What is Digg?669 Comments
- xtrabiggg, on 01/30/2008, -12/+46340 Years of dumbing down is the only effective thing our educational system has accomplished! My kids are 21 and 17, and I basically 'deprogrammed' them every day after school, talking about the unbelievable things they were being taught! My kids were always one of only one or two 'critical thinkers' in each class, who actually questioned some of the things that were being taught. At Parent-Teacher conferences, I got one of two responses: 'Your kids are disruptive in questioning my authority and interrupting', or 'I wish I had more kids like yours, who actually participate and THINK about the subjects!' Too much of our educational system has been reduced to indocrination by rote memorization of 'facts', to the detriment of teaching basic critical thinking skills. Even if your kids are in public (or private!) school, many parents end up essentially home-schooling their kids, due to the dearth of REAL learning that goes on these days. When all they emphasize in school is Math and Science, as they do here in Michigan, all you get is the short shrift on all the other subjects. Also, Federal mandates force curriculums nationwide to follow narrow and sometimes illogically conflicting guidelines that confuse and bore the students, and tie the hands of truly gifted teachers who actually WANT to teach kids how to think. Instead they are reduced to teaching rote regurgitation of facts to build skills for mandated standardized tests. We reap what we sow, and we have been throwing the seeds of our futiure on barren fields, blown by the whirlwinds of ignorance...
xtrabiggg +++++++++++++++++++++ - Cryptocracy, on 08/17/2008, -4/+225idiocracy?
- SonicRush, on 01/30/2008, -1/+162On Thomas Edison: "I don't know anything about the Presidents at all.."
wow - Curlz31, on 01/30/2008, -32/+177Americans are the best entertained people in the world, and it's not a coincidence. The United States must fall before the New World Order can rise.
- MasterThief117, on 01/30/2008, -3/+125What is even more sad is that is seems smarter people reproduce less while dumber people reproduce more.
I think this is some sort of reverse evolution or something. - johnlandes, on 01/30/2008, -2/+115kids isn't learning? that's unpossible!
- Lokishot, on 01/30/2008, -3/+91Wasn't he the guy who employed a much smarter guy call Nikola Tesla and made him work for almost nothing and stole most of his work.
I hate Edison.... - Truzseeker, on 01/30/2008, -8/+87Its OK, these kids don't need to know anything when they can be used in the next war while our country receives more professionals from other countries with brains.
- fraterm, on 01/30/2008, -1/+79A creeping disassociation from an enjoyable relationship with ones own mind is how some educational practice makes kids feel, in many cases. Great video.
- Kev585, on 01/30/2008, -1/+72Amusing ourselves to death
- Caalro, on 01/30/2008, -4/+57Leno does the same thing in his Street Walk. Where do you think those people come from?
The last 30 years are left out of the classroom because they don't appear in any social studies books. Why they delve so deeply into each turning point of the civil war, but do not teach anything about the current situation of the world is beyond me. Wars you may end up fighting do not take precedence over something that happened 100 years ago.
Thankfully there are teachers who actually teach beyond the standard curriculum. Who actually ask you to form an opinion about a topic and then tear you to shreds when you don't know what you are talking about.
'Write me a report' is not teaching. You might as well be asking them for whopper.
"Are schools dumbing us down." No. You do it to yourself. Nobody makes you watch MTV or care about Paris Hilton.
The 'our generation needs to be the one to change' at the end doesn't help your argument. Your generation is not the first to be 'dumbed down' or to have blissfully ignorant classmates. Yours is just the first to feel victimized while having Adobe Premiere. - weizbox, on 01/30/2008, -15/+66in reference to the 1/3 dropout rate: 'it is unfortunate that our students are not learning essential things about the world we live in'...
I dropped out due to school not really teaching anything int he first place. Most of the time your stuck looking something up in a book, and writing it back down in different words on another piece of paper. Thats not learning to me... and thats what a great deal of public high school was when I was going.
As far as the Mahat Maghandi issue goes.. I wouldn't be surprised if a lot more kids actually knew who he was but just didn't want to participate in the conversation for lack of interest or having to go to school at friggin 6am in some places and being tired as hell.
