education crisis, saw it on oprah |
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 Apr 12 2006, 05:47 PM
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#1
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 Krista.  Group: Official Member Posts: 4,380 Joined: Apr 2006 Member No: 391,319  |
i saw this thing on oprah about how badly some schools in the US are doing. they say the US isn't even in the top 20 when it comes to education or something.
 for example: they asked a bunch of people what the first 5 presidents in the US were. a chinese girl got them all right. george washington, john adams, thomas jefferson, james madison, james monroe....and then they asked some americans. some guessed abraham lincoln and most of them had no clue. i couldn't believe it! they live in america and don't even know the 1st president. bill gates and his wife are working to fix this educational crisis. what are your opinions on it?(i think this should be in debate) |
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Apr 12 2006, 05:49 PM
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#2
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 Senior Member Group: Posts: 8,274 Joined: Mar 2004 Member No: 8,001 |
No one cares about the previous presidents unless they're historians.
it's like ... " do you know who made chocolate? it's very popular and everyone is eating it". no one cares about that too. --- No one cares about U.S isn’t one of the top smart counties. Not every countries like each other. Therefore, we have our own society with our form of belief that we think its best. You can say China is one of the top smart countries but you know what sucks? Their harsh privileges are a lot different than U.S. U.S is like... mainly paradise. I personally think U.S has a balance of education and freedom unlike China. |
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Apr 12 2006, 05:50 PM
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#3
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Krista. Group: Official Member Posts: 4,380 Joined: Apr 2006 Member No: 391,319 |
but shouldn't everyone know that?! it's history.
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| *Blow_Don't_SUCK* |
Apr 12 2006, 05:50 PM
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#4
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Guest |
ha, and when I first migrated here, Americans called me stupid! But man, US does have one of the best schools and most public schools are taken care of... I guess it's the kids who don't care.
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| *swtcherriipie* |
Apr 12 2006, 05:51 PM
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#5
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QUOTE(marzipan @ Apr 12 2006, 6:47 PM)  i saw this thing on oprah about how badly some schools in the US are doing. they say the US isn't even in the top 20 when it comes to education or something. this is what really surprised me: they asked a bunch of people what the first 5 presidents in the US were. a chinese girl got them all right. george washington, john adams, thomas jefferson, james madison, james monroe....and then they asked some americans. some guessed abraham lincoln and most of them had no clue. i couldn't believe it! they live in america and don't even know the 1st president. bill gates and his wife are working to fix this educational crisis. what are your opinions on it?(i think this should be in debate) How are bill gates and his wife going to help? The whole america not being one of the smartest of w.e thats nothing new its also not one of the most advanced or anything good or important i ♥ america but we suck! LOL i wish america was like china with the exeption that we had the freedom we have here.. i wouldnt want to have to PAY if i had like more than 2 kids or something... 
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Apr 12 2006, 05:52 PM
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#6
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 dakishimetainoni... Group: Staff Alumni Posts: 4,322 Joined: Dec 2004 Member No: 75,318 |
QUOTE(Blow_Don't_SUCK @ Apr 12 2006, 6:50 PM) ha, and when I first migrated here, Americans called me stupid! But man, US does have one of the best schools and most public schools are taken care of... I guess it's the kids who don't care. No, no, no. Most public schools are NOT taken care of. I have had many teachers who could have cared less if we learned anything. It's not always the kids. Many public schools are run down and uncared for. Some schools cannot even afford books. Is there a reason as to why you labelled the girl who got them right? It depends on who is being asked. If the person is still in school and taking government classes, I should hope that they know. If they ask someone who is 30 then I doubt they'll know, they don't really keep that kind of stuff in their brain anymore because they don't need to use that information. |
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| *swtcherriipie* |
Apr 12 2006, 05:52 PM
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#7
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QUOTE(Spiritual Winged Aura @ Apr 12 2006, 6:49 PM) No one cares about the previous presidents unless they're historians. it's like ... " do you know about who made chocolate?". no one cares about it too. ^^^ Hmm good point.. I guess thats true too. |
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Apr 12 2006, 05:53 PM
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#8
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Krista. Group: Official Member Posts: 4,380 Joined: Apr 2006 Member No: 391,319 |
they're trying to spread the word and show kids at some of these schools.
