1318 Can't Find Louisiana

Oh a big HELLO on this one. Kids are getting more and more stupid with each passing day. I think all of this "home schooling" is partly to blame. How is out running errands with mumsy getting an education???

I was in the *wonderful* company of an acquaintance's 16 year old son a few weeks ago and I was talking about a dish that uses cabbage. He asked, "What's cabbage??" Unbelievable.

They don't put cabbage in Lunchables, or serve it at McDonalds, KFLL, how could the little brain trust be expected to know about it?

I think home schooling can be ineffective. In my state, one only has to have completed 3 grade levels above the child they are home schooling. There are some really ignorant bible thumpers with 6th grade educations "teaching" their k-3rd graders around here. It is also a rule in my state that home schooled kids have to take a state standardized test each year to prove that they are actually learning something. If they don't meet standard the parents are required to enroll them in an accredited school. I love getting these kids in 3rd grade that have NEVER been in a school setting, and have no idea how to interact with their peers,let alone how to read! It's a real pain to deal with catching them up. Several years ago I had 4 kids that had never been in school before. It was exhausting!

I think another problem is that you can lead a child to education, but you can't make him/her learn. Just about everything on that list is something that kids throughout their interaction with media and schooling would be exposed to,and they choose to not absorb it. It may be that they have no attention span due to nutrition, faulty wiring, or lack of self discipline. It may be they're just plain dumb, because some kids are! (and don't think I'm horrible for saying this, because we all know dumb adults--they had to start out as dumb kids!) It also has to do with their exposure to information in the home. If mom and dad spend their time sitting on the couch, drinking cheap beer, watching soap operas, wrestling and NASCAR, the kids in that home aren't being exposed to much culture. I know a lot of people would like to blame the educational system, but despite the few rotten ones we hear about in the media, most teachers are very dedicated to teaching what their state requires.

I'll stop ranting now

The problem of "Why little Johnny can't read or find Louisiana on a map" is quite complicated indeed. KidFreeLuvnLife and Sherz made some real good points with their posts.
I think another possibility is that our culture has made stupidity fashoinalbe; espeically amonst girls. Jessica Simpson said some real stupid shit on the show "Newlyweds" and then a few weeks later, she was seen making fun of herself on commercials. Paris Hilton is iconized for acting like a stupid, spoiled whore.
Girls also get the idea that you can't be both beautiful and smart. On season 1 of "America's Next Top Model (ANTM)", Elyise (the only one on that show who seemed to have a working brain cell) was let go for coming off as "arrogant and condescending" for actually showing that she has working brain cells.
On season 6 of ANTM, Nnenna was let go for coming off as "snobbish" in her mock interview. Jade has been told numerous times that she comes off as "bitchy" to the judges and yet she is still on ANTM. Jade is a restuarant hostess at 26 years old while Nnenna is a chemist at 24 years old. Joanie is still in the competition even though she has no other career plans after modeling. She admits on episode 5 that she wants to be a SAHM while the other girls actually have career plans and yet this bitch is still on ANTM.

I'm so sorry girls still have that old "beauty OR brains" standard. Things were looking up back in the 80s, but everything has gone totally backwards since.

Medusa Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I'm so sorry girls still have that old "beauty OR
> brains" standard. Things were looking up back in
> the 80s, but everything has gone totally backwards
> since.


Amen sister!
I honestly think that mysogynists brought the "beauty OR brains" standard back out along with the "being a SAHM is TMIJITW" because they were afraid of us getting the same jobs as they were, making as much money as they were, and actually demanding to be treated EQUAL.
Oprah did a show on April 10th with Pink entitled "Stupid Girls". (more info can be found at: http://www2.oprah.com/tows/pastshows/200604/tows_past_20060410.jhtml).
It was a pretty interesting and thought-provoking show despite the fact that all of Oprah's other shows are "BUY THIS PRODUCT!"; "SEE THIS CELEBRITY'S MOVIE!"; etc.

BTW, Pink is cool. Smart, beautiful women are cool. Also shows like Hope & Faith, and George Lopez, the women on those shows act ditzy and stupid. Now what kind of message is that sending? Also, homeschooling sounds like a joke. There is nothing wrong with going to a public school. I did it, I survived.

