Posted on 12/05/2008 6:48:42 AM PST by gopmike.com
To my Conservative Friends:
We all saw my article, The Obama Voter - Stupid is as Stupid does about the incredible lack of any knowledge among the average Obama voter.... And, as many of you know, a large chunk of the Obama voter was the youth vote.
So the questions is this: Has the youth of American been Dumbed-Down???
We all hear that the dumbification (there's your toilet paper word-of-the-day...) of our young people has reached all time highs with the Ipods, cell phones (and now Iphones which combine the two..), video games, texting non-stop, etc..... If a kid comes into your house he/she may invariably have a set of ear-plugs wedged into the inner cortex of the their ear-canal, a dazed look on their face and be totally disengaged from society (off the grid, as they say)...
They probably will have the social skills of a troll... And if you ask them a question, you might get an affirmative grunt, plenty of "ya's" and throw in a few "Uh Uh's" for good measure. They will never...
(Excerpt) Read more at gopmike.com ...
“When was the last time you met a teenager and they shook your hand firmly and said “Pleasure to meet you, Mr./Mrs. YourNameHere??? For me, it’s been a long while...”
You need to urge your child to hang out with some different kids. Most of my son’s friends do this, although I wouldn’t expect all to do so. They are teenagers after all.
Nuh-uh!!
Just the other day, I had a young man look me in the eye and say “Good Morning, Sir!”.
This was at church. A homeschooling church.
And the young man was about 5.
Don’t give up hope, folks.
“This was at church. A homeschooling church.”
All of my son’s friends go to public school, as does my son.
“the curriculums in schools today are far more advanced than they were 30 years ago
Nuh-uh!!”
My son is two years ahead of where I was at his age in math. My daughter graduated high school with 42 college credits. None of that was possible in my day.
I often meet polite, engaging young people (teens) - and then there are those few others - the mumblers, hands in pocket ones.
And then there are those to whom I speak and they don’t hear, there is no response - the music in the ear phones is too loud.
She has conservative grandparents that watch TV and talk to the kids about what they have seen & politics etc. They did this even before I woke up & got involve.
She has had numerous debates over the meaning of socialism and communism. I'm 41 and was never taught this in a conservative small-town public school...I never read the communist manifesto or new it was read into the congressional record until I was an engaged adult.
I don't blame the children, they only know the indoctrination of what they have been taught at school. I blame the WWII generation that did not stay engaged in the educational system and pass the knowledge of the evils of the world down to their overindulged Baby Boomer children. Who then didn't pass it down to us X’ers who even less passed it off to our children...
The home & private schoolers who know this are like minnows in the ocean.
Your post reminds me of the Jane Austen novel, Mansfield Park. In it, the two cousins of the main character (Fanny) are Maria and Julia. They are beautiful, well-educated, and charming, but their parents never paid attention to their spiritual development. And when they grow up, one of them promptly does something disastrous.
My sons do that, along with "yes ma'am" and "no sir". In fact all of their friends do the same. They also don't call adults by their first names. If we have a personal relationship with the people they say Miss Kim or Mr. Bob. I hate bad manners!!!!
>None of that was possible in my day.<
First, my congratulations to your daughter as well as your son. Good news is too oftern rare.
Secondly, I must respectfully disagree with your generalization noted above. Of course I do not know when “your day” was in particular but I can indeed draw upon my own personal experiences. (age 63)
Due to month of birth and parental choice I entered 1st grade at age of 4 at a 1-room schoolhouse (8 grades in one room). Rather than ignore what was going on around me I apparently paid attention to what was being taught to more senior students.
Moving off the mountain the next year, away from my grandmother’s log house and to the big city (out-of-state), my parents attempted enrolling me in the 2nd grade at 5 years or age.
A great bruhaha erupted with the city school board. After much haggling, it was agreed I would be placed at the most suitable grade after appropriate testing. Thus, I was placed in the 3rd grade by their own pre-agreement and excelled through the 9th grade where other mitigating circumstances cut my further public education short.
Granted, this is just one example.
This is America, all things are possible. The individual is the limiting factor most responsible for the degree of our success or failure.
Again, very happy to hear of your children’s accomplishments.
Whether your kids go to public school or are homeschooled they are still your responsibility. It is not up to the school to teach manners or personal responsiblity, yes they should be reinforcing it but my values are mine to pass down to my kids.
I have 3 boys, they are not perfect but I have seen them do things on their own that have made me very proud. Things that speak directly to the values that we have been trying to instill on them.
“My sons do that, along with “yes ma’am” and “no sir”. In fact all of their friends do the same. They also don’t call adults by their first names. If we have a personal relationship with the people they say Miss Kim or Mr. Bob. I hate bad manners!!!!”
My son is pretty good with manners although he slips sometimes. Not to the point of being rude, but not as polite as I’d like. He does not call adults by first name. We also have the Miss Kim or Mr. Bob thing here. Down in southern Louisiana where my parents live it’s extremely common.
“Secondly, I must respectfully disagree with your generalization noted above. Of course I do not know when “your day” was in particular but I can indeed draw upon my own personal experiences. (age 63)”
I guess it depends. I’m 53. We always had kids who skipped grades or graduated early, but we definitely weren’t able to start algebra in 7th grade or foreign language in 5th (although you should start that in 1st). We also couldn’t take dual enrollment courses at the community college and earn college credit while fulfilling high school requirements.
I’m not saying kids are necessarily smarter these days; I’m not at all sure they are. But the kids who have the intelligence and desire definitely take harder stuff than I did.
“I’m not saying kids are necessarily smarter these days; I’m not at all sure they are. But the kids who have the intelligence and desire definitely take harder stuff than I did.
“
With this, I agree entirely. Great opportunities are out there today for any American that wishes to avail themselves of them. And yes, access to these opportunities continue to grow with each generation.
grace:
I was not referring to my kids - I would absolutley string them up if they didn’t have excellent social skills...
I am talking on average - your kids’ friends, kids in the neighborhood, etc....
It is nice to see a bunch of people commenting here see kids with good manners....
It seems the kids from the south are taught these skills more than those from the NE.... I am a conservative from NY.... A man on an island!!!! And most kids from here are not encouraged to be respectful and polite...
You never here Sir or Ma’am ere....
I would love to see if other NY’ers agree with me here....
Just my thoughts....
GOP Mike
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