Now That We've All Heard Miss South Carolinas Incredible Wisdom , Is It Any Wonder Why There Are So Many?

Question

Is it any wonder anymore as to why there are so many stupid questions and answers on this site ?
BTW , what many of us missed (probably while we were picking up our jaws off the floor) is that the question started out with : 1/5 (or 20%) of Americans can't locate the USA on a map . For those who are mathematically challenged or went to public schools 20% is alot , a whole bunch .

We argue all day long on here about Iraq and President Bush etc , but what we're missing is that people are stupid . Sorry but there's no other way to put it . Stupid is as stupid does .
We handed our education system to the most liberal group in our country . . . . the Teacher's Union . And they failed . No excuses .

Doncha think it's time we take our public education system away from the liberal hands of the teacher's union ?
No child left behind was a start , but we need to finish the job .

What say you ?

Answer 1

I think we need to test the teachers and the students. I would say a large percentage of the teachers could not pass tests on the subject they teach. As for the teachers union,,, well when you let the employees decide what is right and wrong your product will always fail as the employee goes for the least work and the most pay.

Answer 2

I could not agree more about the destructive power of the teachers unions. My grandmother taught remedial math and reading in Milwaukee, WI. She loved to teach and changed the lives of her students for the better. She worked with kids the system was giving up on - they were labeled as slow, remedial... but she never gave up on them and she really helped them.

But she barely made enough money to survive. Could not afford a car, had a very small apartment - no cable tv, no color tv actually. And when the union went on strike, she could not afford to strike and miss the paychecks, so she crossed the picket line. And was threatened so badly that she was afraid for her safety and wound up getting sick from the stress. That only harmed her, and her students. Nothing good came of it.

And as far as kids slipping through the cracks of the education system... well, we have a 6 year old daughter. We had taught her to read before she ever went to pre-school. She could read at least some easy books when she was 4. She is now going into 1st grade and is reading at a 2nd grade level. She knows math and history, social studies and science. How? Because my husband and I read to her, take her to museums and teach her what we think she needs to know. WE are in charge of her education. Thankfully, she goes to a great school, but we don't leave her education in their hands. We take responsibility for it ourselves. Her academic health is as important to us as her physical health is. And any parent that does not feel this way is neglecting their child in my opinion. My husband and I both work full time, by the way, and we still make time for this. Nothing is more important to us than she is.

Answer 3

public schools are not that bad. they aren't great but many do just fine- especially if the kids try.

20% is ridiculous.

the teacher's union isn't liberal. i wouldn't all it conservative either.
funding is an issue.

no child left behind made things worse!
we should give schools with kids who aren't learning more money, not less.
some of it is about getting kids interested in school.

when I left my (I missed this) but my school like some others put in a new program. the students picked 'majors' and were given electives in those courses and were given a realistic approach in the regular classes.
for instance: in math the teach didn't just say
"5x=25, solve for X"
they say "if everything in the store costs $5 how many things can you buy with $25?"
they make the lessons practical.
you can make history and geography practical as well.
that and more funding in what is needed. also- it may not be a bad idea to get trouble-makers sent to seperate schools quicker and more often than they are now.

Answer 4

First of all, let us not be too harsh in our judgment of this young lady. I saw what transpired during this event. The poor girl simply forgot what the question was about a third of the way through her answer. As someone who has done much public speaking, believe me, it happens to the best of us. All she could do was keep plowing along. I have great empathy for her.
It is a horrible feeling when it happens.

To the point about how many Americans cannot find the US on a world map, I have known about this for many years. Several decades ago, America's public schools and many private schools, dropped American History, Geography and Civics from their curriculum and replace them with Social Studies. I was appalled when my sons came home with their Social Studies books and I saw how little they were being taught about our History and America's founding. There was little attempt at Geography and nothing at all about Civics.

Twenty years ago, at my job, several young people joined our department right out of high school. Among them were several honors students. One day at lunch the subject turned to the New Jersey Shore. I happened to mention something about swimming in the Atlantic Ocean. The eight new people fresh out of high school did not know that while at the shore they were swimming in the Atlantic Ocean.

I began to question them about more simple geographical
information. None knew that Canada bordered us to the North, Mexico bordered us to the South or what the names of the Great Lakes are. Further questioning revealed most did not know how many states there are, how many Senators or Congressmen there are or how long their terms of office are.

In fact, they knew practically nothing about very basic general knowledge regarding their own country. None knew anything at all about the purpose or function of Congress, nor what the three branches of government were, who their Governor was or the name of the Vice-President.

But I can tell you this, they knew all about recycling tin cans.

.

Answer 5

I don't think the schools would be failing as miserably if parents actually took an active role in their child's education. The teachers have somehow taken on the sole role of educating, when it should be just as much up to the parents to teach their children. We've gotten lazy as a society and just assume the teacher is getting through when that's obviously not the case for everyone.
I went to public schools after attending private schools for the first 5 years of my education. I went off to college and then on to get my master's degree, graduating #1 in my class. My parents also took an active role in my education, making sure they always knew what homework I was working on - they helped in any way they could.
Teachers are human, not God - they attend 4 years of college, then have the task of teaching 30 children, all who have different learning styles. We need parents to step up and take responsibility.
I'm not saying ALL parents are irresponsible, but I think a lot of them have gotten that way. You should pat yourselves on the back if you take an interest in your child's education - and you should also find comfort in the knowledge that your child isn't one of the 20% who couldn't find our own country on a map.

Answer 6

You are being accused of picking on Miss South Carolina when in in fact you are trying to point out the problems with our education system. You are right but there is plenty of blame to go around the teachers can not be held accountable if they don't do their job, the parents who will not allow their children to be disciplined the government that caters to the teachers union in order to get votes. We need to take control of our children, then our schools and then let the good teachers teach and weed out those that can't or don't want to teach and let them find other professions.

Answer 7

Now Earnest...I would NEVER have expected you to take a swipe at my education! (just kidding).

The problem is not the teachers' union alone...it's the mentality of the parents that drop their children in school fully and 100% believing that between the hours of school, their children are the school's responsibility. NOT!

The teachers are there to TEACH....not to discipline and guide.

THAT'S what parents are supposed to do....but they don't anymore.

How many 'life' sentences are you paying off from being grounded for life for poor grades and poor behavior? Me? I'm paying off my 17th term!

Answer 8

The problem is not the unions, it's that the schools are very unequal in our country. Finland, #1 in education, and with very powerful unions by the way, goes out of it's way to equalize resources for their schools and it shows results.

Answer 9

What else do you expect from someone who's spent all her life in the pursuit of more beauty and popularity?

I think her answer was based on trying to sound intelligent, informed, conscientious and compassionate. But how can you be any of those when immersed in the self-absorbed, cutthroat world of beauty pageants?

What do we think these girls talk about when they're backstage primping and padding their bras. World peace? Politics? Quantum mechanics?

The transition from shallow, selfish and vaccuous to intelligent, informed, conscientious and compassionate is a tough one...as she has brilliantly illustrated.

Answer 10

Making fun of children the only thing right-wingers have to do? real macho there buddy, making fun of Miss TEEN South Carolina!
Personally, it would appear that the problem was more related to stage fright than lack of education.

Nothing like devastating the emotions of a child for political gain huh??!