A lot of the info they give you in school is useless as well.. and when learning it for the first time its hard to tell what you really should know and what doesn't matter as much, like knowing the year the cotton gin was invented.. or if it's even worth learning in the first place since you could always look up the answer online in a matter of seconds if you really needed to know for any particular reason. - Killer57, on 01/30/2008, -5/+53As someone who is currently attending high school, I am shocked. While I agree that the majority of teenagers are not capable of critical thought, I it is difficult for me to believe that the kids at that high school did not know who Gandhi was or Calvin Coolidge. If you surveyed my high school I believe that the majority would know most world-renown figures, keep in mind that I go to a school was is made up primarily of lower middle-class minorities (myself included). So, in my opinion this video might have been "sauced up" a bit; teenagers can't be that stupid, right? :(
- Larz0rz, on 01/30/2008, -1/+43You like money too?
Aw, man. We should really hang out - oreonblade, on 01/30/2008, -0/+39The lack of participation highlights the bigger problem than just the regurgitation of facts; the students seem to be lacking the drive to learn. Not knowing some facts could be overlooked but lack of interest, combined with dropping out, will create bigger problems in life.
Also, could be just a space typo, but -> Mahatma Gandhi - Konranjyoutai, on 01/30/2008, -2/+39I personally don't think that kids are dropping out because they are stupid and don't want to learn. I think the problem is that as a student ages (especially at sixteen when they get a job and learn about life) they start to realize that you don't really need to know what schools teach you. Not to mention that they go about it in the most horrible and boring way. The only thing I took out of school that I still remember to this day (other than small facts about science and history) is math. Every thing else was forgotten as I graduated high school and took a career into computing.
I personally believe that there needs to be a whole revamp of what students learn in school and how it is learned. Do not simply have a teacher read out of a book and ask you to memorize things. Make sure you portray facts about the subject you are learning in a fun and useful manner. Hell, actually teach the WHOLE side of the story. I can guarantee 80% of the historical 'facts' I learned in school were half truths or only one side of the story.
If anything kids should be allowed to pick and choose which subjects they want to take (other than math and science, which should be mandatory.) after elementary school for a career that they would like to do. Screw college just being the way you learn for a career, every school year should be useful for later in life. - inactive, on 01/30/2008, -9/+44I think you and the movie put too much of this on the schools. I put it on the parents. You make your kids into thinkers, but most parents don't. If my parents hadn't pushed me academically, I wouldn't have done nearly as well as I did in high school. No curriculum or teacher can teach kids who just don't care.
- kubedawg, on 01/30/2008, -4/+37*****. WHY COME YOU DON'T HAVE A TATTOO?!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
- tucsonsun13, on 01/30/2008, -1/+33Why would our politicians want an educated base?
- MillurTime, on 01/30/2008, -0/+30dumn, indeed
- Ja50n, on 01/30/2008, -7/+36i like money.
- NotOptium, on 01/30/2008, -1/+29This reminded me of a quote by vocalist Mike Patton in an essay on the current state of music (and the fear of artists to express themselves in new and interesting ways, especially when challenging the status quo), called How We Eat Our Young, and I figured I'd share it.
"It is hard enough just to remain focused in this world. It gives us millions upon millions of images--distractions--all saying the same thing at the same time: DO NOT THINK. If your fantasy and desire give you migraines, how easy it is to forget them when there is so much to look at." - inactive, on 01/30/2008, -3/+31u r stupit. amrican schoolz teached me just fine
- StMac, on 01/30/2008, -4/+30Rarely is the question asked, is our children learning
- georgemason01, on 01/30/2008, -11/+36The dumbing down of America has been done strategically and deliberately. The culprits are the owners of this country, namely the Rockefellers and their minions. Their purpose is to make Americans obedient slave workers who don't question or challenge the status quo.
The intellectual repression comes in the form of the corporate media disseminating distortions and pop culture drivel. It comes in the form of lower quality education stemming from a federal department of education run by ***** politicians.
George Carlin agrees: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8wARuxkHe_E
Resist assaults on your intellect and reason educate people you know. - inactive, on 01/30/2008, -2/+26"I think he was the one who flew the kite in the storm with the key on it"
I screamed...THATS BENJAMIN FRANKLIN YOU DUMB ASS! - AlexanderZero, on 01/30/2008, -0/+24Ghandi was a Mongolian conquerer. Everyone knows that!
