Why are kids so stupid?

it's the current spawn of the over 100 years of "dumbing" the public down, this idea has been documented fer quite some time really by sociologists so it's not even a modern idea that people are being dumbed, both factual and spiritual dumbing, rolling back the people since the enlightenment

Today, kids would trade any book for a tv show. There's your problem. They abandonned the books!

WE'RE DOOMED!

1. None of them recognised the photo of Abraham Lincoln.

2. None of them recognised the statue of DAVID, or knew even its name, or who created it.

3. None of them recognized the symbol of the Republican Party: They all drew a blank on the BIG elephant with GOP written on its body. They did even not know what GOP means.

4. None of them could identify what the Louvre is or where it is located.

5. None of them recognised the photo of the Taj Mahal.

6. Zurich...none of them knew in what country it is in.

7. They showed the timeless photo of Clark Gable kissing Vivian Leigh in 'Gone With The Wind'. None of them recognised who 'those people' are. The woman said in disgust: "HE IS SO OLD, HE IS PROBABLY OVER FORTY!"

OMFG!!!

Granted, some of these questions are centered around American pop-culture, history, etc. so a note to our European friends...not feel silly for not knowing them...

(i.e. Abraham Lincoln, Gone with the Wind, GOP, etc.)

I think kids are just getting lazier. I have a 12 year old son that just started 6th grade. All he wants to do is play video games. It's like pulling teeth to get him to concentrate on anything else
I also think there is a lot of pressure on teachers to pass students to the next grade even if they don't deserve to be promoted. I would have to think it makes the teachers look bad to fail a student.

Gaming can sometimes be addictive... (like ATS)...

Make sure he isn't getting addicted to such games...or he'll start slacking off in other areas of life... May be that he is already doing this? Sometimes, the painful solution (for him) may have to be taking away the games for a bit, and encouraging outside activity, go to a zoo, museum (especially a hands on one), a park, playground, or even give him a good book to read (Harry Potter series has been excellent for this)...and maybe even an assignment from you to ensure he read the book you gave him, etc. I wouldn't leave it to the teachers to completely educate. Not only will your son learn more and play games less, but you'll benefit by spending some quality time on a fun outing....

Yeah. Forbid the game for some time and buy him some good book.

If he start pulling his hair off, you might consider therapy. I'm 21 and I'm still addicted to video game. This is a serious problem. Sometimes I drive like I'm in Vice City

Masked, your post sums it all up. Thats poretty much why I thin its gone to hell.

Neph, I applaud you for deciding to homeschool your kids. If and when I have kids, I plan on doing the same: Homeschooling them, because my experiences with the public education system have been less than.....optimal. Parents who homeschool thier kdis have kids that do better. They have done some research, and it appaears homeschooled kids not only score higher on tests and stuff, but they are socially better adjusted than public school kids. When it comes to the minds of ones children, Id rather it be me handling the learning process than some idiot 60's washout teacher with no brains.

As a kid, i was always extremely curious, and I NEVER wtched TV, because TV was boring. I spent hours reading my grandpas Time life book collections about nature, geography, science, history, ect. I always asked my teachers questions that were not contained in the material, and they never could give me any good answers, so I was always left with going and finding out for myself what caused what. During the first two weeks of the school year, id spend reading my whole hisotry and science textbooks for fun, and got bored really quick with classes, i wanted to learn more because stuff was fascinating.

The problem is, most kids really dont care. There is so many distractions out there, and parents arent forcing learning on their kids. I look at Asian kids, thier parents MAKE them study and learn, and do not allow them to get distracted. They discipline thier kids better, and thus, Asians do really well in school, even if they come from other countries.

American parents simpyl dont give a #, they plop thier kids in front of the TV to babysit them while they go about thier own pathetic lives and do not give the proper attantion and care.

And of course, teachers pushiung thier own agendas, thier own PC garbage, ect. Not knowing enough themselves to teach and let kids learn what is important. I was pissed by the lack of information and subjects of study, it was pathetic.

