Due December 10, 2012

“Hunter Huss IB Readings”

December 5, 2012 Due December 10, 2012

As we study the great depression, if we don’t learn anything we should compare events to today’s economy and understand the changes that have undergone the American economy in the last 50 years. The world today’s teenagers are going to live in is not the same world that their grandparents and parents lived in.

Every day I see students who don’t care about education. At one time in our history, that attitude was not an economic death sentence. But for the future, those who have education and skills will have a chance at a decent paying job. Those that do not have those things will not have a chance at much more than a minimum wage job. So, why don’t more American students care? While I realize that the people who will post to this blog are the students who have a work ethic for the most part, many of you procrastinate (while more than half of your classmates just take the zero for this – go figure). Procrastination will hurt you badly in college.

Who is to blame for the state of today’s US students? Do we blame schools? Do we blame society? Do we, heaven forbid, actually blame the students? In your opinion, what DOES the future hold for those both with and without education?

Read ALL articles and cite them. You will receive a zero if all articles are not read and cited. I personally do not care if you like reading or not – boo hoo if you don’t. If you work at the drive-thru at McDonalds 10 years from now you probably won’t have to read. If you do almost anything that makes decent money – you WILL be reading.

http://www.boston.com/news/education/higher/articles/2009/12/21/

my_lazy_american_students/

http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/hey_wait_a_minute/2005/08/

theyre_not_stupidtheyre_lazy.html

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/23/us-students-still-lag-beh_n_1695516.html

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Permalink # jameswilliamjohnson said

I agree that the students are lazy, but who do we blame. Well I blame the education system as well as lack of discipline, role models, and technology.
The education system is way too easy right now. Most people breeze right through middle school. This needs to stop if we ever want to become one of the best education systems again. If a student breezes right through middle school without having to study, you are teaching them bad habits. Instead of going home to read, they will go home and play video games. If they fall in middle school they have certain crutches to keep them up, like grade recovery. If we didn’t give students these chances than they would have to take everyday learning more seriously. This is kind of like the kid asking for how he can improve his grades from the first article. When I was in middle school I never did anything at home. I hardly even paid attention. I goofed off for the most part. Which brings me to another point, discipline.
Most kids this generation has never even got a beating. The parents now a days have found different ways of punishing teens. Some parents don’t even punish their teens. I’ve never been punished for making a bad grade. Teachers get so much crap these days. The kids don’t care about good grades. They some care about getting home to play videogames, watch television, text friends, and some smoke weed. Just like their role models have taught them.
The role models of today aren’t what they use to be. Now we have rappers like Lil Wayne and Nicki Minaj running around saying “get f**ked up, I’ve got stacks and stacks, if I had a gun I’d shoot you”. They know they will sell more albums if they do. Teens can recite a whole Lil Wayne verse from memory, but not remember what the 13th amendment did. It’s the sad fact that they will do or say anything for money. In the words of Lil Wayne, it sells.
Technology has played a huge role to the decline in success among students. Cell phones, social networking, video games, they are all distractions from education. Imagine you’re in a car. The car is your education. You pull out your phone. BOOM! You hit a tree. Congrats you just failed a test because you were texting in class instead of paying attention to quantum theory.
The last article was one of my favorites because of the video at the bottom. I love satire.

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- Permalink # projectmayhem1nas said
  
  lol..are the crash survivors alright?
  
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  - Permalink # jameswilliamjohnson said
    
    Survivors? Who said anything about survivors?
Permalink # marqueshaknox said

mr.noblitt i tried to read the articles but the pages were not found. it said that the pages were moves so what do i do .

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Permalink # sydneymcd said

Who really is to blame for this apathy among students? While many people say it is something that is just among our generation, it can’t all be based on that. Kids can only learn what they are taught, not necessarily only in the classroom. If someone’s parents did not graduate high school, which is definitely not unheard of, what gives them the desire to graduate? Of course now, times have changed. The chance of you getting a job without a high school diploma are slim to none. So, if this same student realizes they can get a job with a diploma, why would they not believe that just by doing minimal work they will be okay. If I had not grown up in a home where trying your best was important, I would feel the same way. How is it okay to take at least 32 classes during you high school career but you don’t have to pass all of them to graduate. It kind of pisses me off that I try my hardest to get good grades in every class, but I am still going to receive the same exact thing as someone who is barely passing. Of course, my GPA is better, but still, we both get diplomas out of it. We both get what we went to school for 13 years for. There are many ways to point fingers when asked who is to blame for this ridiculously apathetic attitude. You can say it is the parents because they don’t provide an environment for the children to learn at home. You can say it is the teachers for not providing the information we need & giving everyone equal opportunities to catch up. Or, you can say it is the students because we are lazy. While all sides may have valid points, it is not solely any one of their faults alone. Parents may be doing everything they can to make sure their children have food to eat and a roof over their heads. It is not a teachers job to make sure kids do their work, especially high-schoolers, it is their own stupidity for screwing up their life. But can you blame the students for not caring? As the second article says, test scores went up 20 points when they began to count for exit standards. Students don’t care because there are no consequences for not doing their work when assigned. As Will mentioned, we have stupid little programs like grade recovery for students who choose not to work when they are asked to. Those kids are able to pass but, then you have someone like me who freaking works their butt off to get all their work done and only gets a pat on the back for having a decent work ethic. The first and third article talk about the US being behind in our education compared to other countries. I think that is what our future holds. Nothing is going to change until laziness is avoided. We will continue to fall behind. The first article goes on and on about the work ethic of the students from India, China, Latin America, etc. The third also brings an interesting point of the country ignoring education while an economic crisis is occurring. Of course it is important to keep our economy from spiraling out of control, but is it worth the risk of not keeping an eye on our Nation’s future. This generation will be the ones in charge of the economy in a short period of time, why would we want them to be less educated than they could be?

