We encourage kids to play football or baseball or other similar trivialities. We spend huge amounts of money on fields, equipment, uniforms, and give a good quarterback our greatest respect. On the other hand, we de-emphasize education. We criticize kids for being smart. Dumb kids join together in making fun of smart kids, or in more severe cases, causing them physical harm.
Intelligence is discouraged.
The problem is not localized to schools either. Our society in general discourages intelligence and achievement. More on that later. Total Lack of Objectivity Over and over again we see astonishing contradictions in philosophy. Primarily we see this with the religious fundamentalists and radical social conservatives.