What can be done to fight juvenile stupidity?

Question

I think generation Y is even stupider than the baby boomers were.

Anyone know what we can do to educate this generation of homework cheats who flirt at thirteen and only learn how to speak and write properly at thirty?

Thanks Elizabeth. I hope that more kids are like you and that I'm wrong about your generation.

some other good answers in there from grown ups, but I'd also love to hear from more youth.

T-bone you’re right, the birds are smarter than you. Maybe Elizabeth can teach you why run on sentences are annoying.

Answer 1

Being thirteen myself, one of the most beneficial ways to become more articulate and intelligent was to converse with older people. Ever since I was seven, I've been talking on forums from weight loss to Pokémon. The majority of the audience was many years older than me, and I quickly learned that substituting "u" for "you" and other abbreviations as well as choppy, incomplete, sentences were immature sounding.

I don't think that money should be a bribe. Children want to be "cool" and existing in two worlds - one with your friends where you purposely use incorrect grammar, and one where your parents tell you that if you speak correctly you get money would only create tension.

Unfortunately, schools cater to the lowest denominator which doesn't help students reach their full potential. There needs to be awareness.

What has also helped me is extracurriculars. I've been playing piano and violin for practically my whole life. Devoting your life to something worthwhile, like music, sports, or the arts, also matures people!

Hope I helped. :)

Answer 2

Other than homeschooling, it would require an overhaul of both schools and parents. The schools need to be set up differently, with multi-age groupings but also a focus on learning rather than on passing tests. The more the focus is on results, the more the kids are going to cheat. School kids today are probably also over-worked, in general, so what do you do if you are overwhelmed? You take the easiest way out of that. They're not grown ups, they're not going to be able to think things through rationally.

Parents would also have to start parenting differently. So many kids are just spoiled rotten, allowed to have whatever electronic gizmo they want, allowed to never learn what taking care of the house means, allowed to do what they want, in the name of "it's important for them to be able to make decisions" (which is true, but within reasonable choices provided them!). It would also mean that they take a stand against how much media influence they allow into their house.

Answer 3

Today's young parents need to instill a love of reading and writing and encouraging their infants' minds to stretch, be more curious and inventive. Stop being so friggin uptight about competition and just let the kids dictate each challenge as a personal thing having nothing to do with "one-upping" the next guy/girl. Just encouraging each to do his/her own level best.
Education's the answer, but how things are being taught today seems less and less relevant...I didn't say what's being taught, but how...by rote and without a whole lot of imagination. It's a sad commentary.

Answer 4

I don't think that they are neceassarily stupider. With the internet and digital technology that we have today, you don't have to do anything for yourself anymore. I happened across this category and can't believe the questions people are asking. It's like they don't do their own homework anymore. And they are just plain lazy. Many of these questions they could find for themselves on the internet if they just took a few minutes to look. Plus, you don't know the quality of the information you're given in a forum like this. The people that answer your question might not know it either.

Answer 5

keep your kids out of bad public schools. The teachers and administrators need to spend 90% of their time with keeping the little brats in order, or teaching the idiots how to do stuff they should have learned 7 grades earlier.

Not to mention, half of the kids in bad schools are future jailbirds and I wouldnt want my kids to be forced to spend any amount of time with them.

You can't get good at tennis or any other sport when you are playing against a rank amature. Same with school. If your class is full of morons, you won't learn anything.

Answer 6

Take away their video games and instant messaging. Then force them to READ. The horror! THE HORROR!

I also agree with the foreign exchange and travel idea. And I don't mean the "Whoo-hoo! I'm going to Cancun to sit on my butt by the beach for a week drinking fruity cocktails with little umbrellas in them!" travel. I'm thinking more "Whoo-hoo! I'm going to spend a week touring medieval castles of Eastern Europe and learning about early economic systems!" travel.

Answer 7

How about,first of all,get the morons who actually waste their time on here 'helping' the children to realize that they aren't doing these children any favors,then ship the children off to boarding schools in Switzerland,where they won't have computer access and will actually have to do their own homework. Because,God forbid they do their own homework!

Answer 8

If you really think about it, it really isn't important that they be educated in order to make a good living, millions of children have this same problem , we who are from the 40 and 50's have all been through it, just because you don't go to college is no big deal, when your tired of sitting around and your *** gets as wide as your mom's lazy boy and realize she has passed away and you must get out there and bash your skull like the rest of us, you will do it ,or you will die.
my bet is you will be a late bloomer and do real good because you are not the handsome type and your Mom isn't around to take care of you. so have fun for as long as you can or as long as the idiots that brought you into this world, just look a the birds they kick their out of the nest when they can fly, we keep them around until we die, whose smarter?
now how many times did i say the word "LIKE" not once!

Answer 9

Issue breeding licenses to people. Fail the IQ and common sense test, castration. The responsibility falls on the parents.

Answer 10

Here's my solution. Foreign exchange. I mean real foreign exchange. We send our biggest problem children off to Africa or Eastern Europe to see what school is really like. I would pay money out of my own pocket to see that done.