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- Permalink # projectmayhem1nas said
  
  -pats your back- Good job, Sydney.
  
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Permalink # marqueshaknox said

what i think about the last article is that people think that the test scores are going down because people are starting to lag behind in their work and their test score rates are going down because the foreign students are outpacing the american students because the foreign students are more educated than the american students.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/23/us-students-still-lag-beh_n_1695516.html

the next article is talking about kids being lazy. it says that kids are not stupid they are just too lazy. students today don’t even try to do their work but they be smart and i just dont get it people in school know that they are smart and then they wont do any work in school.

theyre_not_stupidtheyre_lazy.html

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- Permalink # marqueshaknox said
  
  mr.noblitt the pages still say error
  
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Permalink # jonicehardiman said

http://www.boston.com/news/education/higher/articles/2009/12/21/my_lazy_american_students/

With this first article the woman was showing how we’ve become acustomed to students making excuses (personal experience) and giving half hearted attempts at making any attempt at truly embracing the educational oppurtunities given to them. On a small scale, like in a classroom setting, it appears to often be of little significance. When truly in the long run it could lessen chances of many things, such as getting a well paying job and being able to support oneself. These students often being branded as either lazy or apathetic. The American way of life is greatly to blame. Most expect to have things handed to them “Born with a silver spoon.” Those who are born “low on the ladder” can often lack work ethic and morale. If you continuously worked hard to know you could never succeed or making it any farther in life, would you continue to make any sort of attempt?

http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/hey_wait_a_minute/2005/08/theyre_not_stupidtheyre_lazy.html

This second article basically says that the American students (mainly highschoolers) are being coddled. Again, I will refer to the American way of living. We are a capitalist country. We are taught to do things that are for our benefit and that we will be rewarded for. Now of course in the long run of things actually attempting and putting forth an effort would produce better results, but is that emphasized enough to students? Often in the halls you can hear some say their parents do not care what their grades are, or that grades don’t express how intelligent they are. Which may be true. Isn’t that coddling kind of in a neglectful kind of way? Or maybe we’ve just become minimalists. Doing as little as possible we can get away with passing and that is satisfactory.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/23/us-students-still-lag-beh_n_1695516.html

This last article compares America’s test scores to other countries. As technology has advanced in America, so has students priorities.Why actually try hard to do well on something when you can give a half hearted attempt and have a life while still passing? In our busy teenage lives how would do we resist all the temptaions technology has provided us with? If these things were to be taken and our minds were stimulated by other things besides the latest gossip or whatever improvements might be made. But the problem is how would that ever be enforced? Especially with families where a work ethic is little to none.

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Permalink # thatgirldeven said

As I read through these articles, I pondered upon the simple questions of ,”Why don’t most students care?”, “Who do we blame?”, and “What does the future hold?”.

The student’s of America’s apathetic attitude towards schooling, and knowledge is really quite exasperating. Students who go to public schools should really take advantage of the privilege of free schooling. Some kids around the world will never even learn to read, let alone have the opportunity to learn about half the material American students are exposed to each day. But why do some students tend not to care? Personally, I blame disinterest in the classroom on lack of support and encouragement at home, and most importantly, on the students themselves. As a student, I believe that our parents are role models to us in all aspects whether we acknowledge it or not. My parents and their parents before them were all extremely hard workers, and I am blessed to be born into the family I was. I was born into a family of hard workers, therefore, I try to do my best in everything I attempt. If a parent shows no signs of work ethic or ambition in their lives, who is the child supposed to turn to for help and proper guidance? Though, ultimately, it is not the parents’ who are in school, preparing for the real world, it’s the student. It is the student’s responsibility to go to school, pay attention, work hard, and succeed, even if that means having to actually try. “Success is all about time management, and in a globalizing economy, Americans’ inability to stay focused and work hard could prove to be a serious problem.”

American students’ low test scores are a growing problem in today’s troubling economy. Competition is rising now all over the world. These students from Asia, and Europe will be the ones we will be competing with for college, and jobs. According to United States researchers, our education gain is “hardly remarkable by world standards,” , and I completely agree. The “illustration of how Americans’ work ethic, says Kara Miller, “often pales in comparison with their peers from overseas.” Laziness should not even be a problem, yet the problem continues to grow. As to what will happen in the future, it is said that most of America’s good jobs will be taken by students overseas, and what happenes if us Americans aren’t getting the jobs we need? With the economy looking the way it is, that scenario is simply not acceptable.

Where do we even being to fix this rising problem? There is no real solution. We could push teachers to be more encouraging, or maybe even found associations dealing with teaching kids about the value of hard work and how it will pay off in the long run. I say we all just suck it up, do our work, pull our weight, and succeed. This will benefit us all as Americans eventually. It would be tough, but it would definitely be worth it.

