“The Dumbing” of Society – Education

Education today is causing “The Dumbing” of Society. Decades ago, teachers were respected as educating our future and doing their job with the support of the children’s families and society. Now, they are barely paid enough to support their families, classroom time is spent disciplining students since they are not taught to be respectful at home, and their supplies… not enough books, not enough computers, the libraries are understaffed, not even paper to make copies for lessons.

I would have liked to been a teacher. I took education classes and got as far as observing in the classroom… my high school physics teacher. I LOVED that class but 8 years later, the equipment for labs was broken, the textbooks were destroyed, and my old physics teacher looked liked he saw no point in teaching physics to students that didn’t want to be there. A far, far cry from the energetic teacher I knew who loved to show how every day life requires a little physics knowledge.

Where did it go wrong? I guess we could blame the unions. We could blame the government for cutting funding or the education administration greed. But I believe every one is responsible. As a society, we have let this happen. We have elected and re-elected officials that promise to turn education around but never do. Parents both work and are less involved in school. They rely on the schools to provide daycare, after-school activities, and teaching children about respect and the importance of education. Where is there money or time to teach the children the basic skills they need to SURVIVE in today’s society and to make a good living to support their future family?

I have to work! My husband has to work! We have a 3 year old that every minute we are not at our jobs we are with him. We teach him to respect authority. We teach him about helping us and others. We teach him that it is important to read a book and learn. We teach him to rely on us to help him with his troubles. My husband and I were fortunate to find a daycare provider that had our values so it would be easy for our son to transition from there to home with us. But this all takes time and work on our part, which is expected from good parents in order to have our son go to school with the attitude that he needs to respect his teachers and the importance to learn. The point is… as parents we are doing our part.

Two years from now, our son will be off to school. Currently, the public school system is better than most in our area. But… I am still worried that in these times, it will not stay that way. I see more programs getting cut and less community activities. My husband and I plan to be very active in our son’s education by being involved with the school, rallying other parents to get involved, and giving him learning experiences outside the home.

In order to stop the “Dumbing” of Society, we need to improve education and the attitudes towards it. Teachers need to lose their “tenured” positions and be held responsible for their job performance and continuing development. City and state education officials need to be held accountable for the overall performance of the schools by the voters. Society should have the attitude that without top notch education then our society will not move forward or improve. When a sensible ballot measure comes along to improve school conditions, vote for it… even if you are childless or your children are long out of school. Who do you think built the infrastructure to education you and your children? It was the previous generations who felt it was important. Who do you think will be the doctors taking care of you when you need them later in life?

Parents are definitely on the hook here. More involvement is needed from them. Yes, both parents are working in most families but spend a 30 minutes reading before bed instead of watching tv or playing video games. Make a weekend day a day to read a play and perform it out. Go to a museum instead of Six Flags a few times. Parents need to be more active at school. Instead of taking a 2 week summer vacation, take one week and use the other 5 days to volunteer at the school throughout the year. There is a national average of ~180 school days per year. There are ~35 kids per classroom. If a parent were to volunteer 5 days throughout the year, there would be a volunteer there everyday.

Attitudes need to change about the importance of education in today’s society. Teaching needs to be a coveted, lucrative career that attracts the best people. Or we will find ourselves dependent on other nations to provide our physicians, scientist, and lawyers. A good way to bring down the nation but maybe that is where government wants us… dependent, unable to think freely, needing government handouts… that way they will get re-elected by the masses since the masses will be so dependent on those handouts.

And that’s Just About It!