John Stossel report on stupid kids in America
Wow, this report by John Stossel hit the nail on the head as far as the problems with America’s public school system. A definite must see if you have some time. I always like John’s reports because he really tries to give an objective viewpoint on any/every issue he reports on by getting all viewpoints and angles. In this report, John highlights two main problems with the public school system nationwide……the teacher’s union and lack of competition (which dovetails into the teacher’s union issue). He also brings up the whole arguement of the public system needing more money….that somehow more money will solve all the problems. There is more and more information coming out everyday that does not support the theory that more money is needed. In fact, more can be done with less, if only competition were allowed into the school system. But what’s stopping competition you ask? The teacher’s union. Watch the report and let me know your thoughts.
Stupid in America. . .hahahahaha! I love John Stossel’s work.
John Stossel: not stupid in America.
Sorry if I write a book on this Dawn. I can’t help myself.
First of all, it is not the kids in America who are at fault for this problem. They are sponges. They will grow depending on what is presented to them. I am optimistic when it comes to kids. If you feed them with genuine love, energy, fun, discipline, attention and care, they will come around. As long as you keep their potential in sight.
You have to be ahead of them.
There are a multitude of various problems in the school systems showing themselves in many forms. Summary.
1. Public School Administrators.
THERE ARE SO MANY ADMINISTRATORS IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS that are just like the superintendent of the South Carolina schools he featured here.
“Well, there is measured improvement so that is good enough,” she says.
Um, no lady, it isn’t good enough. You are going to have to raise the ante on being creative in your job position to genuinely inspire the schools/kids/parents. Stop looking at your paycheck and yourself and open your eyes. John Stossel is trying to educate you. Humble yourself for 40 minutes and open your mind. Or are you above that? Encourage the parents to come into the schools. Ask them for suggestions on how to improve! Open up! Hear the cries. You will have to initiate that.
If they are unwilling then this article should be titled: Stupid Superintendents in America.
I never see superintendents screaming for changes. They are on “good behavior”. Passive. Quiet. Good girl. Just show you are improving so no one has to work hard and no one has to change. The teachers live with their passive behavior everyday. The burden is passed on to them. I have heard this from teacher to teacher I meet.
So, this is what I see: she obviously makes good money now since she is so out of touch in this interview. To me, she represents old-school thinking, and the world has progressed so far ahead of her that she has her head in the sand. She works in the Taj Mahal of education. She probably learned the art of brown-nosing to get good grades in school herself, then became a teacher, then realized she wasn’t making enough to survive in the world. She then went on to realize if she brown-nosed some more, she could be superintendent of schools where the money is really made. She can keep her job as long as the paperwork is filled out properly. And that paperwork better show that “improvement has been made”. THIS SAYS: I ONLY CARE ABOUT MYSELF, MY CAREER, and A LARGER PAYCHECK. I DON’T CARE ABOUT REALLY EDUCATING KIDS.
http://www.simplyhired.com/a/salary/search/q-Superintendent/l-Columbia,+SC
This cycle goes on, has gone on, and won’t end. Therefore, the system will always be subpar. The system is broken.
2. School Lottos.
An actual lotto to get into good schools? Now, that was a great idea. Our educators are really doing a stellar job there. Tax dollars well spent. Great brainstorming. Great “synergy”. Great system here in America. Great ideas by our leaders. A lotto.
Know what that says to me? It screams, “Get a better education by chance.” or “Let’s roll the dice on the future of this country.”
The kids and parents should play the actual lotto. Maybe then they can afford a school they want to go to. Their chances are higher that they will win the real monetary lotto, than they will win changing the school system.
3. No kid maintenance on School Campus:
I liked the school with the leader that had the kids involved in setting up tables for lunch and picking up garbage around the school. Why not involve the kids in taking care of the place they live in 1/3 of their lives? Poor schools/poor kids in other countries do this. They love learning and are willing to clean up and fix up their school so they can learn more the next day. It is exercising pride for your school.
I’d even be up for a bootcamp style of learning where the brain and the body receive training daily in a supportive environment. That would take care of the child obesity problem concurrently. Don’t need to throw money at a “stop child obesity” program. No posters need to be made (which costs money to design, plan, print, distribute). No one to pay to talk about it.
It is not condescending for the kids to clean up the grounds; it is a LEARNING EXPERIENCE to show them that one should take care of their surroundings and not take them for granted. Everyone chips in to keep it clean. Conditioning people to clean up. So many don’t learn to do that at home. So why not teach it at school? They have to learn it somewhere. And it would save money. It is okay to teach basic housekeeping coupled with advanced calculus. People can handle that. It’s called life.
Real life example: When I mow my yard, I pick up all the cigarette butts that people throw carelessly and lazily from their cars in my yard on a daily basis. I also have the privilege of picking up sludgy dog poop from my yard before my mower slings it around on me as I mow the yard. Not my animal, yet I get to clean up after it. I don’t get the benefit of enjoying the dog. I just get the excrement. Thanks. And I work at a university. So, I believe kids should start learning that life isn’t fair.
5. Deficient Curriculum, Deficient Teaching:
In many ways, the kids are smarter than the school systems’ leaders anyway. They KNOW they are not learning anything. That is why they fall asleep at their desk. That is why they walk on desks. THEY ARE BORED! They are learning more at home and are rebelling because the system is wasting their time.
You might have to find what they enjoy learning and meet them halfway. That requires being creative. That requires getting to know them. That requires energy to challenge them. And respect is then born.
Ask the parents if they can come in and teach something. Maybe they do music, or a sport, or computers. Have them do a series on a topic.
2 quotes jumped at me:
“The teachers are happier. That makes it fun.”
“Learning should be fun.”
