This generation of kids...

[Fletch]

Like you, I find very little to respect in modern "journalism," but I think the news bloggers, with their half-baked pronouncements and their cut-and-paste "research" only make it worse -- and the people who *comment* on blogs and news-sites are even below them. If the news-blogosphere is an intellectual cesspool, the comment sections are the leach field.

If the site and the writing encourage intellectual engagement, commenters can and do raise meaningful points. I've even seen the odd blogger engage commenters right in the comment section.

But it doesn't happen enough: most comment sections are mere partisanry, and some make you think they finally gave a million monkeys a million typewriters. It's no wonder some of the more inflammatory blogs don't even allow comments.

But maybe we should get back to kids - those of low chronological, not mental, age. It would be cool if educators could somehow help them prepare for what will probably be a life of many-to-many communication, but it would also be controversial. Hell, even teaching critical reading would be controversial in many districts.

 

[John in Covina]

Breaking news and getting the scoop first was one of those pressures where the facts some times takes second place. The new blog thing helps with instant news but it is only one piece in a jig saw puzzle.

 

[LizzieMaine]

But maybe we should get back to kids - those of low chronological, not mental, age. It would be cool if educators could somehow help them prepare for what will probably be a life of many-to-many communication, but it would also be controversial. Hell, even teaching critical reading would be controversial in many districts.

That's exactly what's helped to give us the situation we have now -- the whole idea of teaching to test scores instead of teaching how to *think.* The whole emphasis now seems to be to produce kids who'll rack up an impressive SAT score and get into The Right College, and who cares if they spend their school years merely buffing their ignorance to a high shine. It's the paperwork that counts.

I *do not* blame teachers for this. Most of the teachers I know are as frustrated with the system as anyone. It's the whole culture that's to blame, this whole social-climbing prestige-driven culture that puts more significance on where you went to school and what letters you have after your name than in what you actually *know.*

 

[John in Covina]

Here in LA (city) the thing is they can't get kids to stay in school, the drop out levels maybe the highest in the nation.

Here one of the problems has to do with parents don't socialize their children before they start school.
The teacher often doesn't hardly get to teach but is referee, and cop.
When the kids are getting taught they spend a lot of time not teaching reading, writing and arithmetic.

 

[Derek Cavin]

I just said to my wife yesterday that with YouTube, anyone can have their own TV show.

 

[Bruce Wayne]

That's exactly what's helped to give us the situation we have now -- the whole idea of teaching to test scores instead of teaching how to *think.* The whole emphasis now seems to be to produce kids who'll rack up an impressive SAT score and get into The Right College, and who cares if they spend their school years merely buffing their ignorance to a high shine. It's the paperwork that counts.

I *do not* blame teachers for this. Most of the teachers I know are as frustrated with the system as anyone. It's the whole culture that's to blame, this whole social-climbing prestige-driven culture that puts more significance on where you went to school and what letters you have after your name than in what you actually *know.*

My sister has been a 7th grade teacher at a rural Indiana school for 7 or 8 years now. After five years, she was starting to get burned out. What the board will do is cut budgets for the curriculum, but if they even talk about cutting the after school sports budget, people will riot.

On another note, when I was in high school (class of 2001) the history classes didn't even get a chence to talk about anything that happened in the 20th century.

 

[Derek Cavin]

Well put LizzieMaine. Experiencing that now with my first grader starting to test for the state. The internet site the teacher provided us has the exact questions that my appear on the test.

 

[Tango Yankee]

Here one of the problems has to do with parents don't socialize their children before they start school.
The teacher often doesn't hardly get to teach but is referee, and cop.
When the kids are getting taught they spend a lot of time not teaching reading, writing and arithmetic.

I think that may be a general problem across the board. My sister-in-law was commenting yesterday about the fact that in our area (rural southern Ohio) children start school without knowing how to dress themselves, to properly use and flush the toilet, to get along with others, to hold a pencil or a crayon, etcetera, unless they've been to pre-school first. It's not getting taught in a lot of homes. Parents expect the schools to teach everything, yet go nuts when kids are disciplined for acting out, cheating, and other anti-social behavior.

We have governors actively attacking and trying to destroy public employee unions--where the greatest number of members are teachers, and those are mostly women--trying to cut back on wages and benefits. I'm not going to go into the politics of it--I just want to say that I think that we don't pay our teachers near enough for what we demand of them. I know of teachers who spend hundreds of dollars out of their own pockets to provide students what they need to study. My sister-in-law buys a pair of gloves for each of her students at the beginning of each year for them to wear when they go outside when it's cold, as most of her students don't have any of their own. My niece is also a second-grade teacher, and she's had to have restraining orders taken out on the parents of some of her students! How we manage to keep any decent teachers in the profession is beyond me sometimes.

