[quote=braves fan]

...understand the joy of having two daddies.

That last comment added nothing productive and only stands to stir up trouble on what was a decent thread.  Please consider this before posting things like this in the future.

[/quote]

You don't find joy in having two daddies?  You need to me more sensitive, more in touch with diversity.

[/quote]

Actually what that does is portray the public schools as a joke.  Today's high school graduates are for all practical purposes unemployable in anything other than manual labor type stuff.

But they feel good about themselves and understand the joy of having two daddies.

[/quote]

Actually the trades are suffering. Not enough grads who want to work with their hands. And they pay very well. Carpenters with three years of experience and a union card are pulling six figures in our area.

Sorry, I don't understand the two daddies comment.

[quote=tjc45]

Sorry, I don't understand the two daddies comment.

[/quote]

It's just as well--I've been asked to stop talking about it.

[quote=NASD Newbie][quote=tjc45]

Sorry, I don't understand the two daddies comment.

[/quote]

It's just as well--I've been asked to stop talking about it.

[/quote]

Well, I haven't been asked.  It is all about the emphasis on the feel good agenda being pushed in our public schools by certain political action groups to "include" all kinds of thoughts, feelings and lifestyles at the expense of actually teaching children functional skills. Like.....oh, I don't know....reading, writing, spelling, math, history, geography and science.  Instead we are teaching second graders that it is Ok for little Tommy to have two daddies or two mommies or mabye several of each.  

Also, we don't want anyone to have their little feelings bruised by not winning a game or having a paper graded with less than an A in a subject.  Therefore, we don't allow scoring (competition is baaaaaad).  So, we create a generation of dunces that expect the world to be a "happy place" where everyone wins and nobody is a big meanie.  Except that once they graduate from school they probably cant even read what I just wrote and they certainly couldn't write it themselves.

Clear?   

[quote=babbling looney][quote=NASD Newbie][quote=tjc45]

Sorry, I don't understand the two daddies comment.

[/quote]

It's just as well--I've been asked to stop talking about it.

[/quote]

Well, I haven't been asked.  It is all about the emphasis on the feel good agenda being pushed in our public schools by certain political action groups to "include" all kinds of thoughts, feelings and lifestyles at the expense of actually teaching children functional skills. Like.....oh, I don't know....reading, writing, spelling, math, history, geography and science.  Instead we are teaching second graders that it is Ok for little Tommy to have two daddies or two mommies or mabye several of each.  

Also, we don't want anyone to have their little feelings bruised by not winning a game or having a paper graded with less than an A in a subject.  Therefore, we don't allow scoring (competition is baaaaaad).  So, we create a generation of dunces that expect the world to be a "happy place" where everyone wins and nobody is a big meanie.  Except that once they graduate from school they probably cant even read what I just wrote and they certainly couldn't write it themselves.

Clear?   

[/quote]

That's a good post, except what does it have to do with having two daddies or two mommies?

[/quote]

Clear?   

[/quote]

Yep

[quote=braves fan][quote=babbling looney][quote=NASD Newbie][quote=tjc45]

Sorry, I don't understand the two daddies comment.

[/quote]

It's just as well--I've been asked to stop talking about it.

[/quote]

Well, I haven't been asked.  It is all about the emphasis on the feel good agenda being pushed in our public schools by certain political action groups to "include" all kinds of thoughts, feelings and lifestyles at the expense of actually teaching children functional skills. Like.....oh, I don't know....reading, writing, spelling, math, history, geography and science.  Instead we are teaching second graders that it is Ok for little Tommy to have two daddies or two mommies or mabye several of each.  

Also, we don't want anyone to have their little feelings bruised by not winning a game or having a paper graded with less than an A in a subject.  Therefore, we don't allow scoring (competition is baaaaaad).  So, we create a generation of dunces that expect the world to be a "happy place" where everyone wins and nobody is a big meanie.  Except that once they graduate from school they probably cant even read what I just wrote and they certainly couldn't write it themselves.

Clear?   

[/quote]

That's a good post, except what does it have to do with having two daddies or two mommies?

[/quote]

It has to do with the fact that having two daddies, two mommies, two goats and three parakeets at home should  have nothing to do with our educational system.

YET, we seem to be spending time teaching "values" in school instead of knowledge.  It is not the job of the educational system to confirm or deny anyone's lifestyle. That information is completely irrelevant as to whether you can conjugate a verb or what the molecular weight of iron or the location of the Himalayas or have the skill to balance your check book.  Teaching values is the responsibility of the parents of the children and whether or not you like those values is also irrelevant.

Again, I state, we are raising a generation of absolute ignoramuses who don't have the basic knowledge to get and hold a job much less function in a global economy. 

[quote=babbling looney]

Again, I state, we are raising a generation of absolute ignoramuses who don't have the basic knowledge to get and hold a job much less function in a global economy.

