Are We Getting Dumber?

• ernest_t_bass

  

  I heard a woman on the radio this morning (Sylvan Learning Center) and she was talking about kids and homework. "As we know, homework keeps getting harder." was pretty close to what she said.
  
  My question... Are our kids/parents getting dumber, or is the schoolwork actually getting tougher? I know that people have stated that schools are changing the way they do Math (can't add to this discussion, b/c I've never seen or heard of it) but is the school work actually getting tougher?
  
  I think we're getting dumber.
  
  We are a "go find your answer over there" society, in my opinion. Go look on the internet, etc.
  
  I am a teacher, but I am not a core teacher. I teach HS business, so I really don't have much involvement in the core subjects. As far as "business" goes, I know that the stuff has not gotten any harder.
  
  What say you?
• I Wear Pants

  We're not getting dumber and the work isn't getting harder.
• Apple

  

  I agree that it's not getting harder. I would, however, say there has definitely been a systematic dumbing down of students as liberalism has crept into and taken over the education system.
  
  I would also say that the overall rejection of exceptionalism while promoting the need for fairness by liberal educators has been detrimental to the education of our children and has fostered a more entitlement mentality by our youth.
• cbus4life

  Only two posts before someone blamed liberals for our kids becoming dumber!!
  
  What a joke.
• Apple

  

  cbus-
  sometimes the truth hurts.
• believer

  

  ^^^+1
• Gobuckeyes1

  Liberal this, liberal that....blame the liberals...and follow Rush and Hannity and Beck and do exactly as they say. That way you don't have to do any thinking on your own...they can just tell you what to think. Makes it nice and easy.
• ytownfootball

  

  So someone tell me whose responsible for changing "how" things are taught, the methodology.
  
  My 10 year old comes home with math homework and the method is not anything like we were taught. She's confused on how answers are obtained until I show her how I was taught and you see the light bulb come on.
  
  "Why do WE have to do it like this and show how we got the answer?"
  
  Homework is harder because parents can't teach the same methods they learned, they are required to study a fourth graders teaching method and then assist them in their "new methodology"
  
  It's bullshit and frustrating, not only for my fourth grader but for me as well.
  
  Money seems to be being spent more on changing the methods as opposed to teaching proven methods better.
  
  Whose fault is that? I have my suspicions.
• Tinkertrain

  Homework is harder because we are forcing kids to do thing's earlier.
• Riddler

  I dont think so. i get homescooled and i luv it.
• ptown_trojans_1

  

  I don't think so. I think people are better at multitasking and utilizing technology.
• Riddler

  ptown_trojans_1 wrote: I don't think so. I think people are better at multitasking and utilizing technology.

  Funny you should say that
• ernest_t_bass

  

  ptown_trojans_1 wrote: I don't think so. I think people are better at multitasking and utilizing technology.

  My opinion, and I hope to have my source tomorrow (it's at work), is that "multi-tasking" is never a positive thing. Kids "think" they can multi-task, but they actually can't.
• eersandbeers

  As far as high school students, I think we are getting dumber. I was so unprepared for college and lacked the basic math, science, and English skills that I possess today. We aren't teaching history (which is a benefit for the government), and kids are generally unaware of all world events. Basically American high school students, in general, are stupid.
  
  Past that, we have more high school students than ever attending higher education institutions. What that means and how that changes things..who knows?
• Apple

  

  Gobuckeyes1 wrote: Liberal this, liberal that....blame the liberals...and follow Rush and Hannity and Beck and do exactly as they say. That way you don't have to do any thinking on your own...they can just tell you what to think. Makes it nice and easy.

  So that is how you formulate your opinions? So sad...
  
  For me, I formulate my opinions by staying more informed than with one source and one point of view.
  
  The answer to this op's question is a no-brainer. It's as obvious as the Speaker of the House, the Senate majority leader, the Oval Office, the teachers unions and the liberal socialist academia instructors in higher education today.
• hasbeen

  

  I'm a math education major and I've observed in a 6th grade classroom and a 9th grade classroom. A lot of the methods they are teaching for the most basic mathematical things are very strange. The way they teach multiplication and things are silly and useless later in life. So the 6th graders were being taught something and then the 9th grade teachers have to re-teach it in a way that doesn't require them to do some stupid method so they can do the more advanced math(i.e. algebra).
  
  Another big thing missing, is number tricks. They flat out aren't being taught consistently enough. How do you know if a number is divisible by 3? Add the values together and if that number is divisible by 3 than it is. i.e. is 142 divisible by 3? 1+4+2=7. 7 is not divisible by 3 so neither is 142. I had 1 kid say they knew about this trick. That's bad.
  
