Friday, May 08, 2009

LOOKIN' FOR A JOB



Courtesy of Think Progress.

8 comments:

Woody (Tokin Librul/Rogue Scholar/ Helluvafella!) said...

My brother, 14 yrs junior, has two sons, one just graduated hs, the other still in.

The rigors those kids had to suffer just to get out of High school make me glad I was born 60+ years ago. In my/our day, it was almost enough just to be white to get through...

I know my being a gringo made a difference in my getting out of high-school honorably enough to enlist in '64 (DOS: 8/30/68), and thereafter pursue a life of a bourgeois intellectual.

Unknown said...

Oh the irony: This generation of kids has been dumbed down more than any in U.S. history, and now they have to compete on a scale never before seen in generations? Not a good combination. I too am glad I'm the age I am.

Grandpa Eddie said...

Woody - I feel sorry for any kid, or parent/parents with kids, going through the school system today. Things were so much different when we were there, there was a lot less stress to know what we needed to know to graduate. College is even harder now then we were young.

There are so many of these kids coming out of college now that have nothing waiting for them.

Grandpa Eddie said...

Helen - There are several high schools around my area that are passing kids just to get them through and to be sure to get the state funding. Most of them have to take the first full year of college to take refresher courses to make sure they actually have the credits/knowledge to get through college.

I, too, am glad I don't have to go through all that today's kids have to go through....I just wish I had a job, been unemployed since Feb 3rd.

themom said...

The "no child left behind" was a huge joke. I bolster and reinforce the education my 8 year old grandson is receiving. Believe it or not (ha) I even correct the teachers. Thank heavens my children benefitted from additional education and information in the home, but people should not have to do this. I find this very frustrating and maddening.

Grandpa Eddie said...

themom - That should have been named No Child Gets Anything, Unless Their Wealthy Parents Can Afford It.

Some of the teachers today seem to be re-writing history. I've seen things on my grandson's history papers where he answered correctly and has had it marked wrong.

A World Quite Mad said...

If they're marking your grandson's history papers incorrectly, it's because the teacher doesn't know the answers and is going out of the book. I knew a woman who taught algebra on the high school level. I was taking Algebra 101 in college, basic algebra, and she couldn't help me with it. She didn't know enough to help, because all she could do is teach out of the book.

And they wonder why students don't learn anything? It's because these teachers don't know enough about the subject to actually teach it. They should require that high school teachers have a terminal degree in their field, at least for math and science, but very often it's just a bachelor's that's required, and not even in that field, it can be a related one.

When I was in high school, one of the coaches taught US History. You can imagine how qualified he was *rolls eyes*

That's why these kids wind up losing their scholarships after the first semester of college, and have to drop out. I've known quite a few to have done that. They think it's an extension of high school and it's not.

To add to this, college is too far out of the reach of many in this country, but I suppose that's good for the Corporatocracy. More slaves for them to pay minimum wage.

I'm just happy to have a job in this economy, although I am considering getting a Master's Degree. Don't know though, I'm buried up to my ears in loans from undergrad.

Grandpa Eddie said...

AWQM - It's a whole lot different now than it was when I was in school. Teachers use to know what they were teaching and didn't have to reference a book.