Equipped To Survive Equipped To Survive® Presents
The Survival Forum
Where do you want to go on ETS?

Page 10 of 11 < 1 2 ... 8 9 10 11 >
Topic Options
#209540 - 10/12/10 10:18 AM Re: Are we raising a generation of nincompoops? [Re: Fyrediver]
Byrd_Huntr Offline
Old Hand

Registered: 01/28/10
Posts: 1174
Loc: MN, Land O' Lakes & Rivers ...
Originally Posted By: Fyrediver


Additionally, I do think our public schools are failing in what I consider their primary mission. However, I feel it is the fault of the parents because the school system is overburdened doing the parent's job. Teachers are being charged with being supplemental parents rather than just being teachers. All the responsibility but none of the authority. Schools shouldn't be responsible for every facet of a child's life, but that's what they're being held responsible for doing. If the school does discipline a student oftentimes parents come to the school and complain that their little precious is being picked on. So much for the school having any authority to maintain order let alone establish a rigid standard. Parents that pay for private school or Home school are usually far more involved in their kid's schooling than many public school kids. Apples and Oranges with regards to parental involvement.


This is the exact argument that is proffered by public school teachers in between strikes for higher wages and smaller classes. Although at their level there is some merit to the argument, in reality the situation could change overnight if the grossly overpaid administrators and blowhard politicians declared that all classes are in English, the teachers are THE talent in the system, and that they will control the classroom. Not the parent, and certainly not the students!

Unacceptable behavior would simply be forbidden and crushed. Shools are part of our society, and as with any other societal misfit. serious or chronic disruptors would be locked down in reform schools as they were in the past, with the parent and the 'student' paying the room and board. The teacher would instruct the parents as to the requirements of behavior, dress, and performance, and the parent and students would be required to comply or face fines and other sanctions.

And yes, the ludicrous notions of social advancement for students and tenure for teachers is forever relegated to the dumpster and yes, you could flunk out or get fired if you don't keep up. The other side of the coin is that once teachers control the classroom, as they once did, they would be fully accountable for their results.

I am married to a teacher, so this is dinnertime conversation for us.
_________________________
The man got the powr but the byrd got the wyng

Top
#209542 - 10/12/10 01:26 PM Re: Are we raising a generation of nincompoops? [Re: MartinFocazio]
sotto Offline
Addict

Registered: 06/04/03
Posts: 450
I'm very close to a person who is a teacher at a private school for "gifted" children. The parents who are rude, confrontational, and unreliable generally have children that are the same way, and who are on their way to failing the program. Interestingly, these parents often are proud of their child's poor behavior.

The parents who are supportive, interested, and reliable generally have children that are the same way, and who are on their way to succeeding in the program. Simple.

Top
#209544 - 10/12/10 02:02 PM Re: Are we raising a generation of nincompoops? [Re: Susan]
chaosmagnet Offline
Sheriff
Carpal Tunnel

Registered: 12/03/09
Posts: 3819
Loc: USA
Originally Posted By: Susan

* They can't think for themselves.
* They can't work out any kind of reasonable answer to even simple problems.
* They have no real concept of history at all. Their ignorance of the world is overwhelming.
* They can't seem to tell right from wrong, only what they want.
* They are seriously controlled by peer pressure, mainly in a negative way.
* They are rude and obnoxious from an early age and onward, not just teens. They tend not to improve... nasty at 15, nasty at 35. Why should they change?
* They don't care about anyone but themselves and some of their peer group; they don't even care about the family that is providing the largesse, they're just a kind of bank account and guaranteed source of toys.
* They are ruled by greed to a point that I have never seen outside large corporations and politicians.


I don't see these ugly traits any more often in young people than I do in adults.

Top
#209565 - 10/13/10 02:49 AM Re: Are we raising a generation of nincompoops? [Re: chaosmagnet]
Susan Offline
Geezer

Registered: 01/21/04
Posts: 5163
Loc: W. WA
"I don't see these ugly traits any more often in young people than I do in adults."

This is not a single-generation problem! This didn't just show up, it's just been getting worse, as so many other facets of our lives have been doing. It's been an ugly snowball rolling downhill for many years, it's going downhill faster now, and there's going to be a point where it's going to end with a big nasty SPLAT!

How bad it looks now probably depends on how old you are. If you're 20-25, what you're seeing today is all you've EVER known; you have nothing else to compare it to. If you're 30-35, it seems a little more out of control from when you were younger. If you're 40-45, you're probably seeing enough differences to make you feel kind of uncomfortable. If you're 50-55, you're probably seeing a lot of differences. If you're 60+ (like me), the differences are quite shocking.

