I'm putting this in Politics and History because it details a problem I very much have with the emphasis the government puts on standards of learning tests and curriculum. It's bad enough we have places like TX trying to re-write history, but on top of it all is this process of testing a school by making sure to cram useless facts into the head of the lowest common denominator and then give the school grants based on the scores the children get on the tests. We've seen many many news articles and TV spots devoted to the test fraud teachers are now getting into in desperation to win those grants.

http://skepticink.com/smilodonsretreat/2...t-is-dead/

I've been saying it for a while - it's not about how much you know, but how you're able to link it all up. This was probably the wisest lesson I pulled out of high school, taught to me by a chemistry teacher who refused to make us take tests or exams with "closed books". Instead, we were free to use any text in the classroom to answer the question, but the question had to be answered fully, and they were always phrased in such a way that you had to think to get full credit. He said "I want you to be able to find the information you need, and for it to be the right information. Memorizing doesn't do shit - you'll forget most of this 6 months out of this place anyway unless you use it in college or in the real world."

The funny thing is, at least for me, is that once I learn to link things up in my head, it's actually easier to remember things - like a ghost of a "memory" palace. Understanding is a key to remembering, not the other way around.

Education has become too politicized.

Teachers are expected to cram knowledge into the heads of these little shits who seem to want to do nothing except play with their cell phones plus handle all the administrative shit that the schools demand.

When the kids get home they are lucky if there is a book in the house let alone a parent who can read it. Obviously this does not apply in every case but the trend is definitely downward and the rub is that no politician is going to tell the voters that much of the problem comes from them.

Teachers are not baby-sitters for these little darlings.

Another reason I don't want to have kids, Min. It was frustrating enough for me, and I was in all the advanced classes so I was with nerds who gave a shit.

Indeed, this aggravated me throughout much of my schooling. The college I am attending had advertised itself as many things, one of them being that it would teach you how to learn, not just what to learn. This has actually been true so far, but I thought (and still think) "What!?! They're just now doing that in college!?!"

Part of the whole problem is that smart people are reluctant to have kids...while the theists breed like fucking rabbits.

(October 17, 2012 at 12:46 pm)Minimalist Wrote: Part of the whole problem is that smart people are reluctant to have kids...while the theists breed like fucking rabbits.

So true.
http://www.earth-policy.org/data_highlig...ghlights13

One of my favorite professors always says we need to reform education to teach kids HOW to think and not WHAT to think. Lawmakers don't realize that the internet has changed the world. We can look up facts, we just need to know how to process them/apply them.

Common conversation between boyfriend and I:

"Hey I wonder what/how/if/...."
"If only we had a mobile device capable of accessing the internet!"

And Min - that's why Rhythm threatened to impregnate me.

I'm sure it was one reason.

I still wonder how much the notion of today's kids being dumber is anything real. Kids seemed so much dumber when I was one. I think kids today learn in different ways, some of which are considered invalid by older generations because they didn't exist when they were kids. Having a traditional education is important, but I wonder if we place too much emphasis on it. I have met no shortage of highly-educated idiots.