Copernicus weeps

[bayonetbrant]

I've seen the contractor tap-dance like a mofo when asked to justify its continued existence.  Does that count as an "evasive maneuver"?  ;)

[BanzaiCat]

The school systems get worse and worse. As they've moved from the system that was in place when I was a kid, making the environment so much more 'tolerant' and 'diverse' and without corporal punishment, things have steadily gone downhill. I don't get how anyone with half a brain doesn't notice this.

Not that public humiliation through paddling in front of a class is going to make a comeback, unfortunately, because some of those kids really need a beating and not a "time out." Schools are SO cognizant of legal action and SO afraid of being sued by a handful of loudmouth, idiot parents that the system has diluted everything to the point where there's nothing substantial, much less interesting, to teach to anybody. The resulting complete lack of discipline on the part of kids - whom NEED discipline in their lives so they stay on the right track and learn focus and good work habits - has substantially helped to vaporize what effectiveness the school systems have.

I'm sure there's exceptions  here and there, but in general, it's complete crap.

[bayonetbrant]

The biggest problem, IMHO, is that many parents have abdicated all responsibility for 'educating' their children completely to the school district.  They don't show up for parent meetings, don't check the kids' homework at night, don't start reading to them as infants and continue to read to/with them well past the start of school, and don't spend any time engendering a love for knowledge in the kids.  If the parents don't demonstrate that they place a priority on education and learning, why would we expect the kids to follow suit?

Now, there are a lot of interconnected issues with why education in the US has tanked.  And it's almost impossible to separate the tangle of problems into distinct threads and apply any sort of "magic fix" to any of them.  But to me, the single biggest one is that the parents don't give two craps, and that's one of the hardest ones to fix.

[TheCommandTent]

The biggest problem, IMHO, is that many parents have abdicated all responsibility for 'educating' their children completely to the school district.  They don't show up for parent meetings, don't check the kids' homework at night, don't start reading to them as infants and continue to read to/with them well past the start of school, and don't spend any time engendering a love for knowledge in the kids.  If the parents don't demonstrate that they place a priority on education and learning, why would we expect the kids to follow suit?

Now, there are a lot of interconnected issues with why education in the US has tanked.  And it's almost impossible to separate the tangle of problems into distinct threads and apply any sort of "magic fix" to any of them.  But to me, the single biggest one is that the parents don't give two craps, and that's one of the hardest ones to fix.

Completely agree.

[BanzaiCat]

You need a license to hunt, a license to fish, a license for driving most vehicles, a license to fly...and on and on and on.

But a license to raise a kid? Nope.

I know, I know..."how would you regulate that." And I for one wouldn't trust any government bureaucracy to do so. But it is rather funny that something as important as raising a human being through delicate and impressionable formative years isn't as important as operating a car or casting a line into the water.

In this little utopia I dream of, I would imagine 80% of people would easily fail their test to become parents, which means we'd have a slower rise in population, but would generally have better kids.

The more I think about it, the more the movie Idiocracy doesn't look all that much of a stretch for our future.

[MikeGER]

But it is rather funny that something as important as raising a human being through delicate and impressionable formative years isn't as important as operating a car or casting a line into the water.

its because
- if you fail with a car, plane, and hunting rifle the damage to another person is immediately and in plain sight.
- if you fail as a parent the damage to other people happen years later and to the society as a whole and its not so easy to spot
   (with the exception of serve crimes and drug issues) 

and so nobody seams to care

there should be a test of minimum knowledge to qualify to vote also   

[BanzaiCat]

Hell, I think anyone that wants to renew their driver's license should have to re-take the state driving test, each time. I know there's no way that's happening since they barely have the resources to function as it is now.

A friend of mine has been busting her ass to become a fully-certified counselor. When she makes it, she'll be able to make $150 an hour, easily. There's something to be said for people that need therapy down the road. But that itself is hardly a good reason, of course, to wish for more malfunctioning humans.