But seriously, I'm finally almost out of this disaster they call high school. Then I'm off to college to get a real education. The US public school system is not stimulating in any way and focuses heavily on negative reinforcement. A lot of the teachers are to blame. At least I have some good ones. - norsurfit, on 01/30/2008, -2/+26It doesn't help their message when they have a spelling error -- the word "Philosopher" as "Philopher" -- in the first 20 seconds of the video.
On second thought...maybe it proves their point precisely that the education system is failing... - MyBacchanalia, on 01/30/2008, -1/+24Nikola Tesla is probably the most brilliant, important scientist ever. Seriously, so many bad men screwed him over and...imagine if his work had not been undermined? We would be living in a much better world right now....
- alphaterminus, on 01/30/2008, -2/+25Yes, why the ***** do I know that Eli Whitney invented the cotton gin. Why? That's all I learned in school. They didn't tell me the gin was important because it allowed cotton to be economically viable without slavery... just that Eli ***** Whitney invented the cotton gin!
- RedStateRetard, on 01/30/2008, -4/+258:49
"Public education was left in the hands of the states, because nothing was written about it in the constitution"
Well there is something in the bill of rights that addresses this,
Amendment X
The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, ARE RESERVED TO THE STATES respectively, or to the people.
(my caps)
While I believe that the constitution give the states the right to the education system. The balkanization of education isn't helping. Fifty states, fifty different standards for graduation. If the way the classes were taught uniformly across the nation, graduation requirements were the same across the nation. Why would we need "standardized tests"? You could compare apples to apples.
To those who think, "big federal govt never helped anything".
After Sputnik, it scared Americans "are we...second rate?" America got off its ass. Federal money went into schools, with an emphasis science. The fruit of "federal interference"? The "nerd boom" which contributed to the expansion of the computer related industries of the 70's. All the first generation computer boom movers and shakers were beneficiaries of the "sputnik scare" - treelovinhippie, on 01/30/2008, -15/+36No wonder religion is so rampant in the US.
- ahawks, on 01/30/2008, -13/+34And this is why Ron Paul's idea of cutting the federal department of education is a GOOD idea. The system is broken.
- tgc1, on 01/30/2008, -3/+23How about just turning off the ***** TV? Seriously, get rid of it. It's a useless box of crap. If you want real entertainment, get your ass on the internet.
- satanswetnipple, on 01/30/2008, -1/+20If only I had more than one upmod to give. This problem is wider than just USA though. There are bad teachers all around the world, and bad systems full of standardised tests. If only the school systems set up a parallel system for children and parents who are willing to put the work in so the good teachers can guide the next generation of leaders.
- alphaterminus, on 01/30/2008, -1/+20Edison was not a brilliant scientist, but was the Bill Gates of his time. He worked his ass off and patented things. No reason to hate him, but you are right... he was no genius. He actually believed that you could photograph spirits and make recordings of the afterlife. He was laughed at in scientific circles of his day. But I don't hate him. His quote about perspiration and inspiration wasn't too far off.
- agates, on 01/30/2008, -13/+31This is coming from a teenager.. but i think its the government telling the teachers what to teach (we never touch on any of this at my high school. Also, some of the teachers don't know how to teach... they just throw in a movie... god amierica is dumn
- inactive, on 01/30/2008, -8/+26The only thing I really learned from high school (2007 Graduate) is how to smoke pot and cause drama.
I am finding out, I am getting a better education in college then learning more about social skills. In my own opinon there really was not reason for high school but too continue onto college so I can become successful in this economic business country. There really is not a place for people with high school diplomas and associates degrees, who want a higher income, in America.
There really is a problem, it got screwed up somewhere, where people were not going to school to just learn any more but to get a degree to just become successful. If you go around and ask people why they are in school, most will not answer, "because they want to learn," but will answer," so I can be successful." That is the reason kids are really not learning anything, because they lack the want to learn. Maybe if the teachers would make education more fun and focus less on getting notes out for the test. The educational system would be a lot more effective. - fLUx1337, on 01/30/2008, -3/+21Most of that isn't important anyway, I'm from the UK and I don't know any of the non-popular US presidents, and I find it hard to believe Americans would have an advantage in life because they knew about them all....
