Thread: "Government is dumbing down schools" says former Director of Education

According to a woman who used to work for the United States government, the government officials who operate the United States education system, as well as other education systems, are deliberately dumbing down today's youth. I know that they do this to a certain extent in order to create docile workers, which is what school is basically for, creating a work force. However, I'm not sure it's to the extent that the woman is talking about. What do you guys think?

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DDyDtYy2I0M"]YouTube - ‪Charlotte Iserbyt - Deliberate Dumbing Down of the World‬‏[/ame]

The best Americans are the ones easy to manipulate. Corporate funding does a lot to enginer people and the society so they buy more stuff they don't need. Also, thinkers are too smart to be duped into stuff the Corporate Broadcast Media bombards them with.

Smart people (a lot of them) are always a threat to the mainpulation of Corporate enterprises.

In retrospect. The States governments and their DOE administrators have been doing this for the las generation. Now we are seeing the result of a society of dumb and fat happy Americans. Who live beyond thier means and spend way too much money on stuff they don't need. Not to mention a bunch of spoiled privilaged entitle-thinkers who live off their parents to pay for college.

What ever happened to days where most kids finished highschool and worked or joined the service to earn their own college money. And learned independance and accountability.

Originally Posted by Squall

According to a woman who used to work for the United States government, the government officials who operate the United States education system, as well as other education systems, are deliberately dumbing down today's youth. I know that they do this to a certain extent in order to create docile workers, which is what school is basically for, creating a work force. However, I'm not sure it's to the extent that the woman is talking about. What do you guys think?

YouTube - ‪Charlotte Iserbyt - Deliberate Dumbing Down of the World‬‏

This woman is from the Regan era of education who apparently was voted out of the board of education for her desire to make schools christian based. And appointed in the US Government by the Regan clan as part of his brown nose to the religious right. Her main objective in government was to abide by corporation advisors and turn kids into obedient slaves to consumersim. She is apparently is a disgruntled school worker with a religious agenda and promoting her book to the simple minded religious worshipers of the USA. And she is disgruntled with the US government for not allowing her to apply religion in schools, but to obey the corporations who realy control the buisness end of the Federal government. But she is right about one thing, the schools do manipulate kids to dumb them up for consumers for the corporations that realy run the country.

Similar as targeting youth for ciggarette campaines.

Originally Posted by Squall

According to a woman who used to work for the United States government, the government officials who operate the United States education system, as well as other education systems, are deliberately dumbing down today's youth. I know that they do this to a certain extent in order to create docile workers, which is what school is basically for, creating a work force. However, I'm not sure it's to the extent that the woman is talking about. What do you guys think?

YouTube - ‪Charlotte Iserbyt - Deliberate Dumbing Down of the World‬‏

It's not deliberate. To say it's deliberate overestimates the people involved. The dumbing down (by my observation and in my opinion) is the result of lawsuits, misplaced accountability concerns, lazy teachers and pitbull/helicopter parents.

When I was in high school (1980s), I can recall waiting in a principal's office to get permission to do something special (dual enroll in the local university), and in the process I heard the principal recommend (to at least two boys in half hour I was there) troublemaking students to just drop out, as all they were doing was wasting everybody's time. Nowadays, they can't do that, as schools get punished for low dropout rates.

Originally Posted by Clint Torres

In retrospect. The States governments and their DOE administrators have been doing this for the las generation. Now we are seeing the result of a society of dumb and fat happy Americans. Who live beyond thier means and spend way too much money on stuff they don't need. Not to mention a bunch of spoiled privilaged entitle-thinkers who live off their parents to pay for college.

What ever happened to days where most kids finished highschool and worked or joined the service to earn their own college money. And learned independance and accountability.

There have never been such days.

It used to be dropout rates were higher than today. In the 1970s, it was close to 15%. Now it's lower.

http://www.childtrendsdatabank.org/s...pout_Rates.pdf


At one time college was pretty much reserved to the people who's parents could pay for it. Now, it's those who can get a loan.

Ha, more teacher union backed propaganda for the simple minded to feed on. If every school has 15% they would be doing better than Cuba and Korea. Which in the USA the real drop out rate is x3 more than what the union funded sutdies show. No matter how they try to spin it, the USA is failing and those kinds of false reports only make the public more stupid.

I guess illeteracy rates in the USA are at an all time low of 3% right?

Your country is very good with only a 15% dropout rate. In the USA it is about 38%+ depending on the State. Nevada has a Dropout factory producing 43% dropout each year. Was never like that back in the old days of education. Back then they had classes of over 35+ students and teachers taught 3-4 classes per day. Illiteracy rates are over #25%, so the USA must be graduating non reading people.

Originally Posted by Clint Torres

Ha, more teacher union backed propaganda for the simple minded to feed on. If every school has 15% they would be doing better than Cuba and Korea. Which in the USA the real drop out rate is x3 more than what the union funded sutdies show. No matter how they try to spin it, the USA is failing and those kinds of false reports only make the public more stupid.

I guess illeteracy rates in the USA are at an all time low of 3% right?

Your country is very good with only a 15% dropout rate. In the USA it is about 38%+ depending on the State. Nevada has a Dropout factory producing 43% dropout each year. Was never like that back in the old days of education. Back then they had classes of over 35+ students and teachers taught 3-4 classes per day. Illiteracy rates are over #25%, so the USA must be graduating non reading people.

My country is the U.S.

While there are isolated cases of 30-40% dropout rates, it's not universal.

It depends on how illiteracy is defined. There are several definitions of it. Basic level illiteracy is almost nonexistent (3% or so). Functional illiteracy may be 25%.

People forget that at one time most really poor people (read minorities) barely went to school at all, much less learned to read. There were no "good old days" where everybody could read and was well educated.

I still don't buy into the propaganda Unionized data that comercials uese. It can fool some people but it does not fool me.

Originally Posted by Clint Torres

I still don't buy into the propaganda Unionized data that comercials uese. It can fool some people but it does not fool me.

Then you haven't met many old black people in the South. I can remember being a young man (i.e. 30 yrs ago) and talking to a lot of old southern black men that couldn't read a bit (not just reading at the 4th grade level, but not at all) It was much more common than you seem to assume.

Now, I agree that a high school education of 2011 (or even 1983) is not equivalent to a high school education of the 1920s. My late grandfather only had a high school education, but he had the literacy of most college graduates.

My hypothesis is that the minimum amount of education/knowledge in this country has increased. The amount of education/knowledge that a high school graduate has, has decreased. So I agree the schools are dumbing down, I just don't agree that basic illiteracy has increased.