We can all look around and see that the education system these days is lacking to say the least. The generation of tomorrow will no longer have inventors and famous mathematicians and thinkers. Children aren't being taught anymore. Doctors won't be able to sign prescriptions because children aren't taught to write in cursive. Grocery shopping will take hours because the memorization of multiplication tables was recently taken out of schools. How can we expect the future generations to establish civilizations on distant planets when they don't even know the geography of their own? But not to worry! We are integrating technology into education and technology must mean good.
When I was in the second grade, let me remind you that I'm only now in the twelfth so this is a change over only ten years, a local author came in and I wrote my own book. Sure, it was extremely short and about a rainbow puppy, but I was capable of writing in full, comprehensive sentences by that age. We sang the National Anthem every morning, followed by a prayer and the Pledge of Allegiance. In third grade, I learned to write in cursive. The morning ritual was shortened to only the Pledge. In fourth grade, we went caving at the Sinks of Gandy and camping at the 4-H camp and collected water samples. By the end of fourth grade, I was required to memorize and recite the multiplication tables. By the end of fifth grade, I knew all of the fifty states, their capitals and their geographic location. That year, we also learned the presidents in order to date. In sixth grade, we learned a song for the fifty-five counties of West Virginia and their county seats. My seventh grade year, the system experienced a change.
My siblings are now in ninth grade, only three years younger than me. In second grade, no one came to write stories with them. In third grade, they learned about butterflies, which is great, but now they can't sign their name for their driver's licenses. In fourth grade, they watched lots of movies and ate vegges at holiday parties. They are unable to do simple algebra because they were never taught they multiplication tables. In fifth grade, they went to Monticello and Washington D.C. That's fun, but neither of them can even name the fifty states, let alone their capitals and locations. I makes me sad when they ask who Thomas Jefferson was or cannot make the connection between Nixon and the word "watergate". In sixth grade, they got new computers and iPads for "learning", yet my siblings haven't even heard of half of the counties nor their county seats.
Now, I'm not one for government conspiracies and such, but let's take a look at the facts. Why weren't slaves allowed to learn to read? Why did Hitler burn the books as soon as he came to power? Because education is power and if the oppressed people were educated, they could regain control! But not to worry, we are the "Information Age" who can't sign their names or name the states of the country they live in.
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