Yes, it really is that bad, esp. here in New York. Does anybody remember when our brightest college graduates left this country to work for another country because the pay was a lot better and they were actually getting paid what they were worth over there rather than over here? I do. America can't even keep its talent, much less create them with each successive generation. I love this country and it pains me each and every day when I see kids walking around with oblivious to everything around them. I know of children who can't do simple math without the aide of a calculator. I see parents with less patience to help their kids with their homework because even they don't understand the Chicago-method (which, the last time I heard, they were going to get rid of). Wouldn't it have been easier to memorize the multiplication table rather than multiply by drawing a series of dots and then playing connect-the-dots, and then adding up the connections in order to get the product? When my nephew asked me to help him with that, my jaw dropped because of how utterly mind-numbingly stupid that method was. Each equation took at least 15 minutes to do. Figures though that it would come out of the People's Republik of Chicago. This is the dumbing down of America and it's got to stop. That, and the pussification of America. Seriously. It needs to stop.
Yes, it is that bad. I'm a senior at my college, and I work for our scholarship's office. Several times a week I have to deal with students (or more often, their parents) who don't understand why they don't qualify for a scholarship. After all, they took AP/honor classes, have a 4.3 GPA, it shouldn't matter that they only got a 19 on the ACT! I see grade inflation every day of the week, and the entitlement mindset that goes with it.
A growing number of us see homeschooling as the salvation of our children. Many parents claim they "can't afford to homeschool"; in reality, how can they afford not to?
Note:
All avatars and any images or other media embedded in comments were hosted on the JS-Kit website and have been lost;
references to haloscan comments have been partially automatically remapped, but accuracy is not guaranteed and corrections are solicited.
If you notice any problems with this page or wish to have your home page link updated, please contact John Hardin <jhardin@impsec.org>
JS-Kit/Echo comments for article at http://smallestminority.blogspot.com/2008/06/i-mustve-struck-nerve.html (4 comments)
Tentative mapping of comments to original article, corrections solicited.
Yes, it really is that bad, esp. here in New York. Does anybody remember when our brightest college graduates left this country to work for another country because the pay was a lot better and they were actually getting paid what they were worth over there rather than over here? I do. America can't even keep its talent, much less create them with each successive generation. I love this country and it pains me each and every day when I see kids walking around with oblivious to everything around them. I know of children who can't do simple math without the aide of a calculator. I see parents with less patience to help their kids with their homework because even they don't understand the Chicago-method (which, the last time I heard, they were going to get rid of). Wouldn't it have been easier to memorize the multiplication table rather than multiply by drawing a series of dots and then playing connect-the-dots, and then adding up the connections in order to get the product? When my nephew asked me to help him with that, my jaw dropped because of how utterly mind-numbingly stupid that method was. Each equation took at least 15 minutes to do. Figures though that it would come out of the People's Republik of Chicago. This is the dumbing down of America and it's got to stop. That, and the pussification of America. Seriously. It needs to stop.
Yes, it is that bad. I'm a senior at my college, and I work for our scholarship's office. Several times a week I have to deal with students (or more often, their parents) who don't understand why they don't qualify for a scholarship. After all, they took AP/honor classes, have a 4.3 GPA, it shouldn't matter that they only got a 19 on the ACT! I see grade inflation every day of the week, and the entitlement mindset that goes with it.
Yes, it is that bad, and quite possibly worse than we imagine.
A growing number of us see homeschooling as the salvation of our children. Many parents claim they "can't afford to homeschool"; in reality, how can they afford not to?
Note: All avatars and any images or other media embedded in comments were hosted on the JS-Kit website and have been lost; references to haloscan comments have been partially automatically remapped, but accuracy is not guaranteed and corrections are solicited.
If you notice any problems with this page or wish to have your home page link updated, please contact John Hardin <jhardin@impsec.org>