Today I found a random worksheet that I decided to make into a demotivational poster, because it is so demotivating.
Kids just seem to be focusing less and less on education.
The third one says "tincks" instead of "thinks" (I assume). This kid's sure got a thing for "ck"s.
I don't think kids are getting dumber, I just think this is a dumb-ass kid.
As I have gotten older it has seemed as if the kids are getting dumber, but really it's all the same. I'm sure if you looked around you could find articles written 100 years ago about how "the kids of today" are so stupid.
As far as spelling goes, technology is to blame for that one. people in general have just gotten lazier. Who needs to know how to spell when you have spell check built into everything. I admit I'm not very good at spelling, I'd be lost if it wasn't for spell check.
Then there is the texting effect on spelling. kids are so used to abbreviating things for short phone texts, they get lazy and keep doing that in a medium where they are not limited by a restricted keyboard or a small character limit.
Also, at least in american teen culture, it's not "cool" to be smart. If a kid says or does something intelligent they get branded a nerd, or a dork or something, and socially outcast. many kids act dumber than they actually are because of that.
The one thing that has declined over the years is education. These days schools are nothing but day care centers. And don't blame the teachers, it's a problem starting from the top. The national and state departments of education don't want a well educated general public. The public is a lot easier to manipulate if they are poorly educated.
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"Deep in the human unconscious is a pervasive need for a logical universe that makes sense. But the real universe is always one step beyond logic."
-Muad'Dib
Well, I'm always in AP / Rigourous courses ( I'm taking geometry and german in 8th grade ) so not everyone is getting dumber, though, the number of people in the .... uhmm... " I ain't be carein' 'bout no school " classes are growing. Quite rapidly.
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Some people use thought as an escape from contributing in life.
Then there is the texting effect on spelling. kids are so used to abbreviating things for short phone texts, they get lazy and keep doing that in a medium where they are not limited by a restricted keyboard or a small character limit.
Also, at least in american teen culture, it's not "cool" to be smart. If a kid says or does something intelligent they get branded a nerd, or a dork or something, and socially outcast. many kids act dumber than they actually are because of that.
I text a good bit and it doesn't seem to have an effect on my spelling (that I know of). I guess I'm more set in my ways though, since I am older than the kids being referred to (I'm 17). I tend to write out complete sentences and whatnot when I am texting.
And about the second part, it is unfortunate but in a lot of cases (at least that I have witnessed) not a complete deterrent.
As I have gotten older it has seemed as if the kids are getting dumber, but really it's all the same. I'm sure if you looked around you could find articles written 100 years ago about how "the kids of today" are so stupid.
As far as spelling goes, technology is to blame for that one. people in general have just gotten lazier. Who needs to know how to spell when you have spell check built into everything. I admit I'm not very good at spelling, I'd be lost if it wasn't for spell check.
Then there is the texting effect on spelling. kids are so used to abbreviating things for short phone texts, they get lazy and keep doing that in a medium where they are not limited by a restricted keyboard or a small character limit.
Also, at least in american teen culture, it's not "cool" to be smart. If a kid says or does something intelligent they get branded a nerd, or a dork or something, and socially outcast. many kids act dumber than they actually are because of that.
The one thing that has declined over the years is education. These days schools are nothing but day care centers. And don't blame the teachers, it's a problem starting from the top. The national and state departments of education don't want a well educated general public. The public is a lot easier to manipulate if they are poorly educated.
Really? Because a lot of cool kids in my school are in advanced classes and they aren't laughed at. But then again ANYONE (well some are too dumb) to open a textbook and tell the teacher what it says. That's how easy a lot of school is.
"Remember crime against property is not real crime. People look at an oil painting and admire the use of brushstrokes to convey meaning. People look at a graffiti painting and admire the use of a drainpipe to gain access."
— Banksy (Wall and Piece)
It's slang, they aren't getting dumber they are writing how words sound when they say it. An easy mistake, no need to get all preachy about the fall of our generation because of it.
And posts like these that condone this behavior make me lose faith in our youngsters. People aren't telling them they're wrong often enough, and that needs to change.
Spelling phonetically should not be a widely accepted thing.
Should we all be grammar nazis? No. But at least make the effort to try your best. I don't expect everyone to spell every single word they ever use correctly every single time. But when someone in grade 8 is spelling such a simple word horribly wrong, we have a problem here, folks!
I can't count how many times I've seen people say "could of". Whenever I see that I just want to reach through my monitor and smack them!
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Yes, in a way. Honestly, they're just getting distracted, and increasingly lazy. Only a few are truly getting less intelligent.
- I know a kid that is completely convinced that Japan invaded Poland to start WWII.
- I constantly see fellow classmates texting/using cell phones in class. They even take videos and pictures. Then they post them on social networking sites; some have former teachers as friends/followers.
