Are young people getting dumder or lazier?

SquashNut · #21 07/23/10, 10:42 AM

I think our parents thought the same things about us.

sirquack · #22 07/23/10, 11:04 AM

Just my personal experience. White guy married with a decent paying job. My children did not qualify for scholarships because they were not the best students. My son's fiance was not a great student either, but her mother is a drug addict and from a divorced family. She got a free ride for college due to her "special circumstances". Not that I begrudge her, but my son is working two jobs to pay the bills while she goes to school. He does not have time to go to school while she is in school full time and then going out with friends after classes are out. Somehow, the poor choices of her parents mean she is more deserving of a "free" (Paid for with Other People's Money) education than my son. When she is done, we are going to pay for his education like we are doing for our other children.
As I said, I don't begrudge her, but how many other people are out there getting the same thing on my tax dollars while I don't qualify for my kids to get grants due to me making too much money, which Uncle Sam tries to take more of every year because I am responsible and keep my job?

Tricky Grama · #23 07/23/10, 11:16 AM

Maybe its the math...

1. Teaching Math In 1950s
A logger sells a truckload of lumber for $100. His cost of production is 4/5 of the price. What is his profit ?

2. Teaching Math In 1960s
A logger sells a truckload of lumber for $100. His cost of production is 4/5 of the price, or $80. What is his profit?

3. Teaching Math In 1970s
A logger sells a truckload of lumber for $100. His cost of production is $80. Did he make a profit?

4. Teaching Math In 1980s
A logger sells a truckload of lumber for $100. His cost of production is $80 and his profit is $20. Your assignment: Underline the number 20.

5. Teaching Math In 1990s
A logger cuts down a beautiful forest because he is selfish and inconsiderate and cares nothing for the habitat of animals or the preservation of our woodlands. He does this so he can make a profit of $20.. What do you think of this way of making a living? Topic for class participation after answering the question: How did the birds and squirrels feel as the logger cut down their homes? (There are no wrong answers, and if you feel like crying, it's ok. )

6. Teaching Math In 2009
Un hachero vende una carretada de maderapara $100. El costo de la producciones es $80. Cuanto dinero ha hecho?

7. Teaching Math In 2010
Who cares? Just steal the lumber from your rich neighbor's property. He won't have a gun to stop you, and the President says it's OK anyway cuz it’s redistributing the wealth.
________________________________________

Favs- #4 & #6.

wy_white_wolf · #24 07/23/10, 11:39 AM

Quote:

“We led the world in the 1980s, but we didn’t build from there,” he said. “If you look at people 60 and over, about 39-40 percent have college degrees, and if you look at young people, too, about 39-40 percent have college degrees. Meanwhile, other countries have passed us by.”

We also led in the 50's, 60's and 70's.

Anyone care to take 3 guesses what happened in 1980 to start the downward trent?

Yldrosie · #25 07/23/10, 11:49 AM

Most of the college graduates are dumber than they used to be. The whole school system has been dumbed down. From 1st grade on up.

watcher · #26 07/23/10, 11:59 AM

Lazier which leads to dumber. Learning is hard work .

where I want to · #27 07/23/10, 12:36 PM

Tricky Grama-

TheMartianChick · #28 07/23/10, 12:53 PM

Thanks for the math lesson, Tricky Grama! Though math hasn't seemed to change much in my neck of the woods, the children are being "dumbed down" when it comes to writing essays. There is a great deal of sentiment in both urban and suburban school districts to allow a child to express him/herself. Regardless of the grammatical errors, the students seem to get passing grades simply because the teachers don't want to "hurt little Johnny's feelings" After all, he did complete the assignment! The end result is that Johnny can neither read nor write.

TheMartianChick · #29 07/23/10, 01:04 PM

Finding money for college isn't as easy as it used to be. I won scholarships which helped to pay for the bulk of my education. For my children, it seems that there is a lot more competition out there. My kids found an edge in music. By playing instruments that were unusual, college bands wanted them enough to offer some nice scholarships. In the end, my kids opted to go to a community college for the first two years which saved us a great deal of money. Now, we are looking at other (pricier) schools. The pricier schools are now more willing to bend over backwards and are offering her more incentives than they did a mere two years ago. When they only wanted to give her 2 thousand for playing a certain instrument, they are now more willing to offer 5 thousand. There are a million ways to get a college education, but not if you are rigid in your choice of schools. We are more concerned about where her Bachelors diploma comes from than where she spent her first two years of college as the name on her diploma will likely have an impact on her career. Even with that, she will be attending a State University in NY. Both of our daughters will likely get out of college with no debt.

Katey · #30 07/23/10, 01:30 PM

In the math curriculum that Washington state is considering adopting, division is not taught until the 6th grade.

TheMartianChick · #31 07/23/10, 02:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by katey

in the math curriculum that washington state is considering adopting, division is not taught until the 6th grade.

whaat!!!???!!!

