of smart ones to counteract them.

It just seems that we hear more about the dumb ones than the smart ones. Shame.

 

[thermodynamics]

Next, Most of my students are low SES, first generation immigrants (in layman terms -poor and underachievers). I do my best to pull the kids up to grade level, but the lack of internal motivation hinders this -"I'm gonna drop out and work at NBP where I can make $10 an hour, so I don't need no algebra." The parents have low educations and think it's fine for the kids not to do work. I'm not allowed to discipline students anymore -Heaven forbid I might hurt their self esteem by rasing my voice or requiring them to turn in something.
Are students dumber? Not really. They just don't understand how to make connections with the knowledge they have to unknown/new situations. They haven't had the opportunities to think in such terms. And thhink of all the things they understand/know that older generations have difficulty with.


mikey

I agree wholeheartedly. If the kids don't want to learn, then they're not going to learn, no matter what some threat of a test says.

 

[ronboy]

I have to agree with Okstatecowboy on this. He speaks for the middle-high school end of the spectrum. I'll say a little from the elementary school end.

So much of it begins at home (not what the parents want to hear). These kids are coming into school being "experience poor." What I mean is that they have not had the proper emotional, social and physical experiences needed to develop at an appropriate rate.

Sure, most of these kids are attending pre-school. And it is expected that many of the social and and emotional training is done by adults other than the parents. But when these kids are going into the "bigger pond" which is Kindergarten, they are lacking many of the little basics such as how to tie their shoes, how to blow their noses, how to write their name, how to say "please" and "thank you," and how to play with other children. When they are re-directed by the teacher for inappropriate behavior, they complain to their parents, and it's the teacher's fault, not theirs.

When they cannot write or read properly, it's the teacher's fault for not teaching it correctly, not the student's because he/she did not pay attention or apply his/her self.

And when those blasted bastardized (oops...I mean standardized, hehehe!) tests are administered each year, beginning in Grade 3, the districts don't want to hear that a group of kids didn't pass because they were "experience poor." It's the teacher's fault once again, and we have to come up with an improvement plan to ensure better scores in the coming year! Meanwhile, this group is pushed on to the next grade level, for the next group of teachers to complain that the last group didn't do their job well.

In New York state, the proverbial poop hits the fan when the students reach Grade 9. In order to graduate from high school, they must pass a series of Regents tests in order to receive their diploma. This puts some kids on the 5 or 6 year plan for high school. We hear that high schoolers can't write (hell, most of them couldn't write in Grade 5), have poor comprehension, (4-second attention spans), and a narrow view of the world in general (did anyone mention "experience poor already...hmmmmmm).

Where are we, the teachers, supposed to have the time to give kids these experiences when we have to spend 2/3 of the school year doing test prep?

The purists will argue that our curriculum should be infused with experiences leading to test prep. Anyone is welcome to come into my classroom and see that nearly everything I do and give my kids has some ulterior connection to the three tests that I am required to administer in November, January, and March each year.

 

[Irish Luck]

 

[xterranx]

I think last year, tons of people failed the High School Exit Exam in California? That's pretty pathetic; I mean, the test only has algebra, geometry, and pretty much reading comprehension.

However, I recently worked for a program at my college that reaches out to HS dropouts who couldn't get a diploma because of the HSEE, and a lot of them are determined and not stupid. I really blame the education system, moreso the teachers. I think too many of them emphasize heavy workload rather than basic understanding of the fundamentals.

 

[Yooper]

I'm not a teacher (I need 1 more year of edumacation and I could qualify) but both of my Parents were, my partner and his two sisters also were teachers so I think I have some qualifications to add two cents to this.

The deterioration of the U.S. Public Education system is not a new phenomenon.

Thankfully, I am primarily a product of Private school; a great advantage. Private schools, although held to State standards, tend to turn out kids much better prepared to attend College and hold better jobs.

The (Public) High School I attended for the last two years was unbelievably bad; it was built with the 'open classroom' concept of the 60's, where 'independent' learning and 'small groups' was supposed to work. It failed miserably and by the time I graduated the school had started building walls for actual classrooms. When I registered for classes in my Junior year, the guidance counselor noted I was having trouble with Math; he told me I had 'enough' credits to graduate so 'didn't need any more Math.' So when I graduated I was 8th in my class and had a B+ average GPA. This tactic made the school's GPA numbers better, before the days of so much testing.