- Sometimes I actually go home with unfinished assignments because apparently no one cares what the capitals of the major countries are, and I'm forced to help them out. (Has anyone noticed that football players are getting taller?)
- They use calcuators for simple math, and I finish problems manually before they can finish pressing buttons. (They're becoming much more dependent on technology to simplify school work for them)
- Many prefer using Sparknotes or a similar website instead of reading the actual book.
Also, for some reason, their memorization skills are not that great now. That's probably because they're too focused on other things to care about an education or the consequences of not paying attention. (Cell phones play a HUGE role in this; I think the fact that I don't have one and virtually everyone at my school does gives me another advantage over the majority of them.)
*hopes that no errors are in this post that was quickly typed by a mediocre typer*
Also, at least in american teen culture, it's not "cool" to be smart. If a kid says or does something intelligent they get branded a nerd, or a dork or something, and socially outcast. many kids act dumber than they actually are because of that.
Being a nerd myself, I'd say that's actually quite the opposite. I'm somewhat well-known in my classes, and some of that is a direct result from the fact that I have answers to questions. Sure, sometimes I try to start an educated conversation about something, and they walk off or look at me like I'm crazy, but even the stuck-up jocks acknowledge my existence.
- They use calcuators for simple math, and I finish problems manually before they can finish pressing buttons. (They're becoming much more dependent on technology to simplify school work for them)
This drives me crazy. I seriously see people putting in ridiculously simple equations like 3*2 all the time.
- They use calcuators for simple math, and I finish problems manually before they can finish pressing buttons. (They're becoming much more dependent on technology to simplify school work for them)
I do that, why bother when calculators are everywhere? pretty soon they will figure out how to put one in your head and give a whole new meaning to doing math in your head.
If I could have a permanent link to wolframalpha in my brain, I will be happy.
No, kids are not becoming smarter or dumber. We still have very much the same capacity for learning as we did 50 years ago. Really, this depends on what you consider to be "smart" and "dumb". For example, take Kid A and Kid B. Kid A is an absolute genius at Dwarf Fortress. However, he failed his physics class. Kid B can never quite wrap his mind around how to play Dwarf Fortress, but passed physics with flying colors. Who's "smarter" in this situation?
It is sadly true.
People in the 9th grade still can't say potato right.
What do you mean? In ninth grade I could say pototo... wait... Patatoe.... Potatoe... Patato... Spud.
Phonetic spelling is fail for the English language... but what the hell is the 't for? If you are going for phonetic, parkt, actual spelling parked, parck't makes no damn sense.
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It's hard to follow your dreams when you run from your nightmares. --
I'll never forget something that happened in my grade 7 class years and years ago. Here's what happened:
Class started and we all came in and sat at our desks. The teacher had written a paragraph on the board and told us that there were a certain number of spelling and grammar mistakes in it, and if we saw one then we could put up our hand and then go up and correct what we thought was incorrect.
Anyway, me being the shy awkward kid that I was (and still am, minus most of the awkward part), I chose to just sit and watch while other people went up and did it, yet I still picked up most of the errors myself. So this one girl went up to "correct" a certain part. She changed "could have" to "could of" and sat back down. I stared up at her "correction" and immediately thought "huh? That can't be right..."
So after a few more kids went up and did their corrections, I had finally had enough of that "correction" and I put my hand up to go up and change it back, then I sat back down. When I did, a bunch of the kids were telling me "no that was right!" and "why did you change that?" and stuff like that. I then defended my correction, saying "it's 'could have' (I made sure to emphasize the H sound) or 'could've'; not 'could of'." and then they said something like "no both ways are right!"
I then looked to the teacher who was just watching and listening for a while and then he decided to finally enter the discussion and say "actually, guys, he's right. It's not 'could of'. Like Matt said, it's 'could have' or 'could've'. You're absolutely right, Matt."
I sure felt proud after that, being the only one in the class to pick up on that error, be told I'm wrong by everyone else, but then be proven right.
And to this day I still see people incorrectly write "could of", and whenever that happens, I think back to that day.
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The third one says "tincks" instead of "thinks" (I assume). This kid's sure got a thing for "ck"s.
I don't think kids are getting dumber, I just think this is a dumb-ass kid.
As an actor, it pains me to see it spelled "theater"
I know that it is a matter of preference, but it bugs me.
As far as spelling goes, technology is to blame for that one. people in general have just gotten lazier. Who needs to know how to spell when you have spell check built into everything. I admit I'm not very good at spelling, I'd be lost if it wasn't for spell check.
Then there is the texting effect on spelling. kids are so used to abbreviating things for short phone texts, they get lazy and keep doing that in a medium where they are not limited by a restricted keyboard or a small character limit.
