The Dumbing Down of America

[punkass]

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It has been mentioned already, but technology is not dumbing down America; schools are. The two reasons that our schools cannot keep up with other countries is because of low teacher pay and not enough time invested. Teachers get paid obscenely low salaries, so it should not be surprising that the people you have teaching your kids are morons. Anybody with a brain would be able to recognize that teaching is going to put them below the poverty line, and choose a different line of work.

Also, the chief reason that other countries beat American schools is because of the amount of time spent in school. American kids typically study for six hours a day, Monday through Friday. In Asian countries, they are in school all day, and on Saturdays as well. In my opinion, life as a child should revolve around school. Going to school for six hours and doing homework for one is not really enough, especially when you consider that most kids don't go to school during the summer either.

If you REALLY want your kids beating the Asians in academics, push for higher teacher salaries and more time in school. I am pretty sure the second one will never happen with public schools, but that is what I think is necessary to stop the "dumbing down" in relation to other countries.

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I don't think teachers' salaries are "obscenely" low, nor are they "below poverty line" wages. Sure, the quality of our teachers should be from top notch people, but teaching will never compete in wage or acknowledgement against the professional careers. NCLB and the ridiculous testing that comes with it have handcuffed teachers in what they want and can teach.