Education

tonyb

I knew education in public schools was....flawed, lets say, but this video makes me wonder where the heck my tax money is going.
I know 5th graders that can answer these questions better than the High schoolers in this video. 53 states, Utopia is a country ? Can't name the vice prez ? Civil war is when we won our freedom ? History teachers should be shot. A young mind is like a sponge, this only tells me no importance on these matters is being taught, drilled in.

Betcha if you asked them about facebook, twitter, or the Kardashians, they could spit out facts like crazy.

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/this-video-of-teens-failing-miserably-at-a-civics-quiz-is-so-depressing-its-funny/

Watch the video, try not to laugh and cry at the same time.

dudeinaroom

That's why we homeschool.

Drenis

tonyb wrote: »

I knew education in public schools was....flawed, lets say, but this video makes me wonder where the heck my tax money is going.
I know 5th graders that can answer these questions better than the High schoolers in this video. 53 states, Utopia is a country ? Can't name the vice prez ? Civil war is when we won our freedom ? History teachers should be shot. A young mind is like a sponge, this only tells me no importance on these matters is being taught, drilled in.

Betcha if you asked them about facebook, twitter, or the Kardashians, they could spit out facts like crazy.

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/this-video-of-teens-failing-miserably-at-a-civics-quiz-is-so-depressing-its-funny/

Watch the video, try not to laugh and cry at the same time.

Utopia is a great game. :razz: All the war you could want!

codyc1ark

Parents need to be held more accountable for their childerns education, I can't tell you how many times my mother came home almost in tears because it was HER fault that one of her high school students was failing. Meanwhile, the student hadn't turned in half of his or her work, and didn't attend class. So who was at HOME making sure the work was being done, and that they we're getting to bed on time to wake up in time for class.

Besides, what do we expect when we've made this culture of kids raising kids.

SDA1C

My 5th grader brought home a packet all about the greek gods.! They spent a whole week on mythology. Tell me how that crap is relevant when we can't say "One nation under or pray in our schools.


Something has to give folks and it better happen quick!..


1C

exalted512

I'm not going to lie...I completely didn't get 'United States' for countries that started with a U...lmao
-Cody

tonyb

You guys are absolutely correct, It's not 100% teachers fault. Parents have alot to do with this stuff. It's like they blindly drop them off at the schools doorstep and expect a well educated child will come out the other end 10 years later. School boards also have some blame here as they set forth the curriculum that the teachers are supposed to teach. Gives a new perspective on the dumbing down of America and the lack of history being taught in schools. How can one move forward in life without knowing the great failures/ successes of the past ?

SDA1C

Then there is some brainless nit wit website like this that turns it into a union thing. And I quote from the text surrounding the video...

"Hillbuzz blog, however, isn?t laughing, and used the video to go after teachers? unions:

Why do teachers? unions claim they deserve more pay and endless benefits when this is the result of their ?hard work? in the classroom?
[...]
I can just hear the teachers? union reps consoling the kids who thought there were 51 stars on the American flag (you know, for all 51 states): ?It?s okay Brendan, you can try again. We are all winners here. There are no right or wrong answers. You said there were 51 stars, but if you can think up an extra 6 stars you too can be president some day?."


All you saying "Oh where are my taxes going?" We can start by saying useless bull sh/t lawsuits like this dambass website is pursuing. Believe me as a spouse of a teacher I would absolutely love to get the $36,500 that the school gets to teach per child and spend it on my own instead of all the rest of the little **** that have no one at home to even give a damn that thier homework is done. I could send mine to ivy league and leave yours in the dirt. Doesn't hurt my feelings a bit. I bought 5 extra sets of supplies this year for all three grades my kids are in just so I know mine have what they need.


Then ake a look all the disciplinary BS that a teacher has to deal with. How about teaching YOUR kid to brush his stinking teeth or to take a shower? Contrary to popular belief school isn't a friggin daycare! They get paid better! You actually have to engage your kid when they get home and be interested in what they are learning. How many kids will continue to give a 5hi7 if their parents don't?

My heart goes out to the old folks that no longer have kids in school but still pay exorbitant property taxes to support this bs but I can tell you it isn't the teachers that get the coin. It's the bleeding administrators that are upwords of 150k a year to decide which teachers get cut. My wife has a $100k education, tripple bachelor, masters. She has more education (Gonzaga University edu. not some community college) than the friggin principle and gets paid 1/4 of the principles salary. This hillbuzz or whatever and the unions can both kiss my **** as far as im concerned. All they do is fight and argue while the real problem continues.