My Mom bought me a t-shirt with Lucy (from Peanuts) on it, and it says "Beauty AND brains"!

BTW, there is no such thing as "home schooling" here (Canada). You have to go to school until you're 16. I think that's a good thing.

I really don't see homeschooling as being an effective means of educating a child. When a kid is in school, they are in an environment to learn - books, paper, chalkboard, etc. When they're at home, they're going to want to go play with toys or with video games and they'll be totally distracted. And who is to say the parent doing the schooling even knows what the fuck they're talking about? It reminds me of the documentary on the Duggar family when they said they were homeschooling their kids and teaching them about filing for bankruptcy at the age of 9.

Seriously, kids learn better in a school environment. I know parents think their little loaves are too good to ride the school bus or learn "useless" things like multiplication - I find homeschooling to just be another form of foam-padding.

and these kids wont be able to interact with other people. and so it begins again

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I just post the stories, for interest.. for everyone

Lord, what fools these mortals be!
- A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Act III, Scene ii

Voltaire said: "Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities."

H.L.Mencken wrote:"The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed (and hence clamorous to be led to safety) by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary.”

Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former. Albert Einstein

Cambion and Mercurior, you have both nailed it right on. I can't believe homeskooling is allowed in this day and age.

Kids should learn how to interact with other kids b/c that is how you make it in the working world!!!! I have a cousin who is being homeschooled, and it is just their way of keeping her a bubble. BIG F*CKING JOKE!

theres an even worse version of homeschooling, thats letting the kids learn stuff on its own, basically ferals. no lessons, no structure,just the kids running wild

*********************************************************************************************************************************
I just post the stories, for interest.. for everyone

Lord, what fools these mortals be!
- A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Act III, Scene ii

Voltaire said: "Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities."

H.L.Mencken wrote:"The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed (and hence clamorous to be led to safety) by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary.”

Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former. Albert Einstein

I went to a farm one time and the 8 year old said to me "We're homeschooled so we don't lose our Christianity." All these homeschoolers in this area all hang out with each other and some of them are dumber then Dumb and Dumber. My library has a magazine put out for homeschoolers and Whoa Nelly! Are they ever hard core fundies.
Scary stuff. And why was Mrs. Duggar teaching her kids about bankrupcey laws?

I guess Michelle Duggar wants her litter to be well- rounded homeschooled fundies. Gawd & bankruptcy go together dontcha know. Tithes & all that...

Maybe Michelle and her hubby go bankrupt all the time trying to afford a freakin' baseball team.

The Republicans want to make it harder to declare bankruptcy so Little Miss or Mr. Christianity needs to realise that they should pay their bills like everyone else. Their own party isn't going to help them duck out on their credit card debts.

By the way, I got a call at work from a caller in New Mexico. We do have a lot of young employees. Apparently, some halfwit thought New Mexico was not part of the United States and transferred her to the Spanish qeueu!

the moo that shares this house with fiances dad wants to homeschool her kids, regardless that she is dumb, she doesnt want the kids to leave her (the older is 4 then 2, then just born. )

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I just post the stories, for interest.. for everyone

Lord, what fools these mortals be!
- A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Act III, Scene ii

Voltaire said: "Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities."

H.L.Mencken wrote:"The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed (and hence clamorous to be led to safety) by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary.”

Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former. Albert Einstein

I'm beginning to realize that most pahrunts and kids wouldn't be able to find their ass if you asked them where it was.

Well, I can't say I learned much in terms of actual facts in public school, I did learn how to read, do basic math and where LA was. I learned alot about human interaction and social structures.

However, I think supidity has been the "cool" thing for so long that it would take several generations to fix, if that would be possible, which it wouldn't because stupid parents make stupid kids. I was talking to a tech college professor the other day and he was telling me about how several different kids in different classes of his responded to an article they had to read for class. Their papers weren't about issues they had with facts in the article, but on how the article made them feel stupid beause the writer was using "big words" like consumption, and they felt the writer was "showing off" that he was smarter.

CONSUMPTION? A big word? Oh lordy lordy this world is in trouble.