So yes, kids are getting DUMBER and DUMBER to the point they dont even know simple math and simple thinking skills. While in the real world, they may not need to know where London is, or where Zurich is, even the statue of David is questionable, after all, that goes into art, and thats releative. I dunno offhand who made the statue, I know it was an italian guy, but I do know who the statue was made of since I was told who it was made of, but since I have relatively little interest in art per se, I would not consider that a point woirth knowing unless youre an art student. Nor would the location of Zurich be important either (Its in Switzerland). But basic reasoning, US history, and basic math.....these are things they SHOULD know because it does have direct bearing on thier lives. While Ill forgive Americans for not being aware of what goes on beyond thier borders, and where a certain country or town is, i cannot forgive them for not knowing thier history, and how to read and write, and what causes eclipses and weather.

Originally posted by Gazrok
Gaming can sometimes be addictive... (like ATS)...

Make sure he isn't getting addicted to such games...or he'll start slacking off in other areas of life... May be that he is already doing this? Sometimes, the painful solution (for him) may have to be taking away the games for a bit, and encouraging outside activity, go to a zoo, museum (especially a hands on one), a park, playground, or even give him a good book to read (Harry Potter series has been excellent for this)...and maybe even an assignment from you to ensure he read the book you gave him, etc. I wouldn't leave it to the teachers to completely educate. Not only will your son learn more and play games less, but you'll benefit by spending some quality time on a fun outing....

That's the crazy thing! We read the first two Harry Potter books together and he read the third one on his own. Part of his daily homework is to read for one hour every night at home. His Dad takes/took him camping all the time. There is rarely anything on our TV besides the history channel or Discovery (and SPORTS, of course) and still he doesn't talk about anything except the video games. He actually gets very good grades in school and has been nominated for the G.A.T.E (gifted and talented education - I think/LOL) program. He is just LAZY! Why I responded to this thread is because his friends are the same way and I expect this is how it is all over. They aren't taught how important education is. I think the people that todays youth have for role models suck and the teachers are so under paid they have no incentive to reach those students that are falling behind. They don't have time to make that extra effort nor do they care.

Originally posted by m0rbid
Sometimes I drive like I'm in Vice City

You don't even want to get me started on the subject of "VICE CITY" I still haven't got over the content in that game WHAT THE HELL WERE THEY THINKING

He is just LAZY!

Hehe, sounds a lot like me as a kid... Like me, school is likely boring him. He probably gets good grades while still finding ways out of doing a lot of the work... Are there kids his own age around your area? This can sometimes lead to just playing games (if there aren't any kids his own age to play with, within bike riding distance). If he has such friends, encourage them to game together (at least he'll get some social activity that way). Sadly, multi-player games are more of an exception than a rule...

At least it doesn't sound like your son is suffering in other areas due to the gaming. That's a good thing, and indicates that he himself, will likely realize when it's gone too far, as he sounds like a bright kid....

Originally posted by Gazrok
At least it doesn't sound like your son is suffering in other areas due to the gaming. That's a good thing, and indicates that he himself, will likely realize when it's gone too far, as he sounds like a bright kid....

Thanks
I just hope I don't kill him before he realizes he's gone too far

Yep, hard to punish a kid who's behaving, doing well in school, etc. The best thing may just be to tell him calmly of your concerns, and being the bright guy he is, he'll likely try to trim down his gaming a bit....

Gazrok- a solution might be to give him outside tasks so he doesn't have time to play video games. Although I would've hated it if my dad ever did that me.

I personally feel the main problem with kids being "dumb" is the teaching in America. We now have tests that dictate how much more pennies a governer gets and therefore how much money schools get in return. All of the schools (grammer and highschool) are actualyl just teaching to the test, with the exception of Advanced Placement and Honor classes. The kids are only taught whats on tests, and they don't know a thing about most real life situations. As an 11th grader I noticed that many things that SHOULD be taught in school are not. Taxes and how to fill out personal checks are probably very two important things that should be taught but aren't. It's all because of these damn PSSA's and SATs that education is so sucky in america!

