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Since some of you have an IQ above your gas mileage, I thought I would rant here. The spelling everywhere is atrocious--no one uses a description, they use obscure initials. Misspelled words are everywhere--Saturday Review, Wall Street Journal, Congressional Record, New York Times, Mad Magazine-----! Told my daughter, a teacher with a MS, what is the story? "we are not allowed to fail anyone, especially minorities, they can go through high school without spelling their name!" It would be interesting to project 50 years, or less, and read a newspaper or magazine. I can read, with some difficulty, 16th century English. 2050 American----probably not.

gunny wrote:Since some of you have an IQ above your gas mileage, I thought I would rant here. The spelling everywhere is atrocious--no one uses a description, they use obscure initials. Misspelled words are everywhere--Saturday Review, Wall Street Journal, Congressional Record, New York Times, Mad Magazine-----! Told my daughter, a teacher with a MS, what is the story? "we are not allowed to fail anyone, especially minorities, they can go through high school without spelling their name!" It would be interesting to project 50 years, or less, and read a newspaper or magazine. I can read, with some difficulty, 16th century English. 2050 American----probably not.

You don't have to wait until 2050, gunny. Just try to read kidz' texting messages of today. Or, for that matter, our own dear Fossil Trader's posts.

Good luck . . .

Gunny, the topic of this thread is Americas Education. Isn't that an oxymoron?

PS -- You missed an apostrophe in "America's" (and I'm a smart ass).

Touche' Cognito

We had a story in the local paper a while ago that said that Arizona has the Dumbest Kids In America.

Everyone says the same thing.


"Worse than Mississippi?"

It is a matter of regret to me that on occasion I am able to beat some of the comments about education.
But here we go again!
Those of you from foreign climes may have visited this island in the past and if so may well have run the normal tourist route.
Buckingham Palace, Stonehenge, changing of the guard and perhaps Trafalgar Square.
For those who haven't, and for those who have but do not know the significance of Trafalgar Square, in its centre is Nelson's Column, surmounted by a bust of the man himself.
Nelson was Britain's greatest admiral and saved this country from invasion by Napoleon and died during the battle of Trafalgar in 1815.
Some 40% of school children here believe the figure at the top is that of Nelson Mandela!
But whose fault is that I wonder?
An equally large number think Germany won WW2!

An equally large number think Germany won WW2!

As comic, George Carlin, once noted: "Germany lost the war but fascism won."

If you want to know the truth of a situation Min, ask a comedian. If you want to know the likely future, read Sci-Fi.
Both have a considerable score on their chosen subjects.

The problem may lie with society itself. Kids don't go to school to get an education, they go to learn how to make money when they get out. They aren't interested in the liberal arts (even when they are made to take the courses) mostly because their parents aren't interested in anything. If it isn't going to help with the pocketbook, forget it.
People around here are always complaining about how the Mexicans need to learn to speak English, a case of the pot calling the kettle black.

That seems to be true here Leona. My generation was taught to learn for ourselves. Maybe it was the period of my childhood, maybe it's a case of 'rose tinted spectacles' but my youth seemed to be a period of excitement and interest, things were changing rapidly, people were becoming weathier, skills were valued.
Perhaps it's advancing years.

Kids don't go to school to get an education, they go to learn how to make money when they get out.

When I was young I was taught that an education was a vehicle for getting ahead no matter what field of work was chosen. I was also taught that enjoying one's work was more important than money, and I still believe that. Every person I know who went for the money to the exclusion of all else has been unhappy or broke.

Kids today suck.....but it isn't all their fault.

One of the greatest advantages to an education I found Cog was the ability to chose your job. Apart from self employment I had 13 different employers over the years as I simply walked away from jobs that I didn't enjoy knowing that another employer would give me a job.
I was also damned lucky to start work at a time of full employment. Having said that I also had to spend time and effort obtaining skills that employers wanted.
I worked for some years for General Motors and spent time learning a task that every body else studiously avoided, I was three times removed from redundantcy lists because of that fact.
Education is still the best avenue to achieving what you desire IMO.

Education is still the best avenue to achieving what you desire IMO.

Kids don't seem to get that message anymore, Dig.

No Min, crime's quicker for many.
When you get a teenager who's been arrested forty times being sent for two weeks holiday to the Seychelle islands to 'rehabilitate' him you can understand why.