This stuff has been going on for years, way earlier than Obama’s time. I graduated in 1969, the last year of an era where schools taught what was sometimes referred to as “The three Rs (as in the letter R)[1] refers to the foundations of a basic skills-orientated education program within schools: reading, writing and arithmetic. (
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_three_Rs). Growing up, we were taught the basics of the English language, math(from arithmetic to geometry, algebra, calculus and trigonometry (the last two only if you were a Brainiac). We learned how to diagram sentences, read from the Dick and Jane level to the War and Peace level, etc. Of course, the majority of students weren’t at the highest levels of these teachings, but the average student received a good, solid grasp of the fundamentals of English, Math, World/American and State history and how the government worked (Social Studies). All of this was done way before computers came on the scene. Advanced math classes used a slide rule for computing, an entirely lost art nowadays.
I began to notice little things about five to six years after I graduated like bad spelling, easy math errors that shouldn’t occur with so much frequency, but did. I noticed gaps in younger people’s grasp of history, events and people that built this country and who contributed to the world; names like Gutenberg, Aristotle, Eli Whitney, Newton, etc. are meaningless words that make their eyes glaze over. As time went on, it became much more noticeable and dramatic. An example of this is seeing a well designed website done by obviously intelligent people selling some sort of impressive hard/software and there will be spelling errors and typos. I am always shocked and appalled by this and wish there was a way I could scream into their ears, “Spell checkers need to be spell checked!”
The thing that most symbolizes the devolution and decay of our educational process is this:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hooked_on_Phonics. It is the curse, the bane, the antitheses and the antichrist of learning.
My generation wasn’t born with any more or any less innate intelligence than any other generation. The real difference is the degree and quality of the education. Here are some good reads on the subject.
p.s. I know someone will find a mistake or two or maybe more, but I’ll blame it on the internet and the Jooooos.
http://www.amazon.com/Dumbing-Ameri...2&sr=1-2&keywords=the+dumbing+down+of+america
http://www.amazon.com/Dumbing-Down-...3&sr=1-5&keywords=the+dumbing+down+of+america
http://www.amazon.com/Deliberate-Du...3&sr=1-7&keywords=the+dumbing+down+of+america
http://www.amazon.com/Feel-Good-Cur...&sr=1-11&keywords=the+dumbing+down+of+america
