WARNING: If you are under age 30 and are highly sensitive to criticism, expect others to treat you with kid gloves, expect others to tell you how special you are and can’t handle the truth, please stop reading immediately. You have been warned!
I cringe every time I see a man-on-the-street segment on the news where they ask people (often college students or graduates) simple history or political questions or show them pictures of influential, historic or famous people to identify.
I wince because I know many of them will have absolutely no clue what the correct answer is. And yes, usually the younger they are the dumber they are. Show many of these clueless millennials a picture of Kim Kardashian, Justin Bieber or Johnny Depp and 98% will recognize them and gush over just how fabulous they are.
However, show them a photo of Abraham Lincoln, Walter Cronkite or Adolf Hitler and blank (I could give a crap) stares and oblivious looks will fill the screen. Good grief, what exactly do they teach these pups on their journey through the school system?
Enough! If you graduated college and do not know who the first president of the U.S. was or you do not know who the countries we fought in World War II were and do not understand the historic ramifications of the Civil War, turn in your diplomas and return to your freshman year of high school because you are an IDIOT.
You have either learned nothing or retained nothing while supposedly receiving your higher education. And you’ve squandered tons of your parents’ hard earned cash in the process. Let’s take a simple test to see if you are a dolt or a blockhead in training. Answer these questions. If you answer ‘no’ to all of them, congrats you are a blockheaded dolt in training!
When you see or hear a word you do not know the meaning of do you look it up to add to your expanding vocabulary? Can you name the last four presidents of the United States? Can you name at least two leaders of other countries? Can you name three people who signed the Declaration of Independence? Can you name the person who gave the “I Have a Dream” speech? Can you name at least three senators in the U.S. Senate? Can you name the person buried in Grant’s tomb? If you got one correct, you are an imbecile (because we all know which question you answered correctly). If you missed them all, there isn’t a word to describe how stupid you are. Too harsh?
And shame on you slothful teachers who pass students to the next grade who are not prepared. You are doing them no favors. In fact you’ve probably doomed them to fail in the real world, sending them forward grossly unprepared for the realities awaiting them. It’s equivalent to pushing someone out of a plane without a parachute… SPLAT!
I do believe most teachers are industrious, caring individuals dedicated to educating the young mush-filled minds of tomorrow’s leaders. However, in today’s politically correct obsession with every aspect of life, often school administrators obstruct the ability of enthusiastic teachers to do their job efficiently and without pointless roadblocks. So, the result is a society where a much too large percentage of Not Ready For Prime Time teens are unleashed into the wild without the skills necessary to compete in a competitive, complicated world. Good luck!
Hey, how about this: At the end of each school year, beginning with seventh grade, we give the hooligans a general knowledge test to see if they actually learned and retained anything during the year. If they fail, they repeat the year again in shame and disgrace. If they don’t graduate until they are 19 or 20, then so be it. It’s much better than graduating without the basics needed to ensure the prospects of a decent job. Oops, I forgot that might hurt their tender feelings and bruise their self-esteem and that is far worse than being a dummy.
Parents, the ball is in your court. It’s your most important job in child rearing. If you leave it totally up to the “system,” you are gambling with your kids’ potential, and that’s a bad gamble!