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Permalink # Jonathan Griffin said

Let me give an overview of what the authors of each article believe the answers to the questions are and what they believe in general, then I’ll explain what I believe the answers to the questions are and what I believe.
Okay, for starters, Kara Miller’s article was thoroughly enjoyable (I guess I just like the way she writes). Miller believes that the students are to blame for the state of knowledge that they have obtained throughout their years. She seems to be focused on “the work-ethic gap”, as she likes to call it, like some other teacher I know (maybe the one who created this blog?). She seems to be having the same problem that Mr. Noblitt has in his classes, students saying “I’ll do better.” and I know I’ve gotten behind this semester, but I’m going to turn things around. Would it be OK if I finished all my uncompleted work by Monday?”. Seems kind of familiar, doesn’t it Noblitt. Miller thinks that without an outstanding work-ethic there isn’t going to be a future for Americans (well, at least not when it comes to brains anyway).
You know (actually you don’t because I haven’t told you yet, but anyway), I like this article too. Alexander Starr’s writing style is somewhat familiar to Miller’s. Well, anyhow, Starr believes almost the same thing that Miller believes with one exception. Starr believes that it’s not only work-ethic that’s holding Americans back, but it’s the fact that there are no stakes for which the child has to offer, or at least that’s when it comes to the NAEP. This makes perfect sense to me. Kids taking the NAEP is like playing poker with no chips. It’s pointless! I understand where he’s coming from and he’s right. In a test that determines your knowledge, which is pretty much all tests, but anyway, students need a push to get them to do well.
Alright, last article. This one doesn’t state an author, or at least I don’t see the name. This one was a little harder to read than the other two, but I was interested with the statistics, so I was able to pay attention to it. The author (who I will now formally name Bob) doesn’t really state his/her opinion about whether it is the students’ or the teachers’ fault, but I speculate that it’s the students’ fault (but you know what they say about speculate, it makes a spec out of you and some poor guy named Late). One thing that really interested me about this article is that is states that the US is as “middling” country. That really frustrated me. I mean, who wants to be in the middle? No one, well… except Malcolm. We are 25th out of 49 countries. That’s not good at all. If that doesn’t motivate you to get an education, or at least care about getting one, then I don’t know what will.
Now, we’re on to what I believe. I think that the student’s are to blame for our basis on grades and knowledge. It only seems fair to me; It’s the stupid student’s fault that he’s stupid. I understand the fact that people, around 47%, aren’t doing the best and those are the people who are not going to instill a work-ethic into their children, but I believe there is a portion of work-ethic that you instill into yourself. Not 100% of that work-ethic is instilled by yourself, more like ~10%. I know that doesn’t seem like a lot, but it’s something, so I believe that no matter what your circumstance is, you can get through it and instill a greater work-ethic into yourself because of it.
So, basically, what I’m saying is GET OFF YOUR BUTT, DO THE WORK THAT IS IMPORTANT TO YOU, AND DON’T BLAME ANYONE BESIDES YOURSELF! And as in the amazing words of SpongeBob “There! I think I made my Poiiinnnt!”

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- Permalink # projectmayhem1nas said
  
  Malcolm didn’t want to be in the middle. He was consistently miserable..geez, Caleb. (As in, I’m going to ignore everything right that you said to comment on the insignificant detail.)
  I like the quote, “do the work that is important to you.” I think there comes a time where a student is able to understand what’s right for him or herself.
  
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Permalink # shaketalynch said

In my honest opinion, I really cannot blame the student for this. My reason is because when we are in middle school the teacher doesn’t challenge us as much as they should, nor do they give us a reason to work hard, like not giving the assignments that would. What i’m trying to say is that they make things to easy for us.
Like in the first article, when he stated that even thought his students said that they would improve, they did nothing to actually make their claim true. Some of up become to comfortable with just going home and sleeping or playing video games. (not me)
However the second article had a valid point as well. This generations High School students are kind of pathetic. Just because it’s a habit to do these things dose not mean that you cannot break them. That an a way however most people would argue that we only do what we learn from those who taught us, the same ones that taught us these habits are the ones who we depend in the most during or earlier years. The teachers. Now I’m not saying all teachers are that way, but some could have done a bit better. Be that as it may however, I believe that this generation could do a lot better, I mean it is us that shapes the future right? I personally don’t want one that’s half made.

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- Permalink # jonicehardiman said
  
  Why should the teachers in middle school challenge us more? Whether you do your work or not they still get paid. That is how their generation was raised. So you”ll blame the teacher and not the student or the government that has groomed us this way? *I’m *too
  
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Permalink # MARY KISER said

Education is something so many American teens take an advantage of. You hear on a daily basis, “I hate school.”, “I want to be home right now.”, ect. People sit there in class and say things such as, “I’ll be happy with with working at McDonalds for the rest of my life.” Like you say Mr. Noblitt, for our generation it’s going to be a fight with for jobs when we’re older. If someone wants to have a bad attitude of not looking towards the future, than no one can change that but the person who is saying it.