Regards,
Tom

 

[STEVIEBOY1]

It seems today that the school teachers have so much admin/paperwork to keep up with, that they don't spend as long with the kids, or don't go into subjects as much depth as our schoolmasters did, also when I was at school many many years ago, the staff were respected by the pupils, nowdays this does not seem to be the case. My school, like many others no doubt at that time was also very strict, no messing around in lessons was permitted and we had to get our homework/projects handed in on time with no excuses and work had to be completed before we could go home. Things do seem rather soft these days. Rgds Steve.

 

[Feraud]

I have neighbors that are NYC schoolteachers. A problem I've often heard is how the Board of Ed eliminated the ability of a teacher to discipline a child. Paperwork has to be filed and periods of time elapse when on the spot discipline of some type is required. Eventually the board will poke a head in and make a contrived decision consisting of special programs and treatments for imaginary disorders. The result is an unruly student or two will waste precious class time and the rest suffer.
Then there are the parents..

Never mind the chidlren, my gripe is with this generation of adults.

 

[Tiller]

Never mind the chidlren, my gripe is with this generation of adults.

Very true... as the old Ommpa Loompa song goes. "Who is to blame if your kid is a brat?...... the Mother and the Father."

Although their are some people who have great parents, and just turned out to be dunderheads.

 

[jamespowers]

I have neighbors that are NYC schoolteachers. A problem I've often heard is how the Board of Ed eliminated the ability of a teacher to discipline a child. Paperwork has to be filed and periods of time elapse when on the spot discipline of some type is required. Eventually the board will poke a head in and make a contrived decision consisting of special programs and treatments for imaginary disorders. The result is an unruly student or two will waste precious class time and the rest suffer.
Then there are the parents..

Never mind the chidlren, my gripe is with this generation of adults.

Children being raised by the children of hippies. Makes sense.:eusa_doh:

 

[JimWagner]

And who raised the hippies?

 

[John in Covina]

We can blame whom ever we want and do our best to "understand" the kids that are the problems but until you find a way to restrain the kids from disrupting class you're just going to have very well understood brigands keeping other children from learning.

 

[jamespowers]

And who raised the hippies?

Unfortunately the WWII generation who felt they didn't have to be as hard on their children as their parents were on them after the war and all. Fortunately only 25% screwed up.

 

[JimWagner]

Just about everything and anything you can name contributes to the way kids today are, whenever today is. There is no one cause. And there will be no one solution, presuming a "solution" is even possible. All you can do is raise your own kids to the best of your own abilities and beliefs. That, if you have kids, is your direct responsibility. And if enough people recognize that and act accordingly then perhaps things will change for the better.

 

[John in Covina]

And who raised the hippies?

Adding to James' post, the hippies were the children of parents that had gone thru the Great Depression and WWII. Many parents had gone without a lot themselves as children and growing up. After WWII they felt that they should give their children everything they themselves had not had, unfortunately for some kids they got things but did not get their parents or grandparents value systems.

 

[jamespowers]

Adding to James' post, the hippies were the children of parents that had gone thru the Great Depression and WWII. Many parents had gone without a lot themselves as children and growing up. After WWII they felt that they should give their children everything they themselves had not had, unfortunately for some kids they got things but did not get their parents or grandparents value systems.

And that was the most important part that should have been given.:eusa_doh:[huh]

 

[jamespowers]

Just about everything and anything you can name contributes to the way kids today are, whenever today is. There is no one cause. And there will be no one solution, presuming a "solution" is even possible. All you can do is raise your own kids to the best of your own abilities and beliefs. That, if you have kids, is your direct responsibility. And if enough people recognize that and act accordingly then perhaps things will change for the better.

Amen but the problem today, and I definitely know this first hand, is that your ability to raise your own children in a way that involves morals and values is constantly being contramanded by the population at large. There are poor examples of behavior everywhere. Some have no idea what they are doing as such ideas have not been introduced in generations and others are just plain lax.:eusa_doh:

 

[rue]

Adding to James' post, the hippies were the children of parents that had gone thru the Great Depression and WWII. Many parents had gone without a lot themselves as children and growing up. After WWII they felt that they should give their children everything they themselves had not had, unfortunately for some kids they got things but did not get their parents or grandparents value systems.

Exactly.

Amen but the problem today, and I definitely know this first hand, is that your ability to raise your own children in a way that involves morals and values is constantly being contramanded by the population at large. There are poor examples of behavior everywhere. Some have no idea what they are doing as such ideas have not been introduced in generations and others are just plain lax.:eusa_doh:

Amen.

Raising a teenager these days amongst children that have absolutely no rules is a very tough job.