Fast forward to today. The third-largest school district in Colorado started school a full FOURTEEN days early, mostly in non-air-conditioned buildings (so the classrooms, on average, were about 95 degrees Fahrenheit during the day), with the Superintendent stating PUBLICLY the only reason was to 'gain an additional fourteen days to Teach the Test. The district's Graduation rate is about 60%.

I have a friend who has her fifteen year old daughter in that district. She's a bright, engaging girl and pretty smart. She was on the Honor Roll the last 2 years. Yet her writing skills are abysmal, she cannot add up the score when we all get together to play Uno. She struggles to read a Trivial Pursuit card. But what did I hear last weekend when we all got together? More Fundraising! Please buy my Candy so my Freshmen Spanish class can go on a trip (in May, missing a week of classes) to Spain! Hey, it's Denver! Go to McDonalds to hear Spanish! I do not understand the misplaced priorities that I see. Just because the test is over doesn't mean you can go on an incredibly extravagant trip. Good Grief.

I will agree with the other teachers here and agree that it begins at home, you can blame the parents, although it is not PC to do so. My partner's sister recently retired from the profession, 35 years in an upscale suburban district outside of St. Paul, MN teaching Kindergarten. We've talked, and when she started, it was exPECTed that the kids arriving in her classroom knew on Day 1 their colors, numbers, and maybe the spelling of their name. When she quit, she told me the first two months were dedicated to colors, counting to 10 and the alphabet song.

 

[Dobson73]

I hope your friend isn't planning to move to Australia because he'll be sadly disappointed. Or perhaps surprised, because our schools are turning out kids dumber than a brick.

They can't read, their grammar and diction is woeful, their knowledge of anything outside of youtube and facebook is limited. And like, you know, they like, don't really care, like, you know?

Trust me, it's not just the US and Europe turning out dumb people! I used to have a part time job in a bar and we had a girl come and work with us. She was totally unable to add up any sum of money or work out what change to give without using the till.

 

[Yooper]

Sorry to add more fuel to the fire but while I'm in a ranting mood...

Then there is the stuPIDity of the locals in Michigan. Where I call home, within 6 miles of me there are 3 count 'em 3 districts; all with their own very, very expensive administration, underutilized buildings, overspending on infrastructure, etc., etc.

My partner graduated from one of those districts. When he graduated, there were about 250 students in his class. Last year the same high school graduated a whole 62 students. Yet a couple of years ago, the locals voted in a bond proposal to build a NEW gymnasium and modernize the football field.

If those three districts were FORCED to consolidate, the cost savings would be in excess of 3.5 MILLION dollars--this number was verified by the local newspaper. But instead of spending that money on EDUCATION we are spending it on duplicate administrators, duplicate transportation systems, duplicate everything. A teacher I know there, who has a Master's degree (almost has her Doctorate) spends ONE class period teaching her specialty, and the rest of the day in Study Hall. And we're paying her about 75K plus benefits a year. How insanely stupid.

 

[Paws]

>>>BTW, thanks for importing your stupidity to Europe, it's starting here too.

Don't you mean "thanks for EXPORTING your stupidity to Europe"?

Hm, looks like you've already got your share.

Lex

...that's... that's because I wrote "immigrants" in the paragraph above and it was late night and... and...

 

[Paws]

Lol uh...

"I like turtles" is an injoke. A lot of people write that in the comments on Digg.com, but it probably originates from somewhere else.

 

[Ben_G]

Also, I think with the advent of the Internet, we can SEE more stupidity. In my day, we might tell our friends how great we thought Andy Gibb was, or perhaps jot it down in a journal. Nowadays, we can create websites, start an "Andy Gibb 4Ever" blog, and tape ourselves dancing around the room like a moron to "Shadow Dancing" to post on YouTube.

Lex

I'll get right to it!!!

 

[rareboy]

Just a bunch of old people who need something to whine about to past (sic) time. Their generations have had many flaws themselves.

Well, I'm not sure anyone could have expressed themselves better in order to illuminate the hypothesis.