Who is to blame for the state of today’s US students? That’s a very broad question. It many ways, there can be many blames. Students take it upon them selves to slack off in school and never do homework, classwork, they never study. And it’s their own faults. Teenagers especially these days will get their report cards with straight D’s and F’s and laugh about it, I’d like to know what is so hilarious about failing a class. In the third article it states, “A 2009 study found that U.S. students ranked 25th among 34 countries in math and science.” As American students, we have a privilege that is very limited: free education. We may even have some of the best educators, so their is no reason for that low of rankings. Now, parents can be a cause of problems as well. Some parents don’t care what their children makes in school, which is very sad. My parents have always encouraged me to do the best I can in school and I’m very grateful for that. If a child has a parent who doesn’t give them any engorgement in school, how can they think studying and trying so hard is going to please anyone? A final blame you can have is teachers. Some teachers should not be teaching whatsoever. If you’re not gonna teach kids and just give them crossword puzzles everyday, why are you even teaching. It blows my mind how little teachers can give about students, and just pass all of their students without them learning anything.

In the third article, it is saying how American students are basically doing worse and worse. How is it that we go from “hardly remarkable by world standards” to ranking so low compared to other countries.
Going back on how we have free education, students do not realize that. There are students in many other countries who are dying to get the education we have. Things like grade recovery just gets American students thinking they can slack off in school, the later on it will be okay because the grade recovery is required to them.

In my opinion, what does the future hold for those both with and without education? I mean, no one really knows, right? YOU only choose your future, no one else can for you.

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- Permalink # projectmayhem1nas said
  
  -applause-
  
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Permalink # Fariswright said

Most kids this generation has never even got a beating. The parents now a days have found different ways of punishing teens. Some parents don’t even punish their teens. I’ve never been punished for making a bad grade. Teachers get so much crap these days. The kids don’t care about good grades. They some care about getting home to play videogames, watch television, text friends, and some smoke weed. Just like their role models have taught them.

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Permalink # FARIS_WRIGHT said

http://continuinged.uncc.edu/search/publicCourseSearchDetails.do?method=load&courseId=11509
People that are lazy right now are those who are living in the moment and isnt thinking about their future. In this economy is all or nothing therefore the senior citizens that already went through are trying to give a boost and tell us right from wrong. Im a lazy citizen i rather pass with a good grade then try to do an outstanding job because it seems like to much work for me. but the technology we have in the twenty first century arent providing hands on material. All they want us to do is sit on our butts and look at a computer screen
bye my fellow classmates

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- Permalink # projectmayhem1nas said
  
  later, man.
  
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Permalink # philipeh842 said

Who can you blame for the way high school students are today? I think schools, society, and students themselves all have a part in it. In the article “My lazy American students”, a college professor talks about how lazy her students are. I think the main cause of that laziness is what American society has become. Most people don’t have as much of a drive for knowledge and success.Part of that may be because it seems so hard. My parents grew up knowing that all they had to do was graduate high school and they could get a decent job. Now, kids get to look forward to very competitive high school to get scholarships to go to very competitive college to eventually graduate (often in debt) to go out into a very competitive job market. That is scary and i think a lot of teenagers have already given up on doing all that work for a chance at a good career. All the articles mention how America is behind in scores compared to many other countries. What is so different about America from these good scoring countries? I think part of it is entertainment. TV shows and music glorify non-educated people. And the fact that those people can be successful might give some students the thought that they could be successful without being educated as well. The second article talks about students not showing up for tests and skipping short answer questions. When students value the present more than the future is it their fault or is it a product of American society? There are still students that work extremely hard and realize what they will have to do to be successful in the future, so you can still sort of blame students for not giving their all in school. Schools in America should be better as well. In the third article it said the government spent $10,000 on average per student. However, the lowest paid state scored higher than the highest paid. What do school really need? Better trained teachers, better technology, or maybe we need a new method of teaching that would better fit in our society. I don’t know, but our economy is going to fall and when all American adults are uneducated, it will be hard to keep it under control.

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- Permalink # projectmayhem1nas said
  
  You, sir, are invited to my post-apocalyptic compound. When the economic crisis, you spoke of, comes along, we’ll have so much time to do nothing and whatever is left over. I liked your point about glorifying the uneducated, but I also think that sometimes, it’s okay not to be educated. George Harrison was vastly intelligent, but he hated school and we ended up with the guitarist for the Beatles. Tell me what you would do without the sitar playing on Sgt. Peppers. Also, if there were no Harrison, Clapton wouldn’t have played on While My Guitar Gently Weeps, and who doesn’t like the solo in that song?
  
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Permalink # thatkideric said

I feel as if you cant blame the students these days for being how we are, because you’re a product of your environment and that stands for all of us rich or poor.
Of course schools should be taken into account for the students education, but the truth is in the education system these days we only touch the surface of the subjects that we are taught because we try to move at such a fast pace and we aren’t given the chance to go into depth at school. So as a student you have to take it upon yourself to do more on your own out of school to advance your education, and yes that means reading, doing more math problems at home than just the homework given to you. But just how many kids are up for that leaves a gap in the equation.

But as a country, and how we are going downhill these days, it seems like the future is grim for the educated and uneducated alike.

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- Permalink # projectmayhem1nas said
  
  I disagree about the fast pace. I’m still being taught things in high school that I learned in elementary school. I don’t want to hear anything about the future being grim either. Worst case scenario, you’ll sleep on a sidewalk with an empty stomach for a night. You can’t starve to death in America. You definitely can’t thirst to death and if you’re not dead, then what do you need that money can get for you?
  