Also, at least in american teen culture, it's not "cool" to be smart. If a kid says or does something intelligent they get branded a nerd, or a dork or something, and socially outcast. many kids act dumber than they actually are because of that.
The one thing that has declined over the years is education. These days schools are nothing but day care centers. And don't blame the teachers, it's a problem starting from the top. The national and state departments of education don't want a well educated general public. The public is a lot easier to manipulate if they are poorly educated.
-Muad'Dib
I text a good bit and it doesn't seem to have an effect on my spelling (that I know of). I guess I'm more set in my ways though, since I am older than the kids being referred to (I'm 17). I tend to write out complete sentences and whatnot when I am texting.
And about the second part, it is unfortunate but in a lot of cases (at least that I have witnessed) not a complete deterrent.
Kids aren't dumb, they're just taught not to use their intuition.
And posts like these that condone this behavior make me lose faith in our youngsters. People aren't telling them they're wrong often enough, and that needs to change.
Spelling phonetically should not be a widely accepted thing.
Should we all be grammar nazis? No. But at least make the effort to try your best. I don't expect everyone to spell every single word they ever use correctly every single time. But when someone in grade 8 is spelling such a simple word horribly wrong, we have a problem here, folks!
I can't count how many times I've seen people say "could of". Whenever I see that I just want to reach through my monitor and smack them!
- I know a kid that is completely convinced that Japan invaded Poland to start WWII.
- I constantly see fellow classmates texting/using cell phones in class. They even take videos and pictures. Then they post them on social networking sites; some have former teachers as friends/followers.
- Sometimes I actually go home with unfinished assignments because apparently no one cares what the capitals of the major countries are, and I'm forced to help them out. (Has anyone noticed that football players are getting taller?)
- They use calcuators for simple math, and I finish problems manually before they can finish pressing buttons. (They're becoming much more dependent on technology to simplify school work for them)
- Many prefer using Sparknotes or a similar website instead of reading the actual book.
Also, for some reason, their memorization skills are not that great now. That's probably because they're too focused on other things to care about an education or the consequences of not paying attention. (Cell phones play a HUGE role in this; I think the fact that I don't have one and virtually everyone at my school does gives me another advantage over the majority of them.)
*hopes that no errors are in this post that was quickly typed by a mediocre typer*
EDIT:
Being a nerd myself, I'd say that's actually quite the opposite. I'm somewhat well-known in my classes, and some of that is a direct result from the fact that I have answers to questions. Sure, sometimes I try to start an educated conversation about something, and they walk off or look at me like I'm crazy, but even the stuck-up jocks acknowledge my existence.
This drives me crazy. I seriously see people putting in ridiculously simple equations like 3*2 all the time.
You heard that, green and red.
But seriously yes kids are getting dumber.
I do that, why bother when calculators are everywhere? pretty soon they will figure out how to put one in your head and give a whole new meaning to doing math in your head.
If I could have a permanent link to wolframalpha in my brain, I will be happy.
*there may or may not be cake
What do you mean? In ninth grade I could say pototo... wait... Patatoe.... Potatoe... Patato... Spud.
Phonetic spelling is fail for the English language... but what the hell is the 't for? If you are going for phonetic, parkt, actual spelling parked, parck't makes no damn sense.
It's hard to follow your dreams when you run from your nightmares. --
Anyway what really gets me, is that some people have no idea what 'to' to use in a situation.
Class started and we all came in and sat at our desks. The teacher had written a paragraph on the board and told us that there were a certain number of spelling and grammar mistakes in it, and if we saw one then we could put up our hand and then go up and correct what we thought was incorrect.
Anyway, me being the shy awkward kid that I was (and still am, minus most of the awkward part), I chose to just sit and watch while other people went up and did it, yet I still picked up most of the errors myself. So this one girl went up to "correct" a certain part. She changed "could have" to "could of" and sat back down. I stared up at her "correction" and immediately thought "huh? That can't be right..."
So after a few more kids went up and did their corrections, I had finally had enough of that "correction" and I put my hand up to go up and change it back, then I sat back down. When I did, a bunch of the kids were telling me "no that was right!" and "why did you change that?" and stuff like that. I then defended my correction, saying "it's 'could have' (I made sure to emphasize the H sound) or 'could've'; not 'could of'." and then they said something like "no both ways are right!"
I then looked to the teacher who was just watching and listening for a while and then he decided to finally enter the discussion and say "actually, guys, he's right. It's not 'could of'. Like Matt said, it's 'could have' or 'could've'. You're absolutely right, Matt."
I sure felt proud after that, being the only one in the class to pick up on that error, be told I'm wrong by everyone else, but then be proven right.
And to this day I still see people incorrectly write "could of", and whenever that happens, I think back to that day.