[/quote]

SAY IT!

Well gee whiz people!  We can’t expect people to actually be PARENTS just because they have kids, can we?  Isn’t it the job of the public school system to raise children for us?

[quote=babbling looney][quote=braves fan][quote=babbling looney][quote=NASD Newbie][quote=tjc45]

Sorry, I don't understand the two daddies comment.

[/quote]

It's just as well--I've been asked to stop talking about it.

[/quote]

Well, I haven't been asked.  It is all about the emphasis on the feel good agenda being pushed in our public schools by certain political action groups to "include" all kinds of thoughts, feelings and lifestyles at the expense of actually teaching children functional skills. Like.....oh, I don't know....reading, writing, spelling, math, history, geography and science.  Instead we are teaching second graders that it is Ok for little Tommy to have two daddies or two mommies or mabye several of each.  

Also, we don't want anyone to have their little feelings bruised by not winning a game or having a paper graded with less than an A in a subject.  Therefore, we don't allow scoring (competition is baaaaaad).  So, we create a generation of dunces that expect the world to be a "happy place" where everyone wins and nobody is a big meanie.  Except that once they graduate from school they probably cant even read what I just wrote and they certainly couldn't write it themselves.

Clear?   

[/quote]

That's a good post, except what does it have to do with having two daddies or two mommies?

[/quote]

It has to do with the fact that having two daddies, two mommies, two goats and three parakeets at home should  have nothing to do with our educational system.

YET, we seem to be spending time teaching "values" in school instead of knowledge.  It is not the job of the educational system to confirm or deny anyone's lifestyle. That information is completely irrelevant as to whether you can conjugate a verb or what the molecular weight of iron or the location of the Himalayas or have the skill to balance your check book.  Teaching values is the responsibility of the parents of the children and whether or not you like those values is also irrelevant.

Again, I state, we are raising a generation of absolute ignoramuses who don't have the basic knowledge to get and hold a job much less function in a global economy. 

[/quote]

Amen, sister!!!

This is an easy bandwagon to jump on...except that we all start sounding like Bill O'Reilly....

The sad thing is, up until someone pointed it out recently, I didn't know that the SAT had been watered down in the mid-90's.  I was seeing all these 1200-1300 SAT scored, and I couldn't believe how dense these kids seemed.  The lightbulb came on when I discovered that SAT scores were significantly inflated compared to what I was accustomed to.

Hopefully I'm just a cynic, but man, some of these "smart" students seem awfully dense and completely lacking in the common sense area.

Indyone:

Hopefully I'm just a cynic, but man, some of these "smart" students seem awfully dense and completely lacking in the common sense area.

---------------------------------------------

Replace "students" with the word "adults" and I was saying that statement 30 years ago.

…know what you’re saying…it’s sad that ours is the only intelligent generation on the planet…

Actually fellas, teaching common sense is highly discouraged among the public schools and university's these days.  It seems that someone invariably gets offended, and you know most Americans, 'My feelings are hurt, therefore someone must owe me money".

As long as they professors only teach what's in the approved textbooks (for the free thinkers among you, check out a book called "Lies My Teacher Told Me") they're lawsuit-resistant.

Too many lawyers...

So what I hear a few of you saying (NASD, Babbling etc...) is that we shouldn't teach our kids about different cultures, socio-economic backgrounds, religious beliefs etc.....?  Hmmmmmmmmm sounds great.  I probably would have grown up a 'closet' racist had that been the case at my school.  Thank GOD I had 'big brother' there to help me realize the ignorance of my parents.....I would extrapolate and propose that this is a positive thing for our society.

It would be plain out stupid to enter a world of EXTREMELY diverse origin and background without a few tools to understand and 'get along' with others.  I still can't understand why educating kids about 'reality' is a bad thing.

Yes it is Ok for little Jimmy to have two daddies, even if I don't agree with it, 'cause it's not my choice and therefore none of my business.  A world of ignorance and misunderstanding is essentially disfunctional.  This is not about values, it's about having a functional society where people can walk the streets without fear of persecution because they are a Moslem, Black, Gay whatever.  No matter what your religious/political background you have to learn to get along with all sorts of people and how can you do that if you grew up in a home that teaches you that 'Black folk' are not O.K.?

It's always easy for people who haven't walked in anothers shoes to discredit their experience and tell them to "quit complaining and fall in line". 

Some of the comments in this thread are shockingly ignorant.  I am greatful that I don't feel discomfort around homosexuals ANYMORE, since I learned that HOMO's are bad as a kid........still doesn't mean that I desire or agree with their lifestyle choices, it's just not my business.

BTW.......I AM NOT a fan of the current state of public school in the least and currently homeschool my two daughters because of some of the issues that have been addressed here. 

