[vladazhael]

[Eruanna]

[Edlyn]

[eiranae]

I'm also stepping into this late. I read the whole thread and echo pretty much every sentiment. Education has gone completely down the drain. Children aren't encouraged to think. They are told to regurgitate. I tried to get my daughter to read the Lord of the Rings triology rather than watching the movies for the 100th time, she barely got through 7 pages before she gave up.

I loved to read as a child, but television has replaced what a good book and imagination once gave us. I even see the effects in the way my children play. My siblings and I used to invent so many games to play and stories to tell, but my children constantly come to me saying, "Mama we're bored. We can't think of anything to do."

We have become far too complacent due to instant entertainment gratification, that so many can not even entertain themselves. Those of the past could write, draw, paint, play musical instruments, dance any many other entertaining pursuits that are now watched on television rather than participated in.

What has happened to our education and imagination?

[trekqueen]

Another late arrival here...

I have to agree with the sentiments of everyone involved. I particularly am scared of my generation and those following my footsteps. I am from California so I have lots of experience from the "dumbed down" education state. I nearly went off on a fellow student in my freshman English class when I heard her ask the professor, "What is a thesis statement?" Dear God, girl, how the heck did you get into college? Or how about in the same class where we had a guy spell "rough" as "ruff"? Luckily my university realized how poorly educated many were and forced everyone to take extensive writing courses. You could hear the crying and complaining from students for miles about how much we had to write.

It is sad to see that so many kids have little interest in books. I also hate the people calling Harry Potter evil because I think it is great that there is a book that has kids interested in reading! My parents were wonderful enough to get me into books early and I plan on doing that as well when I eventually have children. My husband is a big reader as well and when we eventually get a bigger place, we're going to dedicate a whole room to being a library.

Like others here have mentioned professors saying, Stephen King also said that being a great writer is to be an avid reader. Can't find the time to read? Then make time.

Oh and Rhapsody, I write in notebooks too. I used to write completely on the computer but I started getting lots of ideas when I wasn't near one so I took to carrying around a notebook. I seem to prefer that now over the computer!

[ghettoelleth]

You know Trek, I don't get how that works with the kids at all. My daughter got a D in Language Arts yet she reads constantly and at 13, she is reading stuff like Animal Farm and To Kill a Mockingbird. Now my son just graduated and got an A+ in honors English, they read the Iliad and Candide this last year, and yet, you can't get that kid to read the instructions on the Nyquil bottle without holding a knife to his throat. He absolutely hates to read. I just don't get it...

[NancyBrooke]

For some kids, there's clearly a disparity between teaching and learning, for a plethora of individual reasons. Your kids are clearly both capable and learning; the marks matter only in that they influence how kids progress within the system.

[Haleth]

Another late contribution to the conversation.

One thing that has changed immensely since Sam Clemens time is the speed of society.

In the nineteenth century, it would take weeks for news to get to remote areas. It would take longer for news to cross the oceans.

Today we can see events in the remotest corners of the world as they happen. Thanks to instant messaging, we can instantaneously communicate with people on the other side of the globe. Thanks to sattelite connections, even people in the remotest parts of the globe are connected to the news.

With so much information arriving so quickly (and the invention of rapid transit), life is way faster paced that it was in Sam Clemens day.

People in the nineteenth century had time to consider their words before they were bombarded with news of the latest disaster/sports game/block buster movie. Most people now are too distracted to take that time. They're too frightened that if they pause to think, they'll fall behind.

That's my 2 cents.

[Ottis413]

Yet another late contribution to the conversation.

I'm afraid this isn't a new problem. (but one that is getting worse)
My last two years of High School, (class of 83) I don't remember handing in one paper or even what was in the text books in my English class, if I even had a book. The teacher in my junior year was a burn-out from the 60s who mostly talked about Pink Floyd and the quality of modern electric guitars, and in my senior year I had a raciest SOB who I couldn't stand then and like even less now that he has his own website and is running for office.
But I digress, if it wasn't for my spell checker my posts would be one sorry sight.... (as some of you know..)
Parents need to keep an eye on their kids teachers, most of my teachers were great but it only takes one or two bad ones to really screw things up. There isn't really anyone looking over their shoulders but the parents.

[eiranae]

I know what you mean about bad teachers. I had several in high school and even more in college. I remember our senior english teacher in high school trying to scare us to death by telling us that college english would be extremely difficult. I decided not to test out of it because of her, but when I actually took the classes, I found out they were easier than the ones I had taken in high school.

There's just not much challenge left in school. Too many teachers are burnouts who just want to get the kids past the standardized tests.