WAKE UP PEOPLE YOU GOTTA KEEP TEACHING YOU KIDS EVEN AFTER THEY GET HOME!


Sorry for the rant. I just get so pissed that people don't get it some times.


WHEW!

1C

nooshinjohn

tonyb wrote: »

You guys are absolutely correct, It's not 100% teachers fault. Parents have alot to do with this stuff. It's like they blindly drop them off at the schools doorstep and expect a well educated child will come out the other end 10 years later. School boards also have some blame here as they set forth the curriculum that the teachers are supposed to teach. Gives a new perspective on the dumbing down of America and the lack of history being taught in schools. How can one move forward in life without knowing the great failures/ successes of the past ?

We are to blame for not opening our eyes and seeing what has been clearly in front of us for decades now. The education system is just a symptom of a much more serious disease. Can we not see that everything WE allow our government to touch turns to **** before our eyes? And then rather than solve the problem by taking control back from them, we open our wallets even more and give them even greater authority! The height of stupidity is to keep doing the same things over and over and expect a different result.

They cannot learn, because sadly... neither have we.

sucks2beme

The kids learn what they want to. Most parents don't push them.
They sit in front of the tube or play video games.
I used to have homework every night. Sometimes a whole evening's worth.
Of course, keep in mind they only show the worst examples.
And some of them are going to give flip answers just to be funny.

cfrizz

nooshinjohn wrote: »

We are to blame for not opening our eyes and seeing what has been clearly in front of us for decades now. The education system is just a symptom of a much more serious disease. Can we not see that everything WE allow our government to touch turns to **** before our eyes? And then rather than solve the problem by taking control back from them, we open our wallets even more and give them even greater authority! The height of stupidity is to keep doing the same things over and over and expect a different result.

They cannot learn, because sadly... neither have we.

This is you BS cop-out for everything John! It isn't the governments fault that parents can't be bothered being parents and making sure that their children are actually going to school and learning. My parents CHECKED my homework to make sure it was done, they CHECKED my report cards to make sure I was getting good grades & if I didn't God help me.

When parents start to actually take an active interest in their childrens education, things will get better, in the meantime, we have no one to blame but our own negligent behavior for this mess.

nooshinjohn

cfrizz wrote: »

This is you BS cop-out for everything John! It isn't the governments fault that parents can't be bothered being parents and making sure that their children are actually going to school and learning. My parents CHECKED my homework to make sure it was done, they CHECKED my report cards to make sure I was getting good grades & if I didn't God help me.

When parents start to actually take an active interest in their childrens education, things will get better, in the meantime, we have no one to blame but our own negligent behavior for this mess.

1) I said it is our fault in my very first sentence. The government controls the education system, from what kids must learn, all the way down to what they eat for lunch. This is OUR fault.
2) that kids are playing video games ratehr than doing homework, again is OUR fault.
3) parents not taking any interest in the education of their kids, OUR fault.

I never blamed the government for our educational failures Cathy... I blame us for letting them near our kids to begin with.

nooshinjohn

could not add this...

You are correct though as I have blamed the government quite a bit for their failures, but no longer. We get exactly what we deserve from them, and until we stand up for our rights and shoulder our own burdens without whining about it, we will continue to have ourselves to blame for our problems.

I blame the government no longer. I accept responsibility and I blame me.

tonyb

SDA- Don't read too into that particular site, it's the story I'm stickin' with. Lots of blame to go around for sure, and I don't know about the rest of you guys, but in my state when stories like this come out, we get the same answer time and time again. Throw more money at it. Isn't it obvious money isn't the problem ? Unless there is a willingness to confront the real issues at hand, none of this changes for the forseeable future.

I'm all for those who use the services, pay for them. In other words, why should people with no kids in the system keep paying for it ? In my state, as many others, if you send your kid to private school, you are still required to pay for the public one as well. So a double bubble hits you in the wallet. Thats why I'm a big supporter of school vouchers, let the individual decide how to spend those education dollars.

Drenis

...and this is why I don't want children. Marriage, kids, all of it. Forget it...

dudeinaroom

cfrizz wrote: »

This is you BS cop-out for everything John! It isn't the governments fault that parents can't be bothered being parents and making sure that their children are actually going to school and learning. My parents CHECKED my homework to make sure it was done, they CHECKED my report cards to make sure I was getting good grades & if I didn't God help me.

