If I were a teacher, so many people would fail. Then they'd fire me.

3/9/2006 8:38:28 PM

In BUS 480, the professor began the class by presenting us with a David Brooks article saying essentially the same thing. I think it's a valid point, but perhaps exaggerated in the venting.

3/9/2006 9:02:54 PM

I'm like the posterchild for that article.

3/9/2006 9:13:30 PM

i believe that tv has created a majority of the add in this nation

i know that for me, tv reduced my ability to want to read

an assload

i don't care if it "hasn't happened to you"...it's real and it's happened

the internets have given me extra knowledge

but at the same time, let's look at the amount of things skimmed because it contained "too many words"

check out tww

if it isn't less than 4 lines, they won't read it all the way through...and the kids being born today are in the midst of it

you'd think they'd be able to consume more information, but even the pop culture knowledge bank (with my in depth research done by tv) has shrunk to a span of 5 year retainment

3/10/2006 12:04:04 AM

i also believe that if we made spanish a normal requirement in elementary schools, it would make our kids smarter tenfold

[Edited on March 10, 2006 at 12:09 AM. Reason : it]

3/10/2006 12:06:10 AM

[Edited on March 10, 2006 at 12:23 AM. Reason : ]

3/10/2006 12:22:29 AM

Society as a whole is getting smarter: http://pespmc1.vub.ac.be/FLYNNEFF.html (if this link is BS, I would like to know)

I don't think it's fair to blame TV on anything... there was even a recent study that showed TV actually helps out education (no big surprise, without TV, I wouldn't know half the random stuff that I do).

3/10/2006 12:49:58 AM

I agree with marko's assertions. I've had trouble sitting through a two hour movie before. And that's just a movie! Imagine a lecture!

Quote :

"i also believe that if we made spanish a normal requirement in elementary schools, it would make our kids smarter tenfold"

how would you feel about a musical instrument?

[Edited on March 10, 2006 at 1:04 AM. Reason : sss]

3/10/2006 1:03:20 AM

Quote :

"In my experience, foreign students beat domestic students hands down. Mostly due to discipline and a lack of any sense of entitlement. As opposed to your typical US student who is just trying to slide by because they assume that no matter what happens they will still have a way to survive despite their incompetence."

I like how everyone automatically chalks this one up to a lack of work ethic on the part of Americans without taking into consideration the fact that the majority of foreign students that end up in our schools represent the above average, if not elite, of their nation. You are pretty much comparing their brightest students with our average students.

I'm not saying there is not a problem with the typical American student's work ethic. I'm just saying that the type of person that puts forth the effort to make the grade at home, works to get a student visa, learns a secondary language, and enrolls in a school in a foreign country has already shown their work ethic. The ones that don't have that work ethic never made it here in the first place.

How about comparing the average joe American student with the average joe foreign student enrolled in universities in their native lands. You'd probably find that American students are still lazier, just not to the same degree.

[Edited on March 10, 2006 at 7:54 AM. Reason : -]

3/10/2006 7:45:57 AM

I haven't heard anything about american students committing suicide over SAT scores like some do in other countries.

omg, American kids are so lazy!

3/10/2006 8:28:12 AM

I believe that a good majority of the problem and thus responsibility comes from the parents and the chid's upbringing. But a person's ideals and ethics are greatly influenced by society. And american culture is a lazy and wasteful one. Why would we expect anything else from our children?

Look how many people eat fast food because they are too lazy to cook something healthy and thus are becoming overweight.

Look at the people that get in their car and drive half a mile down the road to go somewhere instead of walking or riding a bike. Or people that

Look at the legal system where people sue over everything to make a quick buck. Or the people that fall victim to all these scams that claim they will make big money fast.

3/10/2006 8:55:17 AM