  Another thing the kids lacked was the idea for mental math to put everything into tens. What is 14x8? Well 14x10=140 then subtract 2*14=140-28=112.
  
  The way these things are being taught are like we all were and frankly, they aren't better methods.
• ts1227

  

  ernest_t_bass wrote: We are a "go find your answer over there" society, in my opinion. Go look on the internet, etc.

  How is this problematic? Information is more readily available; going to locate this information makes one resourceful, not dumb.
• Footwedge

  Apple wrote: I agree that it's not getting harder. I would, however, say there has definitely been a systematic dumbing down of students as liberalism has crept into and taken over the education system.
  
  I would also say that the overall rejection of exceptionalism while promoting the need for fairness by liberal educators has been detrimental to the education of our children and has fostered a more entitlement mentality by our youth.

  I think that the OP, a business instructor, is not a liberal. I would also say that he is very open minded and offers a lot to these political boards. I'm not saying that to score any points with him, in that he doesn't agree with how I view a lot of things.
• Footwedge

  Apple wrote: cbus-
  sometimes the truth hurts.

  And the ultimate irony...studies show liberals are smarter than conservatives.
• hoops23

  

  This is exactly WHY I say politics are the downfall of this country... Instead of working together, we'd rather blast the other side...
  
  GANG WAR. Red vs blue, crips vs bloods...
  
  all it is.
• ernest_t_bass

  

  ts1227 wrote:

  ernest_t_bass wrote: We are a "go find your answer over there" society, in my opinion. Go look on the internet, etc.

  How is this problematic? Information is more readily available; going to locate this information makes one resourceful, not dumb.

  They're kids. They don't always use the most resourceful (and reliable) way, but the easiest.
• Gobuckeyes1

  Apple wrote:

  Gobuckeyes1 wrote: Liberal this, liberal that....blame the liberals...and follow Rush and Hannity and Beck and do exactly as they say. That way you don't have to do any thinking on your own...they can just tell you what to think. Makes it nice and easy.

  So that is how you formulate your opinions? So sad...
  
  For me, I formulate my opinions by staying more informed than with one source and one point of view.
  
  The answer to this op's question is a no-brainer. It's as obvious as the Speaker of the House, the Senate majority leader, the Oval Office, the teachers unions and the liberal socialist academia instructors in higher education today.

  The reason I said what I said is because your post sounded just like something you would hear on talk radio. Liberal this, liberal that, socialist this, marxist that, blah blah blah...
  
  Conservatism doesn't have all of the answers...neither does liberalism. Conversely, liberalism isn't to blame for all of our problems...neither is conservatism. Any time some starts blaming one side or the other for all of our problems, I generally dismiss them as a partisan fool.
  
  If this really is such a "no-brainer" as you suggest, then you should be able to provide some facts and research backing up your opinion. Your indictment of our elected officials means nothing because the same could be said for the previous administration.
• CenterBHSFan

  

  I think it is a very common misconception for alot of people to think that conservatives get their talking points from the tv or radio. That may be true in some cases, I don't know, but in general I would say no.
  
  I mean think about it.
  Liberals aren't getting their talking points from Nancy Pelosi are they?
  No. (at least I hope not haha)
  So, I don't know why people automatically think that conservatives get their talking points from _____________.
  
  Personally, I was very liberal up to about my mid-twenties. I changed my views from life experience and paying attention to the political happenings going on at the time.
• ernest_t_bass

  

  ernest_t_bass wrote:and I hope to have my source tomorrow (it's at work), is that "multi-tasking" is never a positive thing.

  http://blogs.saschina.org/bknowles/2009/09/30/multitasking-a-human-delusion/
  
  http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=95256794
  
  WebMD
  
  http://www.webmd.com/balance/guide/20070201/multitasking-hurts-learning
• Apple

  

  Gobuckeyes1 wrote: ...If this really is such a "no-brainer" as you suggest, then you should be able to provide some facts and research backing up your opinion...

  Does personal experience count in you world? ...Like being married to a then college education major and then high school teacher for 14 years? Having children who went to both Catholic grade school then public high school? What about having taught college classes and dealing with colleagues and college administrators?
  
  I don't need to read some scholar's published article to know how f'd-up the education system is due to liberalism, I've freaking personally seen it for myself and experienced it!!! So yes, to me it is most assuredly a no-brainer!!!