[PenultimateManStandin]

Iv'e sitting here watching these clueless giggling teenagers in my gig as substitute teacher. Today they are watching a furry green Jim Carey steel toys from the Who kids. I've been doing this for years and I tell you what, talk about Peak Oil, well we passed the Peak Education point years ago! Probably most American college juniors would look pretty bad if they took the 1955 SAT test. What the hell happened?

[PenultimateManStandin]

'steel' was a typo, I'm actually a pretty good speler

[KiddieKorral]

[vent]
I don't know much about changes in educational standards, but I do know that the vast majority of kids at my school drive me freakin' INSANE! Wasting their youths on drinking, partying, and one stupid high school relationship after another, then having the audacity to say that I'm wasting my youth. Thank God school's out for two weeks so I don't have to deal with them. Now don't get me wrong, I have my friends, and they're good, mature kids. But they're a rare breed.
[/vent]

I needed that.

[Jack]

How right you are, PenultimateManStandin. The standards have declined, and seriously so - sometime, read Strunk and White's "Elements of Style". If your local newspaper is anything like mine, their use of the English language is pathetic. Students at the University level are, often, unable to craft a coherent sentence.

Innumeracy is rampant. Simple problems involving multiplication and division are beyond the capability of some University students; indeed, following explicit written instructions sometimes exceeds their capabilities.

(/end rant!)

[marek]

Here is a good article corroborating your arguments:

Grandfather Economic Report

Last but not least, a picture is worth a thousand words

[Guest]

You gotta dumb 'em down to control them.

[k_semler]

Also, a good read to compliment this thread, and also what "Guest" had to contribute, (which was also very relevant), is Fahrenheit 451. So, do you have the "aunts" and "uncles" talking to each other in the parlor room with 3 walls of TV yet? Have you noticed that the billboards are even longer than they used to be? I would like my 3-D pornographic magazines though...

[smiley]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('kiddie', 'W')asting their youths on drinking, partying, and one stupid high school relationship after another, then having the audacity to say that I'm wasting my youth.

[KiddieKorral]

Sorry if you're offended; I was just venting. But I'll pass on the drugs and partying. Why does nobody read my sig?

[trespam]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Jack', 'H')ow right you are, PenultimateManStandin. The standards have declined, and seriously so - sometime, read Strunk and White's "Elements of Style". If your local newspaper is anything like mine, their use of the English language is pathetic. Students at the University level are, often, unable to craft a coherent sentence.

Innumeracy is rampant. Simple problems involving multiplication and division are beyond the capability of some University students; indeed, following explicit written instructions sometimes exceeds their capabilities.

(/end rant!)

[PenultimateManStanding]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Anonymous', 'Y')ou gotta dumb 'em down to control them.

[PenultimateManStanding]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('trespam', '
')Fortunately, at least where I live in San Diego, the kids are kicking ass.

[trespam]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('PenultimateManStanding', '
')OK, I'm back home now after another day with the mindless giddy teenagers. Could it be there was an elite conspiracy to undermine the intellects of the American populace? Who knows, maybe. I tend to think that it was more of an evolutionary process caused by a number of factors. 19th century Americans were more repressed than us. The history of the 20th century was a broad move away from repression.

[PenultimateManStanding]

Sure there are some bright kids here. They are surrounded by a sea of mediocracy. But regarding even the bright ones, one of my childhood friends went on to become a professor of Biochemistry and Genetics at a major eastern University. He says of these elite students that they don't ask probing questions anymore. It seems they are learning by rote for the grades and promotion in life and genuine intellectual curiousity has long been waning. So even if peak oil weren't around the corner, its probably not too likely that we would be seeing so many Nobel Prizes awarded for the sciences in the future for Americans.

[trespam]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('PenultimateManStanding', 'S')ure there are some bright kids here. They are surrounded by a sea of mediocracy. But regarding even the bright ones, one of my childhood friends went on to become a professor of Biochemistry and Genetics at a major eastern University. He says of these elite students that they don't ask probing questions anymore. It seems they are learning by rote for the grades and promotion in life and genuine intellectual curiousity has long been waning. So even if peak oil weren't around the corner, its probably not too likely that we would be seeing so many Nobel Prizes awarded for the sciences in the future for Americans.

[Jack]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('trespam', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Jack', 'H')ow right you are, PenultimateManStandin. The standards have declined, and seriously so - sometime, read Strunk and White's "Elements of Style". If your local newspaper is anything like mine, their use of the English language is pathetic. Students at the University level are, often, unable to craft a coherent sentence.

Innumeracy is rampant. Simple problems involving multiplication and division are beyond the capability of some University students; indeed, following explicit written instructions sometimes exceeds their capabilities.

(/end rant!)

[jato]

Hilltop High class of 1990. I hated it! I have nothing positive to say about San Diego public schools.

[trespam]

About the Prez (in response to Jack): Yeah, our prez graduated from Harvard and Yale. But all evidence indicates he was coasting all the way, schmoozing. Part of the problem. People look up to the schmoozers like Trump a bit too much. Glorified user car salesmen, if you ask me.

San Diego (in respnse to Jack): I agree. Very anti-intellectual. But where are the intellectual centers? Los Angeles. Austin. San Francisco. Seattle. New York. Boston. I worked for a company that was based in Cambridge, MA and was largely staffed with ex-MIT and ex-Harvard types. I worked here in the San Diego office. The MIT/Harvard folks often came out here to complain about the lack of culture. And they're probably right.

San Diego Schools (for Jato): We specifically moved out San Diego Unified school district. Live in Solana Beach School District. About as good as private schools around here if you ask me. I know people with kids in La Jolla Country Day and they say the education in Solana district is just about as good--and a hell of a lot cheaper.

[jato]

I am familiar. I used to work our of Encinitas Station which patrols Encinitas, Del Mar, Solana Beach & Rancho Santa Fe. Nice area.

We had some problem "students" at the San Dieguito Academy. Actually, I was most impressed with Solana Beach as opposed to Encinitas or even Del Mar.

[smiley]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'S')orry if you're offended; I was just venting. But I'll pass on the drugs and partying. Why does nobody read my sig?