Why Our Children Fail

Other countries have poverty, also.  There will always be the haves and the have-nots.  Life in the big city. Nothing will ever change that.  It's part of the human condition.  To exonerate American decline in the quality of education on the basis of poverty, doesn't wash.

It's about motivation, about the home, about standards.  Tell a person he can't learn because he's poor, and he won't. "Aw, shucks.  Poor me:"  Self-fulfilling prophecy.

In the 19th and 20th centuries, people were very poor.  They came here in cattle boats, starving, with nothing.  No ESL classes, no welfare, no nothing. Make it or break it.

Guess what?  We became the most powerful, smartest, achieving nation in the world.  What changed since then?  Poverty didn't.  Rather, it's the value system that uses poverty and free hand-outs as an excuse, that has come into vogue.  The "poor little helpless things" mentality.  It's sickening to pity one's fellow man like that, rather than to inspire him to achieve and do better for himself. Our value system is upside down.

I'm not impressed with the poverty excuse.  Rather, I go with the reality that teachers need to teach, children need to learn, parents need to parent.  It's not a perfect world. My philosophy is more about "get over it," than "poor baby."  It's not that I'm naive.  I work in the garment district, in the ghettoed portion of town; with minorities as workers, street people, customers, and residents.  I taught in inner city schools.  I get it.

Americans have worked their butts off, in order to have a piece of the American Dream,  for over 200 years, and were magnificent, as a result.
Was every story a success?  No.  As a nation, overall, were we successful? You bet.

Give a person a hand-out (vs. a hand up), and one essentially has said to that person that he is incapable of making it on his own, so others will make it for him.  The fulfilling prophecy of failure and dependency.
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I do not feel that machines can replace a competent, thinking teacher. However, as many of the teachers today are incompetent, it becomes a debate.  Sadly, students and teachers are stumbling over one another, racing for the "Dumbest in the Class" awards:  The tragedy.  I think machines are a magnificent resource. Period.  Unfortunately, our society disagrees, in significant part:  Teachers have cultivated disrespect, society needs a scapegoat for its failing children, and the technology has become the rescuer.  Bingo...

The other day, a dim-wit of a teacher whined that each of her first graders just HAD to have a calculator. Why is that?

Well, they can't learn arithmetic without one!

What if it breaks?? What will the child do then?  Why, go next door and get the calculators from the other teacher, of course!

Augh!