I remember the worst troublemakers in my middle school and high school, and they were pretty tame compared to the truly vicious trash that I see out here now. Teachers from my schools didn't live in daily fear for their lives, nor did the students.

It is the inability of the schools to teach the kids to read that is the crux of the whole problem. A hundred and twenty years of public schools teaching reading via a method that has been PROVEN IN HUNDREDS OF STUDIES TO BE TOTALLY INEFFECTIVE has produce an illiteracy rate that is astounding.

Statistics from the Education Portal show that...

* Illiteracy has become such a serious problem in our country that 44 million adults are now unable to read a simple story to their child.

* 50 percent of adults cannot read a book written at an eighth grade level.

* 20 percent of Americans are functionally illiterate and read below a 5th grade level.

* Nearly half of all Americans read so poorly that they cannot find a single piece of information when reading a short publication.

* 3 out of 4 people on welfare can't read.

* 20 percent of Americans read below the level needed to earn a living wage.

* 50 percent of the unemployed people who fall between the ages of 16 and 21 cannot read well enough to be considered functionally literate.

* Between 46 and 51 percent of American adults have an income well below the individual threshold poverty level because of their inability to read.

* 3 out of 5 people in an American prison can't read.

* 85 percent of juvenile offenders have problems reading.

* Approximately 50 percent of Americans read so poorly that they are unable to perform simple tasks such as balancing a checkbook and reading prescription drug labels.

* To determine how many prison beds will be needed in future years, some states actually base part of their projection on how well current elementary students are performing on reading tests.

* Illiteracy costs American taxpayers an estimated $20 billion each year.

* Illiteracy has been proven to cause children to drop out of school. Dropouts cost our nation $240 billion in social service expenditures and lost tax revenues.

[Statistics for this article were obtained from the National Institute for Literacy, National Center for Adult Literacy, The Literacy Company, U.S. Census Bureau.]

But the most frustrating part of the whole thing is that no matter how much proof is provided that this country is DEAD IN THE WATER EDUCATIONALLY, nothing changes. WHY???

All of our presidents have had their cabinets, and one of them is Secretary of Education. Have you ever heard of ANY of these Secretaries even hint that the teaching methods used in public schools need a serious and immediate renovation? NO, YOU HAVEN'T, NOT EVER! Why not???

All Americans who can read well have something in common:
* Parents who cared enough (and were able enough) to teach them enough of the basics to give them a strong start in public school, and those kids ended up being mostly self-taught.

* Parents who saw the need for a decent education and either homeschooled, hired private tutors, or sent their children to a good private school.

* Parents who stuck together as a group and INSISTED that the schools use viable methods of teaching, do it well, or they WILL remove their kids from the schools.

One of the arguments frequently used is that it's the parents' fault for not doing more. Step back and take a longer look. If the kids of the 1950s (I'll start in the middle of this debacle to make it easy) were taught that the schools were all-knowing, and their kids of the 70s were taught the same, and their kids of the 90s were taught the same, WHO THE BLOODY 'ELL SUDDENLY TAUGHT THE PARENTS OF THIS NEW CENTURY THAT SOMETHING WAS WRONG???

What percentage of the total school district income in your area goes to administration? Here, administrative costs eat up well over half the total income of the school districts. When they're trying to get another school levy passed, they're always whining, "It's for the kids", well, it ISN'T for the kids, it's for administration, and they don't give a hoot about your kids, it's all about the money.

When a country like the United States of America can't educate its own people for over 100 years, there is a reason for it. And just what do you think that reason might be, hmmmm?

So, you think the current Gimmee Generation can take care of itself? Try this: remove all their caretakers who have made their lives so easy. And what you will get is a national (if not worldwide) Lord of the Flies.

"This is the way the world ends
Not with a bang but a whimper." (T.S. Eliot, 1925)

Sue

Top
#209566 - 10/13/10 02:57 AM Re: Are we raising a generation of nincompoops? [Re: MartinFocazio]
MBO Offline
Stranger

Registered: 02/16/09
Posts: 6
Thanks to all the encouraging welcomes, guys. I'm a pretty diehard lurker, here and other places - I mostly prefer to soak up what a lot of my betters (and elders) have to say. But the warm welcome is definitely encouraging me to get a little more involved with the other topics on the site. One of the things I love about ETS is how open it all is. There's less dogmatism, less griping. Seems an odd observation to make in a thread about nincompoops, but damn, you guys are nice!

