Stupid in America -- Why your kids are probably dumber than Belgians
American parents bear a lot of the blame. Many have bought into the idea that self-esteem is somehow unrelated to self-respect, and have emphasized the former rather than the latter in rearing their kids. That true self-esteem can arise only out of self-respect, and that self-respect can arise only out of hard work and self-discipline, are facts that would appear to have escaped their notice.
So much the worse for us and our posterity...
Today's parents were educated in the same system that is the problem. You need to go back 40 years to find something that resembles decent education and even then it was not nearly as rigorous as at was 40 years earlier than that time.
I agree that is the root of the problem.
A friend of mine, single mother of three, is home schooling her kids. Her oldest, 16, has just been accepted to Harvard on a scholarship and the next oldest, 14, is currently taking college level classes and also is shooting for Harvard. This lady lives in rural Tennessee and does not come from a big money family, either.