Warning: The next generation might just be the biggest pile of idiots in U.S. history

[AGDee]

I think there has always been a significant difference between the AP/College Prep level kids and the "remedial" kids though. I remember being completed astounded when I had to take 12th grade Civics. It was pretty much the only class through all of high school that all levels took together and I hated it. I couldn't believe how unmotivated and "stupid" some of the students in there were.

One thing that does concern me is that, as we move away from being an agricultural and manufacturing society, there are fewer jobs for those who are less intellectually inclined. Yes, we still need carpenters, plumbers, etc., but we have automated a lot of things.

In Michigan, they have replaced the 11th grade statewide test (MEAP) with the ACT and some other subtests that they've made up to supplement it. I think it's ludicrous to have every student in every high school take the ACT. It is standardized for college bound kids. Not all kids are or should be, college bound.

I struggle when talking with a co-worker of mine whose daughter is academically challenged. She has some severe learning disabilities and her mother spends an inordinate amount of time assisting her so that she can keep her head above water. She talks constantly about getting her daughter to do well enough to be able to go to college and is convinced that they will provide a level of support equal to what she now provides for her daughter. I would like to believe that, if it were my daughter, I would focus on her strengths and encourage her to get training in a career that would utilize her strengths, even if it didn't involve college, rather than try to fight the way her brain is wired. I worry that she is setting her daughter up to fail.

Anyway, the point I was trying to make is that there have always been "tiers" of academic achievement. Some people simply aren't at the same level as others. Some can get close through very hard work, but for some, they can learn with very little effort. I don't think that has changed much. What may be changing is how successful one can be if they struggle in an academic setting because there aren't as many well paying jobs available these days for thsoe who aren't well educated.

[DeltAlum]

AGDee,

I think you're mostly correct -- except that I think there are a lot of opportunities left in our society for non-academically inclined people. Detroit/Michigan is probably not the best place to judge, given the sturggles of the auto industry, but there are many more service industry jobs -- ones that aren't being filled. The real problem, in my view, is the low pay for those positions.

As for your friend and her daughter, her mother is in for a rude shock, I fear, if she thinks all colleges and their professors will offer the support that she gets in public schools.

It does seem a cop out to make every student take what is a college entrance type test, however augmented. There are a lot of kids who have no interest and no business in college.

Our oldest and youngest graduated high school and college with high academic honors, but our middle had no interest in education at all and went to "hair school" and really loves being a colorist. She would certainly not have made it in college.

Parents need to realize that some kids just aren't meant for the university.

[AGDee]

Originally Posted by DeltAlum

AGDee,

I think you're mostly correct -- except that I think there are a lot of opportunities left in our society for non-academically inclined people. Detroit/Michigan is probably not the best place to judge, given the sturggles of the auto industry, but there are many more service industry jobs -- ones that aren't being filled. The real problem, in my view, is the low pay for those positions.

Parents need to realize that some kids just aren't meant for the university.

Yes, my concern is that people can't support themselves on the pay they receive for those service level jobs. And you're right, Detroit/Michigan are hurting badly these days because there was once the attitude "You don't need to go to college, just get a job on the line" and that used to work fine (and those people made more money than a lot of college grads too!).

[Taualumna]

And there are those parents who're proud of their kids even if the kids have flunked every single course they took the previous year. Mr. Tau works with a woman whose son AND daughter who failed every single course (with the exception of physical education) last year. This mom, however, is still convinced that both her kids will be star athletes, and will get a scholarship to a US school. The mom is doing nothing to get the kids' grades up. She isn't hiring tutors or sending them to academic camps in the summer. Nothing. According to Mr. Tau, she seems to be PROUD of her kids.