Lazy soup

[AFK]

In high school I learned:

--When you make a model rocket, if you put in an engine that is meant for a bigger rocket, your rocket goes much higher and farther, which means you get to spend the rest of class scouring the neighborhood to locate the rocket

--How to make a cool Rube Goldberg machine that dropped an ice-cube into water and how to break a bunch of other stuff in the process

--That I lived in a town with a bunch or rednecks

[LMNO]

Could we get some parents to comment on the OP?

I'd like to hear what someone who has actually tried to teach children thinks about it.

In my experience, children want "THE ANSWER".  It's only later that they can grasp the concept of ambiguity and uncertainty.

[Jenne]

My oldest kid totally gets ambiguity.  But then he was the one that at 4 asked why he was on earth.  He also understood at an early stage that the only person you can ever trust really is yourself, and even that can be shaky.

My youngest doesn't get ambiguity until you give him a concrete example. 

[Messier Undertree]

In high school I learned:

1) bunsen burner + anything = lulz

2) how to get adults to buy booze from shops for me

3) how to pick on fat kids

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

Could we get some parents to comment on the OP?

I'd like to hear what someone who has actually tried to teach children thinks about it.

In my experience, children want "THE ANSWER".  It's only later that they can grasp the concept of ambiguity and uncertainty.

I find the OP mind-numbingly tiresome, but I'll try.

Yes, in some ways public schools in my area seem to be structured to train a generation of good little employees. That makes sense because that's what this society considers "successful", and the goal is to raise our children to be successful.

I don't think it has anything to do with the laziness of parents. There are lazy parents, for sure, but there always have been; it's nothing new. Parents now seem more vigilant, involved, and skeptical of authority than previous generations.

An economy where a single-earner household is rare for logistical reasons is not something you can blame on the laziness of parents.

Schools should teach children facts and skills. Parents should teach children ethics and critical thinking. I don't think parents are doing a worse job of that than they have in the past; talk to a random selection of middle-aged people if you want proof of that.

That's all I can respond to right now without having the OP immediately in front of me.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

Oh, a PS: I hated grade school. So much, in fact, that I dropped out in 3rd grade and only went back for a brief stint in 6th before abandoning it altogether. I was prepared to home-school if necessary (and if possible), if it turned out that my kids hated it too, but they don't. They love it. Both my older children are high-performing, nerdy, and very social.

No, little kids don't tend to do a lot of critical thinking. That's an acquired skill, and furthermore you have to have enough of a foundation of knowledge in order to start using critical thinking. So teachers teach facts. I'm not actually seeing the problem with that?

It's up to parents, not teachers, to teach kids to question authority, as well as to respect authority. Some parents do a better job than others.

Also, regarding your "nanny" comment... WTF demographic did you grow up in? How many people do you think actually can afford nannies?

[LMNO]

How does an 8-year old drop out of school?

[The Good Reverend Roger]

Parents have gotten lazy, and we're all eating shit for it.
Mothers give birth, drop the little baby on a nanny, and go back to work.

BAD!  BAD!  They should keep the kids at home and starve to death.

Wait.  What? WHO THE FUCK CAN AFFORD A NANNY?

[hooplala]

"If you want to be a different kind of fish, you've got to jump out of the school."

-St. Beefheart

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

How does an 8-year old drop out of school?

My mom didn't care. Ostensibly I was "home schooled" but in reality what that meant was my mom got me a bus pass and a library card and went and did whatever it was she was doing.

[Verbal Mike]

Also, regarding your "nanny" comment... WTF demographic did you grow up in? How many people do you think actually can afford nannies?

Oh, I was just carefully avoiding reality to make a point...
I admit this rant is extremely uninspired, by the way. I don't even agree with about half of it. I thought I had a good point to make, but when it came to actually fleshing it out, it didn't work out like I wanted it to.
The discussion is rather interesting though.

[The Good Reverend Roger]

Could we get some parents to comment on the OP?

I'd like to hear what someone who has actually tried to teach children thinks about it.

In my experience, children want "THE ANSWER".  It's only later that they can grasp the concept of ambiguity and uncertainty.

Having raised two little tax credits, I can state with certainty that:

1.  Children from ages 0-1 cannot understand anything on a cognitive level.  They're still figuring out how to best shit their diapers.

2.  Children from ages 1-5 are little savages who must have civilization drummed into their heads and backsides, unless you have a convenient basement to lock them in.

3.  Children from ages 6-12 want to learn everything, they just don't want to do it in school.  Well, too fucking bad.  In this lesson, we learn that life isn't fair.

4.  Children from ages 13-18 want to get laid.  That's pretty much it.  Your job as a parent is to prevent them from becoming parents.

5.  After 18, they can fucking well figure it out on their own.

The end.

[Sir Squid Diddimus]

every word Roger said.










it's true.

[Jenne]

Damn, Rog.  *yoink*  I'm also giving cred, of course.

Well fucking said.

[Dysfunctional Cunt]

:spewmonitor:



Roger, that was truly inspired! 

The bitch of it is I have 2 from line 3 and 1 from line 4.....