Never the less I think that the comments about two daddies etc..... sound like they came straight out of Billy Buford Clemm The Swamp Rats' toothless mouth.  They should be teaching that it's not O.K. to inbreed, alright there NASD Easy Trader?  But then I haven't walked in your shoes so I should take my own advice I guess.

[quote=dude]

Some of the comments in this thread are shockingly ignorant.  I am greatful that I don't feel discomfort around homosexuals ANYMORE, since I learned that HOMO's are bad as a kid........still doesn't mean that I desire or agree with their lifestyle choices, it's just not my business.

[/quote]

Ah, the whine of the liberal.  "I feeeeel that it is none of my business."

Do you feel that way about somebody who wants to have the Ten Commandments posted on the wall of every school room in the country?  Is that none of your business?

How about parents who think that they should be given their child's share of the school budget in their town--a voucher--and take that voucher to any school?  Are you for that?

How about eliminating the estate tax?  Would you be in favor of allowing somebody to leave everything they have to whomever they want without taxing a single penny of it?

How about progressive taxation?  Do you believe that somebody who earns (say) $500,000 should pay tax at a greater rate than somebody who earns $50,000?  In other words the "fair share" becomes a larger percentage as you earn more--is that part of your beliefs?

How about gay marriage.  Do you think that they're pushing too hard when they demand that the decent segment of society accept the concept that any combination of people can get married--instead of settling for legislation that allows all the legal rights of a heterosexual married couple, except the term married?

How about the military.  Do you believe that our troops are doing good things in Iraq inspite of the relatively few horror stories we hear?

How about Israel?  Do you believe that Israel is the cause of the trouble in the Middle East?  Do you think that they should just turn the other cheek when they are attacked?

The other day you--I think--indicated that you would rather have a President Hillary Clinton than a President George W Bush.  That would seem to indicate that you're much more in touch with your feminine side than with reality.  Would that be a fair characterization?

Babbling, NASD NEWB,

Do you not realize that by attacking the schooling system and calling today's generation of kids "idiots" that you are essentially calling your generation an idiot as well?

Who do you think implemented the system to begin with? Aliens from the future?

What is your opinion of this?

How about Israel?  Do you believe that Israel is the cause of the trouble in the Middle East?  Do you think that they should just turn the other cheek when they are attacked?

What does that have to do with being a Liberal? are you insinuiating that those who do (think Israel is the cause for everything) is a Liberal? The last thing I would do is call any Arab living in the Middle East a Liberal.

[quote=anabuhabkuss]

Babbling, NASD NEWB,

Do you not realize that by attacking the schooling system and calling today's generation of kids "idiots" that you are essentially calling your generation an idiot as well?

Who do you think implemented the system to begin with? Aliens from the future?

What is your opinion of this?

[/quote]

In 1969 LBJ signed a whole slew of legislation mandating massive changes in the nation--including in the schools.

For the first time in our nations history we had "diversity" in the classroom.

During the 1970s there was a valiant attempt to teach these diverse groups what had been taught all along in places like Thomas Jefferson High School--even though the "new" students were unable to benefit from the classes because they were not "getting it."

Finally, around 1980 educators settled on the idea of not teaching things that were beyond the grasp of everybody in the classroom--entire subjects were simply dropped from the schedule.  Things that members of the class of 1965 had as mandatory subjects were electives, or not there at all, for the class of 1965.

Entire subjects were "reworked."  It was decided that there were too many white people in the US history books, so lots of them were just purged.  In the early editions of the purged books Benjamin Franklin was just gone--he had not been a president so there was no reason for him to be in history books.  In his place was (i.e.) Harriet Tubman.

But some entire subjects were just gone--which left holes in the schedule.  Those were filled with odd ball things like classes in "Respect."  Students were taught to feel good about themselves and to respect everybody else on earth.  Young kids were encouraged to report their parents for using nasty words or talking negatively about other people.

By the time the 1990s arrived kids who were starting in school as the changes came about were graduating from college and entering the ranks of teaching.

If Mrs. Jones was never taught about Benjamin Franklin how is she going to know about him?  If Mr. Patterson, the math teacher, took dumb downed math courses how is he going to be able to be a challenging teacher?

The schools are now firmly in control of people who believe that their role is to engineer a utopian society where everybody is equal.  They measure everything by the gap between the top and bottom levels.

For example--and the numbers are just examples--in 1965 94% of all white kids could read at grade level while only 54% of minority kids were reading at grade level.  The gap was an unacceptable 40%.

These days 70% of white kids can read at grade level and 50% of minority kids can read at grade level.  The gap has narrowed to only 20 points and that is considered an accomplishment to today's education community.

They are working towards no difference at all.  There are some of us who believe that the only way that will ever happen is when nobody can read--so the rates are 0% and 0%, which according to modern education theory is perfection.

The entire fiasco cannot be blamed on a single generation--it is the unintended consequence of people of good will.