Top
#209569 - 10/13/10 03:11 AM Re: Are we raising a generation of nincompoops? [Re: MBO]
Susan Offline
Geezer

Registered: 01/21/04
Posts: 5163
Loc: W. WA
MBO, we wrangle and we tangle and we go back and forth. But many of us have been here for YEARS, and no one has been killed yet.

The b.... witch from Washington State is probably first in line, but don't let her bother you. She's just an overly-opinionated agitator, one of those 'kill the umpire' people. Most harmless except for raising blood pressure.

So, welcome to the board, toss your ideas into the ring, ask your questions and don't worry about sounding dumb or anything. We're all ignorant about some stuff. The people here really are great.

Sue

Top
#209573 - 10/13/10 04:02 AM Re: Are we raising a generation of nincompoops? [Re: Susan]
dweste Offline
Pooh-Bah

Registered: 02/16/08
Posts: 2463
Loc: Central California
Originally Posted By: Susan
The people here really are great.


Including Sue!


Edited by dweste (10/13/10 04:03 AM)

Top
#209633 - 10/14/10 12:56 AM Re: Are we raising a generation of nincompoops? [Re: dweste]
Blast Offline
INTERCEPTOR
Carpal Tunnel

Registered: 07/15/02
Posts: 3760
Loc: TX
Originally Posted By: dweste
Originally Posted By: Susan
The people here really are great.


Including Sue when she isn't whining, insulting people, skirting the edge of the "no politics" rule, or otherwise making life difficult for the moderators!


Fixed that for ya' dweste.

-Blast
_________________________
Foraging Texas
Medicine Man Plant Co.
DrMerriwether on YouTube
Radio Call Sign: KI5BOG
*As an Amazon Influencer, I may earn a sales commission on Amazon links in my posts.

Top
#209635 - 10/14/10 01:23 AM Re: Are we raising a generation of nincompoops? [Re: Blast]
MDinana Offline
Pooh-Bah

Registered: 03/08/07
Posts: 2208
Loc: Beer&Cheese country
Originally Posted By: Blast
Originally Posted By: dweste
Originally Posted By: Susan
The people here really are great.


Including Sue when she isn't whining, insulting people, skirting the edge of the "no politics" rule, or otherwise making life difficult for the moderators!


Fixed that for ya' dweste.

-Blast

That's what makes her so lovable!

Top
#209641 - 10/14/10 02:50 AM Re: Are we raising a generation of nincompoops? [Re: Blast]
Susan Offline
Geezer

Registered: 01/21/04
Posts: 5163
Loc: W. WA
A guy once glared at me and called me "a natural-born irritant".

Well... yeah.

Blast just kind of 'rephrased' it.

Sue grin

Top
Page 10 of 11 < 1 2 ... 8 9 10 11 >



Moderator:  Alan_Romania, Blast, chaosmagnet, cliff 
March
Su M Tu W Th F Sa
1 2
3 4 5 6 7 8 9
10 11 12 13 14 15 16
17 18 19 20 21 22 23
24 25 26 27 28 29 30
31
Who's Online
0 registered (), 474 Guests and 15 Spiders online.
Key: Admin, Global Mod, Mod
Newest Members
GallenR, Jeebo, NicholasMarshall, Yadav, BenFoakes
5367 Registered Users
Newest Posts
Zippo Butane Inserts
by NAro
Today at 11:57 AM
What did you do today to prepare?
by dougwalkabout
03/27/24 11:21 PM
Question about a "Backyard Mutitool"
by Ren
03/17/24 01:00 AM
Problem in my WhatsApp configuration
by Chisel
03/09/24 01:55 PM
New Madrid Seismic Zone
by Jeanette_Isabelle
03/04/24 02:44 PM
EDC Reduction
by EchoingLaugh
03/02/24 04:12 PM
Newest Images
Tiny knife / wrench
Handmade knives
2"x2" Glass Signal Mirror, Retroreflective Mesh
Trade School Tool Kit
My Pocket Kit
Glossary
Test

WARNING & DISCLAIMER: SELECT AND USE OUTDOORS AND SURVIVAL EQUIPMENT, SUPPLIES AND TECHNIQUES AT YOUR OWN RISK. Information posted on this forum is not reviewed for accuracy and may not be reliable, use at your own risk. Please review the full WARNING & DISCLAIMER about information on this site.