From: bob1@cos.com (Bob Blackshaw)
Subject: Re: "Lazy" Americans
Organization: Corporation for Open Systems
Distribution: na 
Date: Thu, 17 Dec 1992 21:55:17 GMT

In <farenebt.724523338@craft.camp.clarkson.edu> farenebt@craft.camp.clarkson.edu (Droopy) writes:

>carl.camurca@travel.com (Carl Camurca)  writes:
> 	
>>JH>|> >The problem with the U.S. educational system is that everyone is afraid
>>JH>|> >to put the blame where it lies.  The students are the fucking problem.
>>JH>|> >Lazy, don't-give-a-shit-attitudes are present among the majority of
>>JH>|> >students.

>>Jeff, since you seem to like simple questions, answer this one:

>>Why are the Americans "lazy"?

>On the contrary, it's not the students, it's the PARENTS. PARENTS.
>PARENTS. Teachers are expected to teach, be guidance conselours,
>babysitters and psuedo-parents. It is not always the case, but most
>of the time, where there's a student who's unwilling to learn and work (lazy),
>there's a parent who doesn't care. Not always, but too often. The parents
>want to blame everyone: school boards, administrators, teachers, students,
>politicians...but not themselves. You could do something as simple as read
>to your child for 5-10 minutes a night (or have him/her read to you). Just
>the act of spending time with your child, can do wonders for motivation. 

Yes, parents could do all these things, but there is only one small
problem. Since industry decided to depress wages, mothers went to
work. In engineering, it is not surprising to see dad working a 60
hour week (for 40 hours pay). Mom has to shop on weekends or evenings,
clean house, do laundry, etc. Affordable housing is getting further
'out' (my commute is 74 miles round trip, but the kids are all grown)
so at least 2 hours is spent getting back and forth. Hmm. maybe we
could get congress to declare a 36 hour day, yeah, that's the answer.
We just need to set up some big rocket engines facing east and slow
down the earth's rotation.

Of course we could hire better teachers if industry would only pay
their share, instead of running all over the damn country looking
for tax breaks. And we could change the curricula to concentrate
on the basics. Industry wants people trained for their interests.
Oddly enough, several very successful people graduated from St. John's
in Annapolis and the seem to specialize in a classical liberal arts
education. Just maybe if we had spent more time teaching people how
to think, and think for themselves, instead of graduating industrial
robots, we might be better off.


>Children learn their attitudes from their parent(s) (or whomever they're
>being raised by; if the parents dont take an interest in the child's
>schooling, how can you expect the child to?
>============================================================================
>BRI FARENELL				Hate is not a family value.
>FARENEBT@CRAFT.CAMP.CLARKSON.EDU	Get involved (or shut up)
>CLARKSON '95				 
>A pro-life, PC-hating, liberal card-carrying member of the ACLU
>===========================================================================
>"Whenever I hear anyone arguing for slavery, I feel a strong impulse
> to see it tried on him personally." 	---Abraham Lincoln

REB