When parents start to actually take an active interest in their childrens education, things will get better, in the meantime, we have no one to blame but our own negligent behavior for this mess.

Another part of the problem is in a lot of families don't have the time, having to work two and three jobs to keep a roof over there head. As far as discipline goes, the Gov. has taken that right away too, so help you if you even look at your kid funny in a public place. John is right, the Gov. does mandate what is taught, and I know a couple teachers that quite a year ago with all the BS changes they had made. Keeping good teachers is hard and getting rid of the bad is impossible with tenure. Schools are teaching to pass the standardized tests now, and that is all they focus on. When our kids were in school the teachers loved us because we would check in a few times a week to see how they were doing, and what we could do to help(my wife has done tons of cutting stuff out for projects). Most parents do care, they are just blind to howt the education system has changed. And I do know that in too many cases the parents just don't care. Their are too many teachers that are teaching kids things they should have learned at home. There has also been a huge upswing in the amount of bi-polar and autistic kids in school now, which used to get the "oh, he has bad parents" comment. It's not always the teacher, the parent or the GOV., sometimes the kids have undiagnosed mental problems that gets passed off as bad behavior. There are flaws in the schooling system, just as in any system. The majority of homeschooled kids have higher SAT scores than those of traditional schools. If you don't like the schools that is an option for you to consider.

tonyb

Drenis wrote: »

...and this is why I don't want children. Marriage, kids, all of it. Forget it...

Oh c'mon man, you have to be up for a challenge every now and then or life gets to be plain vanilla.

evhudsons

I think what has happened is we now live in fear of being accused of abuse, or teaching something that may be offensive. I had fear of my teachers growing up, so I paid attention and kept my mouth shut and now people think I'm some kind of genius for knowing general knowledge, or what USED to be general knowledge. Now if someone walks into a classroom like that the teacher who instills discipline through fear or the threat of a spanking that teacher would be fired. Parents can't even spank their kids anymore without having them taken from them.

Also media spits out crap constantly and kids can't tell fact from fiction, so they don't care to figure out either, they go for the hype, it's more exciting. The government controls through budget cuts (firing teachers) the curriculum of what is taught, generally based on national or state institutional controls. I used to think home schooling was nutty, until I started paying attention to what kids, now adults are aware of and their knowledge.

tonyb

I know even home schooled kids now, depending on your state , have varrying degrees of regulation. Heck, some have come close to ouright making it illegal to home school. You would think the process would be to make it easier, not harder to home school. They get your coin not matter what anyway.

Drenis

delete

SDA1C

I like that part about the report cards and homework. The wife found an app last knight that allows her to see up to the week reports on homework and grades/report cards etc.

In fact we confiscated an ipod this morning because we found a Poster of the founding fathers that got a big fat F on it! 56%! She was Pissed!

She took the flyer today so if anyone is interested in the app let me know and I'll post the info tonight.

cnh

cfrizz wrote: »

This is you BS cop-out for everything John! It isn't the governments fault that parents can't be bothered being parents and making sure that their children are actually going to school and learning. My parents CHECKED my homework to make sure it was done, they CHECKED my report cards to make sure I was getting good grades & if I didn't God help me.

When parents start to actually take an active interest in their childrens education, things will get better, in the meantime, we have no one to blame but our own negligent behavior for this mess.

I fully agree as an Educator and as a parent. We watch our daughter's performance regularly. Talk to her teachers and supervise "extra" learning at home, etc. Public Schools and teachers are subject to the same strains and stresses as any other profession. There are A-holes in "every" profession. Even in "sales", John. And there are certainly some really big ones in High Finance and in the Market. And the biggest ones are those who are most "free" to do as they wish with our "money". Strangely enough, those who have LOST me, personally, the most money are the Stock Market boys and girls--U.S. Gov't is a distant second there.

My resources have been halved twice.

The other problem here is how "little" we actually value our teachers. They're burdens! They ask for too much! They have off in the summer. They have Unions! IS there "anything" good about them I wonder??? I've rarely seen so "maligned" a profession with so little in resources (that are always being reduced and cut, cut, cut). BTW. I have no vested interest here, not a member of any union I'm in Higher Education at the private college level. But it hurts me to see how those who are preparing my students for me are treated and paid. Their salaries, for the most part are lower middle class IMO.

