No Kid Left Out

[TexasShooter72]

I am going to take a walk on the wylde side here.  The topic is not "political" nor is it "religious".  It has to do with the quality of education our kids are being taught today.  If I'm going too far- tell me, okay?

Case in point:  I asked my girlfriends 15 year old today what a "Berserker" is.  He had no idea.

*I asked him who Ponce De Leon was.  No clue.

*I asked him what year Columbus hit land in America.  No clue.

* I asked him who the single GREATEST generation to walk this country are.  It's left to interpretation...   but he had no clue.

*So I asked him about Normandy.  No clue.

*I asked him about The Marginal.  No clue.

*I asked him about D-day.  No clue.

*I asked him about who Genghis Khan was.  No idea.

* I asked him what the term "Secession" means to him.  No clue.

*I asked him what "Biased news" means.  No clue.

*I asked him what tater tots are...    NOW he could tell me that!

The "No kid left out" clause that his royal highness(former President) has put into place- teaches our kids how to pass tests.  It does NOT teach them how to retain information nor critical thinking of their own behalf in any way.  History has no place in what my girlfriends children are being taught.

For what it's worth:  I am grateful to be one of the last generations to have a CLUE.

Matt

[Big_Bill]

A-MEN Matt,

The information taught in school today comes from the Federal Government Committee on Education. They do this by recommending the book that teach our children. Then the State decides which curriculims to teach our children, from those recomended by the Federal Government.

Now the problem, many of these book are inaccurate, and have major mistakes that the "teachers" are not even educated well enough to know !

I went round and round when our daughter was taught that 12 million Jews were killed by Germany in WWII. No mention of Hitler or Nazism, no mention of the 12-14 million other peoples destroyed in his death camps. Heck !!! A few years ago I discovered just how long, forever was, about 60 years ! The attack on Pearl Harbor, a day that will live forever in infamy, who remembers December 7,1941 ?

To make this long post short, It is easier to control a uneducated populous !

Bill

[gamo2hammerli]

I don't know the answers to questions 1 to 4.  The Marginal.....is that the line where the French built their entrenchments (Cement blocks, cannon batteries, trenches etc.) to stop the German invasion in WWII?  And I don't know who or what the tater tots are?

[TexasShooter72]

Case in point!

[gamo2hammerli]

Heh heh....never paid too much attention in history class.....and especially in Canada....we tend to study Canadian history which is boring due to it's short existence and "Not much happened" status.

[Bogey]

I give up.  What is The MarginaL?     Is this in reference to History , Economics , Biology , ETC.?    What?


I Gots to know.  And I'm feeling Lucky.

[Gene_SC]

Great Issue Matt. And I have watched Jay Leno at times when he asked people on the street similar questions and no one has a clue...

My generation was fully clothed in class. The girls wore dresses and the boys wore shirts with collars. We went to school to learn and not to screw off. We were disciplined back then and that was good. What has happened to respect and discipline?

[billharmon2]

If you have also noticed many of our younger generation have no common sense or much of a work ethic. I was taught at an early age what it meant to work and earn your way. Some kids today expect things to be given to them. We were taught to figure it out not to give up when thing got difficult.

[TexasShooter72]

As I passed the high school yesterday afternoon while picking-up the mail from the post office I saw something.  There were any number of kids sitting in and around the loading area where the kids get picked-up from school.  Not a one of them was reading a book.  Not one of them had a pencil in their hand or were studying.  Each kid had a backpack...    

What bothers me...   is that every single one of them was either on a cell phone or texting on a hand-held device of some kind.  NOT studying.  NOT reading.  NOT learning any critical thinking skills.

Everything seems to be accomplished by a computer, cell phone, Blackberry, what have you, these days.  Plagiarism is at an all time high because these kids aren't being taught to think for themselves, draw their own conclusions and write how they feel with pencil or pen.  

In my town right now I know of one home schooled kid who works Monday through Friday mowing lawns.  He purchased the riding mower himself with monies earned from landscaping and this kid continually soups-up his mower.  His Dad has an account with John Deer and runs an auto shop.  Have you ever seen a John Deer riding mower with a custom exhaust and flamed paintjob?  I have!  I see that kid working all over town and he does his own mechanic work.

I left something out:     that kid is 12.

He's got an edge over every single one of those zealots texting I love you's to their boyfriends and girlfriends that were waiting for their parents to pick them up in front of the school.  He's 5 years younger than they are and he definitely has my vote for MOST LIKELY TO SUCCEED!

[PeakChick]

Matt, you got one part of your observation about the kids texting wrong. They weren't sending I love you's to their respective honeys. They were texting "i luv u"  

I am constantly dismayed by the seeming lack of a consistently well rounded education in much of the recent generations, and am even more concerned by their seeming lack of desire for any knowledge of the world beyond their limited perspectives. There are a lot of good kids out there. They are just not getting any solid role models, or anyone that is really concerned about teaching them to think for themselves and giving them the right tools to do it.

[TCups]

Yes, Peak, you are correct.  I one generation, the principles of literary grammar and style will be gone, 4evr. OMG.

[TexasShooter72]

My Father is a high school English, Government and History teacher.  I know that my spelling and punctuation can use some improvement!  Thanks for the heads-up!