Quote:
Originally Posted by EricH
On the original topic, apathy and distractedness are rampant these days. There is so much more fun stuff to do than homework... But guess what's more important?
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"These days"? What's changed?
While I'm always against apathetic students who don't care, I'd rather we stop pretending that student apathy is a new, society-destroying problem. Apathetic students who didn't like school have been a part of every generation, and it's annoying and condescending to hear people older than me tell me how bad everyone who was born the same year as me is at everything.
I'd love to ask any of the engineers on the Apollo project if they LOVED slide rules, or if they seriously thought every eighth grade math assignment engaged them. I think the premise of this thread is a bit off. We're not doomed to societal decline because we don't care anymore, but rather school absolutely sucks at being engaging to the brightest children of today. Classes are too easy (and thus boring and a waste of time), too repetitive, and too intellectually empty for the best and brightest of today. That's one of the reasons the FIRST program is so important; it gives something to high schoolers that they can actually care enough about, and it shows them there's light at the end of the secondary school education tunnel.
We can't just pretend that telling students that they need to find mindless drivel "fun" will solve the world's problems.