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Permalink # Antwan Foster said

I blame partly on the educating system in America for not taking action to implement professional education in areas like Arkansas,Mississippi , West Virginia,and parts of rural Appalachia. Where education is the poorest in those areas, there is a leading statistic that 37 % of Americans cannot locate America on a map that is truly staggering.Also I blame society for making a bunch of distractions for students like ads on the computer, vulgar music that talks about bad stuff like drugs and stealing , new technology like Iphones.Now let’s switch gears,the 1st article goes on and on about the work principle of students from China, India, and Latin America. The 3rd also brings an appealing point of the country ignoring education while an economic meltdown is occurring. Of course it is vital to keep our economy from getting out of control, but is it worth the risk of not keeping a watch on our nation’s future. This generation will be the ones in command of the economy in a short period of time.

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Permalink # nsale said

we can only blame ourselves for the way we are. Education is given to us ona silver plater and people do not choose to take advantage of it. The first article says Too many 18-year-old Americans, meanwhile, text one another under their desks (certain they are sly enough to go unnoticed), check e-mail, decline to take notes, and appear tired and disengaged. Kids our age get distracted over little things like this. if you walk into any classroom you will see somebody looking at their phones. They choose to screw off instead of pay attention. We should be able to put out phones down for the school day and learn and think about our future instead of living in the moment. Kids are to lazy to sit down and study. We are already sitting on our butts but we cant pick up a book in that time and study. I myself am like this but, I plan on changing my ways to better shape my fiture that only myself can control.

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Permalink # aaronfollowmeontwitterrohlman said

I believe that we can all be blamed for the state of education in the United states. The students are lazy, or just feel like they have better things to do. Some teachers don’t teach well or don’t care about what their students do and don’t learn. The parents may not stay on their children about getting an education, allowing the child to grow apathetic about their education, and therefore becoming stagnate in learning. I’m going to be real and say that I do not enjoy doing homework, because with sports and school it barely gives me time for being social. But I’m doing it anyways because I CARE about my education, and I understand that without it I will be a NOBODY in life, and thats not what I want.

Students are the primary reason for the US education failing miserleby. They have become too dependant on getting second chances, like reteach retest, or fifth period. And even if they do acomplish the tasks assigned during these second chances they still do not complete the work to their full potential. I see kids everyday that are bright, but lazy. My mom teaches kids with mental disabilities and they try harder than most of the people I know, and thats a shame. Students from other countries are surpassing the students in the US because we have been so leinant towards our failing education system according to the first article. This will eventually lead to people not being able to get high quality jobs, more people will be homeless, and crime rates will go up and America will take a turn for the worse. The third article does a great thing with the statistics of our education system. We were once near the top, but now we have greatly diminished. In comparison to other industrialized countries we rank very low in education standards and this will be a large problem in the future. Even our best schools don’t match up to some countries worst schools, which again, is a problem.

I agree completely with the second article. We are lazy students. If half of the people don’t even show up to an exam that gives a distinct look at us as a country. I like the part where he talks about the students not answering the short answer question. Sometimes they’re easier than the multiple choice questions because the multiple choice questions have very similar answers that try to throw you off.

Students in the United States are lazy, and I believe that this is the main reason for our diminishing educational system. The jobs that Americans used to have are no longer availible. They were sent to mexico, china, and India. Now we’ll have to study hard to get into college to get a job, or we can work at McDonalds for the rest of our lives. It’s our choice, and I hope we make the right one.

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- Permalink # projectmayhem1nas said
  
  I’d rather be a happy nobody, than a dissociative drone. The United States are not near the bottom; they’re in the middle. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/23/us-students-still-lag-beh_n_1695516.html
  What is the right choice? Should everyone be a tool and play into our culture’s definition of success?
  
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Permalink # projectmayhem1nas said

Should I be as pretentious as peers and say that I’m not to blame? Nope. I find myself just like the student described by the professor in the first article. I don’t care throughout the six weeks, but as deadlines close in and time runs out, I get desperate. It’s easy to say you should have done something, but it’s difficult to do those things. As evidenced by the test results as reported in the second article, students look at the short-term. Test results are improving, while grades are regressing, because you don’t have to think in the short term during a semester. You know that you’ll be going the next day, the following day, and the day after that. When you take a test, you know that “this is it. I get this over with, do well on it, and that’ll be that.” The third article spoke of spending money on students, but I think any kid with a dead-beat dad can tell you that money doesn’t mean anything if you don’t feel cared for. My family took in a friend of my brother’s when his mom decided she didn’t love him enough to let him stick around. Previously, his grades had been substantially below average and teachers had given up on him. When he came to my house, my parents let him know that there were expectations. He was shocked when he made an A and my dad simply said, “Is this your best?” He learned that my dad didn’t care what his grade was if it was his best and he began to thrive. My dad still believes that if anyone at Huss had taken a personal interest in him, that he would’ve done better. It also says that the United States sets goals in mathematics and science, so screw you if you don’t like math. Screw you if you don’t like science. Screw you if you’re a linguistic, a historian, an artist, or a ballerina dancer; screw you if you don’t care about things that the United States think will make them look good. If we want students to succeed..or rather, if we want them to want to succeed, let’s get rid of this hierarchy in schools. Enough with the “This kid just can’t go three sentences without using a double negatives” and let’s move on. Enough with the “You can’t be a musician; you’re not good enough. Here try this math problem that you still haven’t understood,” and let’s learn to let people be what they are. Maybe that’s radical. Maybe that’ll just make more unproductive members of society, but it will also allow those who want to be on a job, to be on that job. Whatever it is that the States wants people to be, will not continue to work if people who are in that field don’t care enough to make it advance. If capitalism needs to expand, then put people who want it to expand at the forefront.