Originally posted by WolfofWar
As an 11th grader I noticed that many things that SHOULD be taught in school are not. Taxes and how to fill out personal checks are probably very two important things that should be taught but aren't. It's all because of these damn PSSA's and SATs that education is so sucky in america!

GOOD CALL
We weren't taught that either. Although there isn't much to filling out a personal check, the whole concept of the checking account and how it works SHOULD be taught. I also agree that how to file your taxes should be taught.

What do you mean by your statement regarding SAT's? My son took the CAT9 end of last year. How do you think these tests make education in America "sucky"?

Originally posted by Gazrok
Yep, hard to punish a kid who's behaving, doing well in school, etc. The best thing may just be to tell him calmly of your concerns, and being the bright guy he is, he'll likely try to trim down his gaming a bit....

If you knew him you would see how funny this is

I know when I speak to him calmly....all he hears is blah blah blah blah blah (Charlie Browns teacher). I literally have to turn off the TV and have him sit right in front of me (eye to eye) just to have a normal "how was your day dear" kind of conversation. I find myself chanting "he's only 12, he's only 12"............But thanks for all the great advice, I really do appreciate it

Interesting thread. Many very good points. I would place the majority of the blame on poor parenting. The television babysitter has destroyed most of the current generation as well as a good percentage of my own.
The saddest part is that it's so widespread there is almost no way to reverse the problem.
Kids today have little knowledge of rewards for a job well done. Everything is handed to them or they are taught by the TV god that everything should be.
My kids friends all had their cars given to them by parents. They all carry cell phones. They take very little resposibility for anything they do. They just assume they deserve EVERYTHING. They actually gave my kid a hard time because I am making him BUY a car (from me) and pay his own insurance.


A couple of side notes as well:

Go easy on the teachers. They don't have it as easy as you may think. My wife (High School English teacher) leaves the house at 6:30AM comes home at 2:30PM and creates lesson plans, corrects papers, get's the assignments ready for the next day ect, ect until 10:30PM EVERY NIGHT. Sixteen hours of work for eight hours pay! Doesn't sound so cushy anymore does it?
Luckily she loves the work.

There are also the bull# state developed curriculum rules and the "no child left behind" program. Right there you can find your state sponsored dumbing down of american children. Thanks Bush!

Venus,
I would also suggest finding other activities outside of video games, and soon. If you think it's tough getting a 12 year old on task now, wait five years .

Well when I talk about the SATs, PSSAs and such ruining the education system I am talking about the fact that they make the teachers teach to the test, and not real fundamental values. The SATS and PSSAs dictate how much more money (or less) a Governer gets. If the kids score bad he looses money and takes it out on schools by cutting alot of their funds. To make sure this doesnt happen the teachers teach specifically for the SAT tests so that they pass it. all of your junior and highschool years are spent learning how to take and pass one test. They DO NOT teach for college, just for the SAT. Other countries dont have this system, so they teach for careers, life, and college. Instead America simply teaches so their students can pass a meaningless test and the state governer gets more money. Hope that clarifies what I'm talking about

Because teachers teach to pass the test, regardless of what should be in the curriculum...

Actually, many of these "life-skills" are taught in an elective form known by various names, such as Personal Economics, etc. Personally, this kind of course should be mandatory, especially teaching about finance and interest, etc. and then maybe so many Americans (myself included) wouldn't be in debt situations... I had to learn all about it the hard way... Rest assurred, I'll teach my kids about it, hehe....

Originally posted by Fry2
Kids today have little knowledge of rewards for a job well done. Everything is handed to them or they are taught by the TV god that everything should be.
My kids friends all had their cars given to them by parents. They all carry cell phones. They take very little resposibility for anything they do. They just assume they deserve EVERYTHING. They actually gave my kid a hard time because I am making him BUY a car (from me) and pay his own insurance.

*Venus is on her feet wildly applauding*
That is exactly the attitude I get back from him. Although that is completely my fault
This past Friday was his birthday. He received more in gifts then I made in the last week, working 40 hours!