Is the US public educational system set up to keep US kids stupid so that the Govt. can control them better...

Question

when they become adults? Kind of the way Kings use to keep control of the European peasants during the Middle Ages.

The thing is that both liberals & conservatives have failed to fix the dismal state of US education. It doesn't matter if it's the Teachers Union or Bush's no child left behind. US public schools are so bad that & so much taxpayer money is wasted that it has to be a Govt. plot to keep US students dumb, so Democrats will have plenty of poor people to vote for them & Republicans hope they'll be too stupid to go out & vote. And many, NOT ALL teachers, just sit back & collect paychecks (it's almost impossible to fire a teacher) while the US educational system churns out students that can't even compete with an immigrant.

Answer 1

Yes it is and it's working. the sad thing is the kids think they're getting a good education but they're not.

Answer 2

Our educational system underwent a massive and completely stupid revamping quite some time ago. American schools now focus more on Little Johnny's self-esteem than teaching him how to read, write or do math. Competition is now seen as a bad thing. Some schools have gone so far as to eliminate the class valedictorian because it's "not fair" to the other kids. WTF?? It's not fair to the kids who bust their butts all through high school NOT to be named valedictorian so that Larry the Loser can feel a little better about himself.

We worry about all the wrong things in our schools. Lots of teachers have quit using red ink, because it's too traumatic on the little darlings to have their papers dripping with red ink. Purple is apparently more soothing to the little beasties. I think that if your paper sucks, it doesn't matter WHAT color they use - marks all over the place are STILL marks all over the place.

Teachers insist they don't have time to raise our kids, and they're right - they DON'T. So why do so many teachers try to indoctrinate children into the liberal way of thinking? I'm sure there are examples of conservative teachers doing the same thing, and I certainly don't approve of that, either, but my personal experiences have been with liberal teachers. For example, a friend of mine pulls her oldest son out of school every fall so the kid can go moose hunting with his dad. This is NOT unusual at all up here - lots of families rely on a moose to get through the winter, and some of us just prefer to eat game over hormone-infused beef. She had to do some serious battles with several teachers over this - the teachers did not feel this was an appropriate reason to miss school. She finally told the school administration that she did not want to hear another word from ANYONE about the matter and that the school should worry a lot more about parents who don't spend ANY time with their kids.

Want another example? My husband's family made their money logging. Even way back when I was in school, we were taught that all logging is bad. Imagine my surprise when I actually went out and SAW what they were doing in the logging areas - forest management is a GOOD thing. Sorry - I'm digressing. Anyway, my husband's 2nd cousin was riding along with his grandma one day and they saw a man cutting down an old, rotten tree - you know the ones - cut it before it falls. The little boy suddenly bursts into tears. Needless to say, grandma wanted to know why he was crying. Poor kid was sobbing so hard he could barely talk, but finally managed to tell her that, we're all going to die because that man is cutting down a tree! This is the crap kids are learning in school these days. No wonder so many people with high school diplomas are functionally illiterate.

Oh, and don't forget grade inflation....that's really big these days, too. Little Johnny might get his feelings hurt if he gets an F, so let's just give him a C instead. It's enough to make me glad we don't have kids.

And we certainly can't forget the teacher's union. Talk about a good idea gone terribly bad - the union has made it almost impossible to fire a teacher, regardless of how horrible he or she may be. I consider that a HUGE problem! Plus, look how much money we spend on education in this country and how little we get in return....very sad.

Answer 3

The government is run by the people and most of those people are parents. It is the parents responsibility to ensure their child performs in school. School are not required nor are the capable of forcing students to work on their studies. Again, parents have to do that. This countries educational system is designed to provide every student the opportunity to advance. Only parents can make a child take advantage. 50% of the responsibility also lies with the student.
You need to take care of your own opportunities and not blame someone or something else for failure in this country.

Answer 4

Partially. :) But not totally. I'd say that is the reaon for some of it, and the teachers unions are another reaon why they are so bad.
They are taught to think well of themselves instead.
I once heard about a poll at a univercity asking students from different nationalities how they think they did in math. The Americans all thought they did very well, while the Chinese answered a modest "could have done better". Looking at the grades, however, the Americans got a c average while the Chinese got a's!

Answer 5

I think societal programs that keep people dependent on the government does relate to a certain amount of control in this segment of the population.

But, trying to equate each students ability, e.g. no honor roll, because those children not on it "would feel bad," and teachers not allowed to use "red" pens as it hurts children's egos, and no grading like A,B,C, but only "satisfactory" and "needs improvement" is telling children that it's okay to be mediocre. We don't demand excellence..that would not be P.C.

So, is the government set up to keep kids stupid? In my opinion, no, but society as a whole is letting down our children by not insisting on excellence from them, and those who teach them.

Answer 6

Is the US educational system set up to keep American kids stupid is the basic premise of John Stossel's 20/20 show "Stupid in America". I suggest you check out that episode or read its write up from the 20/20 website as that show covered the loopholes of the US educational system -- from the strength of the teacher's union that makes firing of mediocre teachers extremely difficult to school age children reaching ages 10 and up but never getting the skill to read http://abcnews.go.com/2020/Stossel/story?id=1500338

Answer 7

Unfortunately, it's set up to educate all children within our borders, although not all their parents are contributing to the expense needed to do it properly.
So, I have to pay taxes AND tuition because too many illegals are taking my money from my child to semi-educate someone else's.
P.S. I had as many children as I could afford to properly raise and educate. How come I'm stuck paying for and educating all these other people's kids?

Answer 8

Do you really believe that? And, regardless, it is a parent's responsibility to make certain their child is educated, not the school system, regardless of what anyone says. So any kids that get through school stupid have no one to blame but themselves and their parents. There are certainly enough free resources out there if people want to be educated.

Answer 9

I find it odd that liberals would use this arguement as though they didn't grow up in the same system as conservatives? Were you just special? Or do we have to think like you to not be "brain washed?"

Answer 10

Let's see...
education system= liberal
government =conservative
Democrats and republicans working together to achieve control of the people? YEAH RIGHT!!!!!!!!! LMAO