You cant teach kids what they have no care for, or know that it will be no use to them. If you tell somebody who loves computers that maths is a vital subject for a future in computer science, guess what he/she is going to do? - aywwts4, on 01/30/2008, -0/+18We learn lots of great things in school other than math, like our stellar history lessons.
For example in 1492, Columbus Sailed the Ocean Blue, he discovered the United States of America, so some pilgrims came over in the mayflower to escape mean evil Britain, We ate thanksgiving dinner with some very nice Indians like Pocahontas's and Squanto, but then they all had to move west for some reason so we said goodbye and never heard from the Indians again for the rest of the history book. Then England invaded America, Paul Revere alone saved us by warning the entire countryside of their arrival. So Molly Pitcher fired a cannon and all of the redcoats retreated, and we were free from invasion by England forever. finally George Washington asked Betsy Ross to sew the first American flag, and so we became the best nation of equality for all men and all races forever.
The End. - honkimon, on 01/30/2008, -8/+25Turn off your TV's. You are all provided the necissary tools to succeed, you just need to use them. The video pissed me off for the simple fact that the conclusion was to blame the system. Its the society, its the current crop of parents, its TV. Parents spoon fed by television fueling the newest generation of zombies.
- Eskapismus, on 01/30/2008, -1/+18American University: Where Russian professors teach Chinese students...
- inactive, on 01/30/2008, -6/+22President of Uhmerica mutha *****!
- rodgerdodger5, on 01/30/2008, -0/+16Get a McGuffey's reader from Ebay. Shoot for the 4th, 5th or 6th reader (grade level). You can get one as far back as a late 1800's edition for around 2 - 5 dollars. They published hundreds and hundreds of them as school books so they are plentiful. Most of the time, they have the students names that used them written inside the front cover and that is amazing in itself. Just incredible to look at a name a child wrote over 100 years ago. I have a McGuffey's Fifth Reader from 1853 and quite honestly, some of the material in it would be considered very difficult for college level students in the current system. When you lay your hands on one, keep in mind that it was expected for 4th, 5th and 6th graders to learn the material in it and be able to stand up and read it in class. This was when the education system was completely controlled by the local people. A true eye opener as to how far we have went downhill as a nation.
- cersad, on 01/30/2008, -0/+16That's not quite the point. Not all parents are professionally trained educators; however, at least in theory, the teachers who teach at public schools are. Sure, parents can give their kids a motivation to do well in school, but that motivation is worth nothing if kids go to classes where their intelligence is insulted by rote, thoughtless processes. If you never had a class in grade school where it seemed like all you did was sit around and waste time, then I envy you; I still remember senior-level Advanced Placement-level classes that were absolute wastes of time.
- inactive, on 01/30/2008, -0/+16Me fail English?
- ChaosMotor, on 01/30/2008, -0/+15Not only that but until this generation, every generation had an expectation of doing better than their parents economically. Now, with the income disparity worse than it's been since the 1930s, declining wages, inflation, the crumbling dollar, an economy in the *****, negative savings, zero investment in the workforce, and not-worth-taking service industry jobs, my generation can expect to do WORSE than their parents - for the first time EVER in America. And yet society at large goes about their business as if none of this is a problem. We're *****. Time for a revolution.
- DMCer, on 01/30/2008, -0/+14No, in 99% of the cases, the fact that a school is "private" has nothing to do with it. Private schools don't make students want to learn, they just make the parents more concerned if they're wasting money on a school where their child is slacking in class. Again, it's on the parents.
- richIsBored, on 01/30/2008, -0/+142 mani vowls
2 much struktur
dis bettr...
prezdent uf merca mudda fukaz (i r anrgy) - apc3161, on 01/30/2008, -4/+18There is a solution. School vouchers. For anyone interested in this. Watch this documentary on our public schools. Incredible.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=Bx4pN-aiofw
Let me tell you what is NOT the problem, lack of funding. Our country, when all the money is combined spends $14,000 per student enrolled in our public schools. Many private high schools, which charge less, do much better than public schools with regard to performance? Why? Watch that video.
For anyone who wants to see the solution and is really interested in this. Please also watch this documentary by Milton Friedman
http://youtube.com/watch?v=Bx4pN-aiofw (part 1)
enjoy! -
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