Laura Zone 10 · #32 07/23/10, 03:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sirquack

Just my personal experience. White guy married with a decent paying job. My children did not qualify for scholarships because they were not the best students. My son's fiance was not a great student either, but her mother is a drug addict and from a divorced family. She got a free ride for college due to her "special circumstances". Not that I begrudge her, but my son is working two jobs to pay the bills while she goes to school. He does not have time to go to school while she is in school full time and then going out with friends after classes are out. Somehow, the poor choices of her parents mean she is more deserving of a "free" (Paid for with Other People's Money) education than my son. When she is done, we are going to pay for his education like we are doing for our other children.
As I said, I don't begrudge her, but how many other people are out there getting the same thing on my tax dollars while I don't qualify for my kids to get grants due to me making too much money, which Uncle Sam tries to take more of every year because I am responsible and keep my job?

THIS is what I was talking about, thank you for sharing your experience!

Laura Zone 10 · #33 07/23/10, 03:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tricky grama

maybe its the math...

1. Teaching math in 1950s
a logger sells a truckload of lumber for $100. His cost of production is 4/5 of the price. What is his profit ?

2. Teaching math in 1960s
a logger sells a truckload of lumber for $100. His cost of production is 4/5 of the price, or $80. What is his profit?

3. Teaching math in 1970s
a logger sells a truckload of lumber for $100. His cost of production is $80. Did he make a profit?

4. Teaching math in 1980s
a logger sells a truckload of lumber for $100. His cost of production is $80 and his profit is $20. Your assignment: Underline the number 20.

5. Teaching math in 1990s
a logger cuts down a beautiful forest because he is selfish and inconsiderate and cares nothing for the habitat of animals or the preservation of our woodlands. He does this so he can make a profit of $20.. What do you think of this way of making a living? Topic for class participation after answering the question: How did the birds and squirrels feel as the logger cut down their homes? (there are no wrong answers, and if you feel like crying, it's ok. )

6. Teaching math in 2009
un hachero vende una carretada de maderapara $100. El costo de la producciones es $80. Cuanto dinero ha hecho?

7. Teaching math in 2010
who cares? Just steal the lumber from your rich neighbor's property. He won't have a gun to stop you, and the president says it's ok anyway cuz it’s redistributing the wealth.
________________________________________

favs- #4 & #6.

amen!!

Post of the year!!!

Danaus29 · #34 07/23/10, 03:54 PM

For those who do not live in areas where there are large immigrant populations, you have no idea how much taxpayer money is going to higher education for foreign born students. All of the young Somalis that I work with are going to college on US money. They work to afford the nice things in life but all their education expenses are paid for them.

TheMartianChick · #35 07/23/10, 04:00 PM

We have a lot of Somali's and Sudanese in our area. While they do get a lot of aid, they are also the recipients of a lot of grants from the private colleges. Many have been sort of adopted by the private universities who want the diversity on their campuses for what it brings to the college educational experience for US born students.

DaleK · #36 07/23/10, 06:42 PM

The whole scholarship game is pretty screwed up and has been for a long time. I graduated 2nd in my high school class in '93. Got $200 in bursaries at my HS graduation. The other 4 of the top 5 graduates were all girls.... 3 got their entire university education paid for through bursaries and scholarships awarded that night, the other one got $5000. Almost all "special" awards available only to females. I had people coming up to me in shock for days. No biggie though.

Yldrosie · #37 07/23/10, 07:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheMartianChick

We have a lot of Somali's and Sudanese in our area. While they do get a lot of aid, they are also the recipients of a lot of grants from the private colleges. Many have been sort of adopted by the private universities who want the diversity on their campuses for what it brings to the college educational experience for US born students.

And how does that help white students? Oh, pardon me it's "US born students"

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_virgin...ator_diversity

Paumon · #38 07/23/10, 08:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by primroselane

The United States used to lead the world in the number of 25- to 34-year-olds with college degrees. Now it ranks 12th among 36 developed nations.

Canada now leads the world in educational attainment, with about 56 percent of its young adults having earned at least associate’s degrees in 2007, compared with only 40 percent of those in the United States.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/23/ed...ollege.html?hp

Those stats from 2007 are already out of date.

While it's true that Canada is ahead of America on the Education Attainment index, and has been for at least the past 10 years, 10 years ago America ranked in second place close behind Canada out of 18 of the highest rated countries. See stats from 10 years ago: http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/ed...nment-tertiary

Now things have changed again, and Canada ranks in 4th place, while America ranks in 19th place (along with Lithuania) out of 176 developed or developing countries. The latest index was released on December 18, 2008:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Education_Index

It may help to understand better why that is if you read about the American Human Development Index: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/America...lopment_Report

Global Human Development Index:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_Development_Index

Statistics for Educational Attainment in America (by sex, race, income, occupation, geography, social class, etc.):
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Educati..._United_States

Tricky Grama · #39 07/23/10, 09:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by themartianchick

thanks for the math lesson, tricky grama! Though math hasn't seemed to change much in my neck of the woods, the children are being "dumbed down" when it comes to writing essays. There is a great deal of sentiment in both urban and suburban school districts to allow a child to express him/herself. Regardless of the grammatical errors, the students seem to get passing grades simply because the teachers don't want to "hurt little johnny's feelings" after all, he did complete the assignment! The end result is that johnny can neither read nor write.

potda.

Tricky Grama · #40 07/23/10, 09:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Laura Zone 5

amen!!

Post of the year!!!

Hey-thanky ma'am.