I love the idea that if you aren’t teaching the latest information in that specific area, you get let go. If you are a bad, lazy teacher, you get let go.
Why is this so hard to comprehend in America? Duh.
Oh, what is that? No one wants to teach? You have to barely subsist on the salary? You work 24/7? Answering cell phone calls from the kids in your class around the clock? You wouldn’t be present at home with your own family?
Your own family would soon fall apart because they aren’t given enough attention at home?
Maybe you should seek that cushy superintendent position. . . .the extra benefit would be that you don’t have to dig deep into your pockets to pay for supplies for all the poor or lazy-parented kids who just don’t come prepared to class with the basic necessities.
6. No discipline:
Having volunteered in the schools (which everyone should do for at least a week a year if you want to make changes in our society) I was surprised to see what goes on or doesn’t go on. The boys get out of their chairs at random and lay on the floor. I don’t ever remember seeing this in third or fourth grade. We were always in chairs, scared to death to move. All new to me.
There is no paddling allowed. No discipline. So the kid continues in bad form and there is nothing the teacher can do to stop it. You can ask a child over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over (annoyed yet?) to stop, but if they will continue, there is nothing a teacher can do. And guess what. ALL OF THE KIDS HAVE TO WAIT ON THIS BAD BEHAVIOR. THEY STOP LEARNING. So in effect, you just put tie wraps around the teacher’s wrists. The kid knows he is getting away with it.
My mom worked for an elementary school and saw how once the vice principal had had it with a particular kid. The kid was always in the office. Talking about the behavior problem with the kid was not working. This went on all year. So finally the principal got in the kid’s face and yelled. No words. Just a yell. LOUD. The kid finally started to cry.
And strangely, there was breakthrough. Some kids just need to be rocked to the core. And only once in order to save their life. Otherwise they will keep on doing the same bad behavior and eventually go down the rebellious path. And where does that get them? We’ll be spending more tax dollars. . . .
7. Broken Mindset, No Child Left Behind:
How about the one school where they taught the kid to cheat instead of how to think for himself. He didn’t like cheating. He voiced that to his mom. Again, the child is smarter than the system. He already KNEW that cheating was wrong. He wanted to learn. But the system wanted to move him on.
Fact: They only teach cheating because they don’t know how to help him. They don’t know how to teach.
“It’s too late now, just put down this answer Ted, and move on.”
8. Parents Must Accept the Fact that they HAVE TO FIGHT:
The mom who said she had to beg was right. You have to beg for help for your kid. You have to pay for tutors at places like Sylvan Learning. You have to fight for your education. If your kid has a reading problem you have to fight even harder for help. Fight to learn. Learn to fight.
9. We need Renaissance Men/Women for Teachers:
I realize that most teachers are not skilled adequately to teach the myriad of things they need to teach. Teachers have computers in the classroom, but how many use them, know how to use them, know who to call if there is a problem, or can get help if they have a problem? Many personalities that go into teaching are in teaching just so they don’t have to use a computer. Renaissance types usually get other jobs.
10. Poor parents/Disinterested Parents:
Try. At least try. Do something for your kid.
11. Parent Involvement/Follow-through is necessary:
Parents have to be more involved in a kid’s education these days. You cannot rely on the schools to do it all. Parents have to step up to help those teachers who want help. Read to your kid. Talk to your kid.
Now, some teachers ask for help, but then get the room mom who commits in word, then makes excuses when the teacher actually needs them to follow through. This happens all the time. Then the teacher gets conditioned not to ask for outside help because it is even harder to plan for someone who is not dependable. It makes it stressful.
12. Lack of Contributions/Volunteers:
Schools should have a PR person or community outreach person to mingle with the community and encourage people from the outside to share information with the kids in schools. Offer field trip opportunities. Something. Make it easy for businesses to know the needs of the schools so they can plan for and donate.
I’ve been organizing an Alaskan Cruise themed day for my niece’s 4th grade class that will happen on the day before the winter break. I am using any resources I can to come up with for a learning day. We will be exploring wildlife, geography, culture, and the northern lights. I use the resources at my job. It takes time and effort, but it is worth it.
If I could figure out how to get them to race against each other in an Ididarod race, I would do it! This is just one day of activity. I definitely would go broke if I were a teacher. That is why I don’t do it for a living. My ideas would break down the walls.
I’d have rear projection screens on the walls, do things like you would see in DisneyQuest. Not just games so much, but learning experiences. I’d have the kids create content too.
13. Unions.
Well, look how well they work with the car industry.
They have ZERO regard for the kids. The union and its agenda is focused on money.
What, they paid the NY union woman a 15% bonus? For what? And the smile on her face. . . . .I see her motivation. She got compensated for the wrong behavior.
From what I see that behavior is as bad as the teachers writing sexual emails to the underage kids. Legal or not. It’s wrong. I just don’t know how people like that sleep at night.
Bottomline: it is sad to me to see how those kids time is being wasted while sitting in class with no active learning going on.
Let them bring a laptop in or something. Maybe they can post their opinions on currentmind.com. There probably isn’t any wireless at the schools. Nevermind.
I tell you, with Rob and I talking about having our own kid, the issue of schooling hits home even more for us. We will either be paying for a private school or home schooling our kid. We know either way that we will be an active part of our kid’s education. This is not based on income or economics. It doesn’t take hours of time each day to help your kid with school. Most days, it’s mere minutes. And by putting forth the effort, your kid would have more confidence and be able to learn problem solving skills (by watching you reason through a problem yourself for example).
What really hit me was the absolute anger and emotion that came out of the teachers at that union rally. WOW! How scary is that? I would say that probably half of those that attended fall in that “crappy teacher” category and are more interested in protecting their job/income than actually doing their jobs and teaching kids.