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- Permalink # jonicehardiman said
  
  I really do agree with some of your opinions. This post was fun to read. But if America went around screwing people, wouldn’t we have a population problem?
  
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  - Permalink # projectmayhem1nas said
    
    The children are aborted. The Romans killed Christians, the Spartans killed the weak; it’s just what we have to do to further the delay of the downfall of our reign.
Permalink # projectmayhem1nas said

I think this blog has served as social networking for me, at this point, and it is hindering me from doing school work.

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Permalink # ambersb16 said

I think this may be a good blog post for me and my fellow classmates. I am known by many teachers as THE procrastinator. It’s like I have begun to grow out of the strive I once had for school. I don’t even understand why.. I just have no motivation and at times feel like i don’t care..

In the first article “http://www.boston.com/news/education/higher/articles/2009/12/21/my_lazy_american_students/ ” it is very disappointing to hear the statistics of adults who could not point out an area on the map. But then again, hey! that’s how life is now. From this article, and the question of who to blame gets me to the point where we have anyone else to blame for our ungrateful, immature, selfish, ignorant Americans. The discussion between the student and the professor was very fortunate. Not everyone is going to get that chance to be able to come to their senses and know the difference between reality and their dreams. For some(or most) it may be to late to have that conversation with your professor.

At the time the second article is saying it is expired…

In the third article I read the statistics of America in comparison to 49 other countries.. It if really embarrassing. Even though we arete what they call “middling” it’s a disappointment. There are just so many kids who procrastinate or don’t care about they’re school work.. From reading this article I wondered what our scores would be if school wasn’t a “you must go our your parents are going to jail” kind of thing.. Would our grades and test scores be higher?

As I to presented this blog post at 11:30 pm, the day before it us due. I have procrastinated. And I will eventually learn my lesson…

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- Permalink # projectmayhem1nas said
  
  Hahahaha. “I will ‘eventually’ learn my lesson…”
  
  I see what you did there.
  
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Permalink # sayrehopper said

I feel that many people are to blame for the attitudes of American students towards school work, and work in general. Parents are to blame because if they don’t care, then their child will, most of the time, feel the same way. This is the main reason that there is such a lack of work ethic in teenagers. Even though schools are trying to turn things around, they still hold some blame because they let students get away with so much. Having programs such as grade recovery just shows students that they can not try and fail, but make it up and graduate. Ultimately, though, we have oursevles to blame.

When kids grow up in a house where there is no work ethic, this forms a habit that just gets worse and worse as they get older. Lack of a good work ethic, I feel, is the core to this whole problem because more bad habits will just spin off of this bad habit. And as the first article states, “habits can be tough to change.” In that same article, it suggests that American’s work ethic doesn’t compare to countries overseas.

Also, when teenagers feel that they have nothing important to work for, they just don’t even try. So many students have this attitude and could just care less about school. One staement in the first article caught my eye because it is so simillar to the majority of students at our school. It said that many students “text under the desk, check e-mail, decline to take notes, and appear tired and disengaged.” This one sentence can sum up pretty much half of the students at our school. In the second article, it said, “American teenagers may not be stupid. It could be that when they have nothing to gain, or lose, they’re lazy.” This statement was reffering to the NAEP test, but it can be applied to school work in general. And in that same article, it said that when test results counted towards graduation, the scores improved. This showed that American students can do well if they want to.

And as for the question “what does the future hold for those with and those without an education”, I find the answer pretty simple. In today’s society, finding jobs is hard to do. Getting hired for jobs has gotten so competitive that everything little detail matters. In most cases, you won’t even get looked at if you don’t have an education, so those without one have little hope for finding a job in the future. But at the same time, those with an education will not have it much easier. Not only is unemployment a concern in the future, but as the third article said, the low performance and slow progress in math of students will also threaten the country’s economic growth. So there are many aspects of the future that hold concern if things don’t turn around soon.

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Permalink # lamexicana96 said

Here’s to the longest (but hopefully not the most boring) blog post EVER…..

As I sit at my computer doing this blog at the last minute (not on purpose, FYI), I realize that I was just having a similar discussion yesterday in VA with my aunt and great-grandmother (I’ll make a point in a minute). As the daughter of a very experienced Spanish teacher (ie, my mother) and the assistant superintendent of Watauga County schools (ie, my dad—who also taught Spanish at Gaston Day; was an assistant principal at South West, multiple CMS schools, a middle school in Catawba County; and an assistant superintendent in Winston-Salem/Forsyth County schools) I often find myself on the side of the educators. What I mean is: when my mom has a parent contact her to tell her that their child (this is a TRUE story, by the way) “DESERVES and A” in Spanish, I laugh. I laugh because I know that no one “DESERVES” anything in life. I also laugh because the student of the story does not do “A” work. But who does society blame time after time after time?? The teachers. Why do we blame teachers for students not doing what they’re supposed to do? Do we blame doctors for not doing their job when we get sick? No. Do we blame dentists when we don’t brush our teeth and get cavities? No. So why are teachers being blamed for students’ apathy? Is it because we all have wonderful little angels who couldn’t possibly do anything wrong? [I promise I will get to answering the question and referencing the websites]

Like the first article (http://www.boston.com/news/education/higher/articles/2009/12/21/my_lazy_american_students/) suggested, a lack of work-ethic is truly hurting American students. We, as a nation, cannot expect to compete with countries such as China and India, when it comes to education, if we are not instilling a good work-ethic into our students. Of course, part of the problem is the home environment and lack of motivation and/or support from parents or parental figures, but at the same time our culture plays a large role. With video games like “Halo” and “Call of Duty”, where you may be attached to the TV screen for hours at a time instead of doing homework, students are not managing their time wisely. (I’ll admit that on some weekends I just sit around and do nothing when really I should be doing the homework that is due on Monday, because all I want is to just sit down and relax and not have to worry about anything for a while. Of course, I always get my work done, but the point is that other people–my classmates–don’t get done what they need to get done and end up making zeroes on assignments.) We have to learn how to manage our time wisely so that we can have time to play video games or just sit around do nothing AFTER all of our schoolwork has been completed.

The second article (http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/hey_wait_a_minute/2005/08/theyre_not_stupidtheyre_lazy.html) talks about test scores…yay. I am, personally, not a fan of how we test knowledge in this country. Tests such as the SAT don’t even test how much you know about a subject, but how well you can take a test under pressure. Other exams such as the EOG and EOC do the same. We test kids on “how much they have learned through the school year” by making them sit in a class for two to four hours to answer a multiple-choice test. We shove all this (and I’ll use the word ‘crap’ here) CRAP down students’ throats and expect them to remember most, if not all, of what they are taught during the course of the school year/semester. We expect students to rank #1 in their school, county, state, country, hemisphere, and even globe, but we don’t give them the necessary guidance to do so. You don’t teach a dog to sit just by throwing treats at its head. You have to be gentle and caring and persistent. You can’t just say something one time and expect someone to remember it four months down the road. Our entire education system is on the verge of collapsing completely because no one cares anymore. The government is continuously cutting funding, teachers have not received a pay-raise in five years, and no one cares. We cannot expect students to perform in the top percentile if the schools are not equipped with the proper material.

The third article (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/23/us-students-still-lag-beh_n_1695516.html) talks about how American students are behind those of other countries. Again, it all goes back to apathy, a lack of work-ethic, and apathy towards education by all parties. The US is ranked about 13-25th of all countries when it comes to reading, writing, and math. We are not progressing as well as many other nations in the world. With many countries surpassing us in reading, writing, and math, it’s going to take a miracle for the US to come out on top in the future.

As I mentioned at the beginning of the blog, I was having a very similar conversation yesterday with my aunt and great-grandmother. We were talking about technology and how it has corrupted the nation’s youth. I’ll admit that I have a computer of my very own, a cell phone, and an iPod, and I am planning on buying myself an iPad (just as soon as the insurance company sends me compensation for my pain and suffering for a car accident that I was in in April). I also have Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest accounts, in addition to my personal blog. I rarely talk on the phone with my family and I don’t email them to keep in touch. I great-grandmother brought up a good point (and I feel terrible about doing it) that no one keeps in touch by email anymore. She doesn’t have a Facebook or Twitter or a cell phone or anything like that, but she does have email and she does use it regularly. I felt horrible because I know good and well that I don’t keep in touch with her and I know she wants to know what’s going on in my life. I am going to fix things, though. I think I may start a bi-weekly email that I can send to my family in VA just to let them know how things are going. Her point, though, is that technology has ruined us. We spend so much time on our phones and computers and not enough time on the things that matter the most, like family.

Now to answer the questions…..

Who do we blame? I think technology is partly to blame. Why? Because with it, we have become so anti-social and unaware of our surroundings. We rely on the Internet to tell us how to do things and we use technology to communicate instead of face-to-face conversations. But, technology is not to take all the blame for students’ apathy. I think our culture is a major influence in how we all act. We have become a nation where no one cares about anything. A nation with a government who does not care about the education of the youth—the same youth that will be in charge in less than 30 years. A nation with a government that cuts spending to schools and increases military spending and gives government officials high-paying jobs. Students are able to just breeze right through elementary and middle school, but when they get to high school and reality sets in, they just give up and don’t care about anything. We are supposed to raising a generation of doctors and lawyers and nurses and electricians and other necessary job holders, but instead we are raising a generation of Burger King, McDonald’s and Wal-Mart employees.

In addition the students are partly to blame. I say partly only because I know where most of our classmates come from—I know from the classmate aspects as well as the educator’s aspect. I say students are to blame because at the end of the day, it is the student’s responsibility to do what is needed. Help is always provided and those who do not take advantage of such opportunities have no right (in my mind) to complain about failing or having their parents call the teacher to day their child “deserves an A”. (PS. parents and parental figures play a role as well)

I think this is my longest post ever—1500 words!!!

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- Permalink # projectmayhem1nas said
  
  If America’s education is declining, then students haven’t always been this way. What made students this way? How can you blame students for not caring? They’re only doing what they’ve been taught to do. No one in history has ever done something entirely independent of another’s thought.
  
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Permalink # erinthebabe said

Some US students today really make me feel embarrassed of being a citizen and a student of America. Many people in the US are just plain out lazy and maybe that is why many countries despise many Americans. US students are lazy because they aren’t paying for their education and these days if you are too uneducated to get a job you can rely on the government to pay for your food and rent. It is really and truly sad to know that this is what America has turned into and that they are the future of America. I cannot stand people that do not have a work ethic it just bothers me and makes me wonder how they ever think that making straight F’s or D’s will get them anywhere in life. “most 18- to 24-year-olds could not find Afghanistan, Iraq, or Japan on a map, ranking them behind counterparts in Sweden, Great Britain, Canada, Italy, Japan, France, and Germany.” When I read this from the first article it really upset me that people do not even know where simple country locations are. I believe that it is the governments fault that US students are lazy because the government is literally supporting their lack of effort. If students barely make it through high school they can just sit at their home drawing checks from the government. The future for both uneducated and the educated looks pretty crappy in my opinion, because our generation is going to be responsible for paying the debt back. The life of an educated student looks much better than an uneducated student because they will have a shot at having a well paid job and money to buy some nice things every now and again. I look at all of the students that have poor work ethics and it really makes me feel proud of myself for having these work ethics.

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Permalink # seaysbaseballswagg said

okay the first 2 sites wouldn’t come up but in the last web site it is basically saying that in the past years the U.S. has lacked on reading and educational purposes. But instead they are staying on video games, twitter, Facebook, cell phones and all electronics! Instead of using valuable time to read; we are most likely sitting at a computer desk or in your bed playing your video game, or on your phone, or laptop whatever.When you are sitting there waiting for someone to message you, you then become bored(OFF TOPIC. BUT TRUE!) and when you become bored you start snacking on food.that is a reason why America has became an obese country. well that is all i could tell that the article was trying to say and the obese part i added on myself because it is 100% true! im going to bed i had a long night at work! goodnight

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Permalink # Jason Hoose said

This blog post is interesting because it’s not just true, but it’s kinda also pointing fingers a little, but anyways. As the first link says which is http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/23/us-students-still-lag-beh_n_1695516.html it talks about how America is falling behind in academics and it could be because of multiple reasons, but as my advisory class researched, it’s possible to be a cause of laziness and inadequate (Unable to deal with a situation) skills such as reading (Which is what Mr. Noblitt keeps stressing about) The 2nd article which is http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/hey_wait_a_minute/2005/08/theyre_not_stupidtheyre_lazy.html again it talks about laziness and I’ll be the first to admit that I am a huge procrastinator and I need to find a way to break that habit very quickly. Reading to some people sucks, trust me I get it, but as my Uncle says. Suck it up and get over it or call the WAH-bulance. Reading actually is good for you. I don’t mind reading nearly as much if it’s a book that I choose instead of it being chosen for me, but that’s life so I can’t do anything about it until I’m 18.
The third article which is http://www.boston.com/news/education/higher/articles/2009/12/21/my_lazy_american_students/ this article is about…. what a surprise…. Laziness (I got your point Noblitt….) Video games and other distractions (that I agree with, but being an average American and a consumer makes me want more.) are effecting us a lot and a decent work ethic is required if you want to make it through college and through life if you want to make it to the top. Nathaniel is brilliant because he reads, but I’ve had a couple of classes with him in past years and I’ve found out that he knows the material, but hates the work so decides not to do it. Can’t help him, but it’s his decision to do whatever he wants to in life, and no one can tell him otherwise.

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Permalink # ryan2huskie said

My opinion about it is if kids and teenagers don’t care about doing the work and studying hard let them be, because they’re going to suffer in the long run because they show apathy towards any type of work ethic. I agree with Steven they feel like they got to get on Facebook, twitter, and other social networks. Kids of the past didn’t have all those things so they just did their work. Honestly, the only people you can blame is the student and the parents, the parents only because they didn’t instill a work ethic in their kids and the students because some don’t even try to learn. For kids or anyone who doesn’t want to read the future will be hard for them.

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Permalink # marqueshaknox said

i think that maybe if the childs parents cared about them doing their work and actually turning it in and studying the material needed they are going to regret not studying and turning in their work and listening to the teacher and once you fail the only person that you can blame is yourself and it is going to be hard for you to learn and listen and study because you did not study when you needed to.

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- Permalink # marqueshaknox said
  
  the sites would not come up so i did the one that came up if that’s okay with you
  
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Permalink # haleighfletcher said

I think that it is the environment we are raised in today that makes our students not more willing to learn. In places like China or Korea, they do not have a choice but to go to school. Students in the United States take advantage of our education. In the second article it says that Korea holds rallies to pump kids up before big texts. The third article says that American students low grades and slow progress in math could threaten the countries economic growth. I remember my grandpa telling me that his parents would not let him go to high school because he had to work on the farm. Now, we take advantage of the fact we can go get a free education every day.

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