When we live in a society that values "job-creators" more than those who are responsible for the the next generation what does that say about our "values"? Materialism rules. Knowledge and Character mean "nothing". OK, I am exaggerating some. We need the JCs as well.

Did anyone notice that J-C (same initials as Jesus Christ). Hmmmmmm maybe the Job-Creators are divine saviors too! lol

cnh

SolidSqual

This is just another argument for private schooling. When I have kids, I will go broke and sell all my gear to make sure they go to a Catholic School with nuns or some equivalent. I could have answered all those questions in third grade.

exalted512

Where I'm from, the private schools had worse kids than the public ones.
-Cody

Joe08867

I don't blame this on teachers as much as parents. Teachers have there hands tied in a lot of cases I have seen. Budget cuts and over crowded classes. Not to mention Parents complain about everything they do and then expect miracles from little Jimmy even though he need meds just to keep him from biting someone. And trust me I am not pro teacher or pro parent. They both have there faults. Teachers around here aren't nearly as involved as they were when I was younger. They put the time in but have to watch there backs so much that they can't be as they once were.

Parents need to be involved, then need to continue educating at home. And not blame the school as soon as something like this article is out. Nowadays parents want to be friends first parents second. Or they have the kid in so many extracurricular activities that they are exhausted when they get home and don't put the effort they could have into there homework. What happened to sit at the table and do your homework, when your done I want to see it and check it. Oh that's right, we are all privileged now and don't need to do that.

Really the whole thing is sad.

brgman

Catholic High Schools are pretty darn expensive these days.And worth every cent.If i had to i would sell everything i need to sell to keep my son right where he is.
I have to pay his tuition and then half that again to the local yocal school system.Still worth every cent.
He's a sophomore and we already have a huge stack of letters from colleges all over the country interested in him.For his brains!
Not because he can catch a ball.
Our local school now allows kids to turn in homework any time before the end of the year.That's right.By the end of the year!!!
And as long as they do they will not get dinged on their grades.WTF is that?

ryanjoachim

tonyb wrote: »

I knew education in public schools was....flawed, lets say, but this video makes me wonder where the heck my tax money is going.
I know 5th graders that can answer these questions better than the High schoolers in this video. 53 states, Utopia is a country ? Can't name the vice prez ? Civil war is when we won our freedom ? History teachers should be shot. A young mind is like a sponge, this only tells me no importance on these matters is being taught, drilled in.

Betcha if you asked them about facebook, twitter, or the Kardashians, they could spit out facts like crazy.

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/this-video-of-teens-failing-miserably-at-a-civics-quiz-is-so-depressing-its-funny/

Watch the video, try not to laugh and cry at the same time.

If you base the educational quality and ability of teachers based off a short video like this, then you are obviously a dumbass.
And so am I.
And so is every other adult in the United States.

Why?

One word. Jackass (the movie).

Since a random video is proof of a failed educational system, then Jackass is proof of the idiocy of adults.

SolidSqual

ryanjoachim wrote: »

then Jackass is proof of the idiocy of adults.

No. Jackass is proof that you don't need a college education in this country to make millions of dollars. All you need is the willingness to take big risks and get back up after failure.

Joe08867

Just reporting the post above,

tonyb

http://radio.foxnews.com/toddstarnes/top-stories/did-school-promote-communism-over-capitalism.html

This is the kind of crap I'm talkin' about. Same school has an Occupy protester come in to speak to the kids. Of all people you want the kids to look up to ? Kudo's to the one parent, yeah...one, that is standing up.

nooshinjohn

tonyb wrote: »

http://radio.foxnews.com/toddstarnes/top-stories/did-school-promote-communism-over-capitalism.html

This is the kind of crap I'm talkin' about. Same school has an Occupy protester come in to speak to the kids. Of all people you want the kids to look up to ? Kudo's to the one parent, yeah...one, that is standing up.

Just one... My heroes walked on the Moon. This generation is making heroes of those that crap on police cars and rape women in tents on the public square. Nice that they still teach morals in school.:rolleyes:

Wait a sec... morals tend to come from the very Judeo-Christian beliefs that have been banned from school. At least there is enough funding for a first rate sex ed program. At least when they commit rate, they will know what they're doing.:evil: