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Election 2016
Republicans
Democrats
Humor
Edited 8 y ago
Posted 8 y ago
Responses: 13
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Speaking as the father of three college students - IN FLORIDA - these articles, while funny, are laughing at the wrong thing. The lack of knowledge doesn't mean the kids are stupid. It means its' not being taught. My kids know history as I made sure they knew it. But at college NOW they are (like most Florida school kids) doing nothing but preparing to take tests. Tests to check that they can take tests. Tests to make sure that they can test to take tests. If you know what I mean. So while government may seem like a great topic, it's not what you the parent are paying for. You're paying for little Chip and Buffy to get degrees. And sadly, those degree's (even a history degree, funny enough) don't require anything more than rote test taking.
I mean in Florida, reading is an elective for Pete's sake. And cursive writing has been thrown away. So rather than laugh at the crazy answers the students have for "who is the vp" - perhaps we should be laughing at ourselves for allowing this dumbing down of our kids in election year after election year? After all, you're the ones paying the tuition, right? (Didn't mention myself as all three kids got scholarships). I know its hard but turn off the TV and actually attend the school board meetings. I think you'll find they're a lot more productive than you think.
I mean in Florida, reading is an elective for Pete's sake. And cursive writing has been thrown away. So rather than laugh at the crazy answers the students have for "who is the vp" - perhaps we should be laughing at ourselves for allowing this dumbing down of our kids in election year after election year? After all, you're the ones paying the tuition, right? (Didn't mention myself as all three kids got scholarships). I know its hard but turn off the TV and actually attend the school board meetings. I think you'll find they're a lot more productive than you think.
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Maj John D Benedict
I tend to agree with you. So, since we cannot count on the public education system to properly educate our children and grandchildren about US history (and other subjects, I suspect), it seems up to us to fill in the proper information.
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SSgt Christopher Brose
I'm sure that's all true. That doesn't take away from the fact that many young people simply don't apply themselves to subjects that don't interest them.
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PO3 Donald Murphy
SSgt Christopher Brose - Not so much application as it is timeframe. Gotta pass so many tests before the tuition grant deadline. They call my son at home to see "how he's progressing" if he gets too close to the border.
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LCDR (Join to see)
Many state departments of education also give teachers, who tend to not have a history-English-science-math degree, the information they will be tested on. If teacher's are "graded" on how well their students pass tests, why should they teach anything but what the state tells them? Especially when, in effect, the state says "this is what you'll teach, and we'll test your kids to make sure they know this that we told you to teach".
In my classes, no knowledge of Benedict Arnold, what a republic is, that the President doesn't write laws....just had a student come up, after half a year of teaching Reconstruction/Gilded Age/Progressivism/Populism/WWI/Roaring 20s/Farmers' Depression in SC/Great Depression & Textile Mills/WWII, and ask, "So, we're passed the Civil War now, right?" I might have made a snarky comment...….
This is why I want parents to be involved (not overbearing though please, it makes it difficult to teach when I have to answer your e-mails every day), b/c in my view, the teacher is the subject matter expert proxy for the parent (NOT "kids are property of the state"), and why I tell my students history and literature are just as and sometimes more important than math & science. The sidelining of social studies, having coaches and educators in place of historians (a generalization to be sure), is one major factor in our current political situation. "I don't have to pass social studies as long as I pass math, right?" "Wrong, you're a human, you need to know the humanities. Math, grammar, and science, love them, are the bare minimum for survival; for truly living, you need the humanities."
In my classes, no knowledge of Benedict Arnold, what a republic is, that the President doesn't write laws....just had a student come up, after half a year of teaching Reconstruction/Gilded Age/Progressivism/Populism/WWI/Roaring 20s/Farmers' Depression in SC/Great Depression & Textile Mills/WWII, and ask, "So, we're passed the Civil War now, right?" I might have made a snarky comment...….
This is why I want parents to be involved (not overbearing though please, it makes it difficult to teach when I have to answer your e-mails every day), b/c in my view, the teacher is the subject matter expert proxy for the parent (NOT "kids are property of the state"), and why I tell my students history and literature are just as and sometimes more important than math & science. The sidelining of social studies, having coaches and educators in place of historians (a generalization to be sure), is one major factor in our current political situation. "I don't have to pass social studies as long as I pass math, right?" "Wrong, you're a human, you need to know the humanities. Math, grammar, and science, love them, are the bare minimum for survival; for truly living, you need the humanities."
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