Sad but true. YOLO!
I’m not sure, actually. This probably requires a deeper understanding of the social psychology behind stereotype threat.
It could be that excellent parents can prevent their kids from falling into this trap, or the issue is ingrained deeper than that and becomes stronger when they’re away from that support system.
I mean, even looking at the male-female STEM disparity it’s rather shocking (although it’s nowhere near as bad as Japan). We still haven’t reached the point where there are enough female role models in STEM, but I hope that changes soon.
Yep. Society today thinks it is cool to be cute and popular than it is to be a functional member of society. Carl Sagan said it right: “We live in a society absolutely dependent on science and technology and yet have cleverly arranged things so that almost no one understands science and technology. That’s a clear prescription for disaster.”
Search Twitter for “Summer Reading” or anything along those lines and look what our society is breeding for the future. I would be terrified to have kids now and know that is the world they will be given.
As for the school problem, ask any inner city teacher their tasks. They now have to feed them breakfast and show up early because parents don’t want to wake up early to feed their kids. Not only do they have food provided by the state but now they don’t want to feed their kids so why not have the school give them free food.
Also, kids are even raised not even knowing what work is. I know a Buffalo teacher who brought in some food for their kids. The kids started throwing it around and when one kid said something, they were shocked that the teacher bought it with their own money and wasn’t on food stamps.
I think this already happens in my district. Not officially, but Tonawanda is a 1st ring city and the masses are movin on up.
The level of “good parenting” has a lot to do with environment.
You are only judged by your peers.
If you are surrounded by people that feel they deserve something for nothing, you will be assimilated.
There are a lot of people in society that need a helping hand, but they need some skin in the game.
It is a game after all and no one gets out alive.
All the good teachers I know have their hearts broken when parents fail their children. How many years can a
person deal with parents that are consistently lowering the bar before they become bitter and hate their jobs?
It is really easy to preach about how shitty parents don’t know they are shitty parents. You do not have to be smart or well off to be
a good role model for children. They crave attention and will follow the examples provided. IMO good parenting takes time and involvement.
You need to know what your children do all day and most importantly you need to help manage their friendships. Your friends WILL determine your future.
The thing that bothers me the most about kids today is the complete lack of respect they have for anything. I’m tired of telling 8 y/o kids not to swear at the playground.
I’m pretty sure most nyspeeders would be amazed at the vocabulary used by kids with shitty parents.
I wish I knew how to fix the problem, but I too have anti-social ideas that would not be acceptable. Maybe take some of the cash spent on lower income districts and implement
parenting classes that highlight how to properly raise a child v.nyspeed?
I should have moved this thread to PolitiSuck a week ago 
The solution to school problems, as with most societal issues is as simple as this; change the incentives.
This statement shouldn’t be overlooked.
We don’t appreciate intelligence anymore.
Look no farther than NASA. Our country was built on technological and scientific advancements. We no longer make any.
good old WIIFM
Man…even when said sarcastically that phrase still pisses me off. :banghead:
It’s not like we are the leaders in most internet technologies…oh wait we are.
Thats because atleast 85% of the population wouldnt know what to do without it…and 100% of people under 20 aside from the darn Amish would be jumping off of bridges
Virtualization
Networking
Cloud Computing
Apple, Google, Cisco, Microsoft…
Even those jobs are not “cool” unless you live in the Bay area/Seattle and a handful of other places
I’m talking exploration and health advancements. Curing diseases. Cloning. Robotics. Real scientific advancements. Not designing the best search engines and storage options for iphones. Internet technologies make my life easier, not better.
Get me to Mars god damn it!
All of those other technologies you mentioned lean on computer technologies for advancement.
How do you think medical companies analyze DNA? Or explore space with robots?
All of this stuff falls back on computer technology
All those companies you mentioned are privately/publicly owned. Our government does nothing except cut programs. That is my point. That’s like saying our children have the opportunity to play for the best football teams in the world because of the Dallas Cowboys and NY Giants and New England Patriots are located in America.
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Not American companies. We might not cure AIDS, but hey! We created the program that did made it possible and Japan made the computer!
You mean Intel an American company designed the microchips and we shipped low cost production off to Japan?
So your argument the government doesn’t do enough research?
Oh and http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-186393/Aids-vaccine-breakthrough.html
“Scientists have made a vital breakthrough in the search for an Aids vaccine, according to new research.
Experts from The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI), based in California, in the United States, have solved the structure of an antibody which neutralises the HIV virus.
The findings, reported in the latest issue of respected journal Science, will boost the search to find a vaccine for HIV/Aids, which killed more than four million people in 2001.”
The US gives billions of money to universities for all kinds research.
You all realize that perhaps the majority of academic research in this country is performed by immigrants? Upper education has already figured out how to get around lazy America!
Is there even a correlation between math and science ranking and the amount of research publications per capita? Why was this nytimes article brought up?
For that matter, I never felt unprepared in my math/science/engineering classes. I just don’t understand how this metric relates to propensity to pursue a STEM-related career.
The high-performing people in my high school seemed to go into health related jobs (optometry, pharmacy, doctor). There were some engineers, but no scientists that I know of. It’s just not a very luxurious career… 70 hour work weeks making $24,000 a year to start out in grad school, moving up to probably $35-40,000 for two (or MORE) post doctoral fellowships lasting a total of 4-5 years. Then the whole tenure process which takes about 5 years and is very brutal (work about as much as your body will let you). Then you have to teach these people called undergrads where only about 2% care what you’re so passionate about. You really have to love what you study…
It’s not about money, but there is a standard of living issue with the early years of the path toward a science career that probably deters many people.
My point exactly.
Even the “Americans” doing the science/tech weren’t born here.
Do schools even have science fairs anymore?
Yes