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| *Blow_Don't_SUCK* |
Apr 12 2006, 05:54 PM
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#9
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QUOTE Is there a reason as to why you labelled the girl who got them right? I think that was just one of the many instances. But you know, education can be taken for granted by a lot of kids. the US is just slacking. |
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Apr 12 2006, 05:54 PM
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#10
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Krista. Group: Official Member Posts: 4,380 Joined: Apr 2006 Member No: 391,319 |
QUOTE(Chii @ Apr 12 2006, 5:52 PM) Is there a reason as to why you labelled the girl who got them right? no. i was just saying |
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Apr 12 2006, 05:54 PM
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#11
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 Pocketful of Sunshine Group: Staff Alumni Posts: 8,690 Joined: Nov 2005 Member No: 289,004 |
QUOTE(Blow_Don't_SUCK @ Apr 12 2006, 3:50 PM) ha, and when I first migrated here, Americans called me stupid! But man, US does have one of the best schools and most public schools are taken care of... I guess it's the kids who don't care.  Heh, I don't really care about history much.. It um, bores me. I have noticed that I've gotten a little less smarter than I have before, though.  It's probably all of the stress people have. *shrug* I can't concentrate or learn anything and comprehend it when I'm stressed out.
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Apr 12 2006, 05:55 PM
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#12
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Krista. Group: Official Member Posts: 4,380 Joined: Apr 2006 Member No: 391,319 |
yeah, they said some kids were failing and just gave up cause they thought they couldn't catch up.
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Apr 12 2006, 05:55 PM
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#13
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Senior Member Group: Official Member Posts: 3,459 Joined: Dec 2005 Member No: 328,021 |
I think it's just a matter of what they're interested in. If they like American history, of course we should be ashamed of the fact that they don't know the first five presidents, but quite honestly, if you had asked me, I wouldn't know.
 I don't like history much, never have. Therefore, because I don't read up a lot about history on my own, I wouldn't want to remember it, if you get what I mean.
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Apr 12 2006, 05:55 PM
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#14
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Senior Member Group: Posts: 8,274 Joined: Mar 2004 Member No: 8,001 |
QUOTE(marzipan @ Apr 12 2006, 3:50 PM) but shouldn't everyone know that?! it's history. Are you talking about ... everyone in the whole world should know aboyt it?  Well, people who had took U.S history classes should know it. Not necessarily recalled it or to remember these facts forever. |
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Apr 12 2006, 05:57 PM
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#15
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Krista. Group: Official Member Posts: 4,380 Joined: Apr 2006 Member No: 391,319 |
no, not everyone in the world! but sry, i just thought it was common knowledge in the US that george washington was the 1st president. and that was just an example. the president thing. i was posting this to ask what ppl's opinions were about education in the US
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| *Blow_Don't_SUCK* |
Apr 12 2006, 05:59 PM
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#16
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QUOTE(marzipan @ Apr 12 2006, 6:55 PM) yeah, they said some kids were failing and just gave up cause they thought they couldn't catch up. I think it really depends on the parents who raise the kids. With a lot of Americans getting divorced everyday and other crisis (not saying divorce is a crisis..things like child abuse or child neglect) going on, it does put a lot of pressure on kids. Eveyrone's parents signficantly affect their lifestyle depending on how they raised the kid. Oh by the way... Just yesterday I heard this kid say, "I wish I got shot 9 times so I can be as cool as 50 cent." that made me laugh and I had to add that.
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Apr 12 2006, 06:03 PM
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#17
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Krista. Group: Official Member Posts: 4,380 Joined: Apr 2006 Member No: 391,319 |
^ hahahaha.
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Apr 12 2006, 06:07 PM
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#18
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 I like it when it rains. Group: Member Posts: 836 Joined: Jul 2004 Member No: 29,294 |
Oh yeah, I heard about this. It was also on an episode of 20/20. They gave this test to some American teens and some teens in a European country (I forgot which one), and the Americans did so bad the teens from Europe were mocking them. It's pretty pathetic. Some of them didn't even know what the Civil War was about. I pity them
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| *Zatanna* |
Apr 12 2006, 06:42 PM
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#19
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Moved to Debate
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Apr 12 2006, 09:28 PM
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#20
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 L!ckitySplit Group: Member Posts: 4,325 Joined: Apr 2005 Member No: 129,329 |
meh, jesus we're not that dumb.
we know more than our parents generation did when they grew up... most of our work they have know clue how to do, so why do they make us feel so dumb? |
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Apr 12 2006, 09:38 PM
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#21
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Senior Member Group: Posts: 8,274 Joined: Mar 2004 Member No: 8,001 |
QUOTE(marzipan @ Apr 12 2006, 3:57 PM) no, not everyone in the world! but sry, i just thought it was common knowledge in the US that george washington was the 1st president. and that was just an example. the president thing. i was posting this to ask what ppl's opinions were about education in the US Yes. it's a common knowledge but ... how does that apply to life? In what ways does it benefit us. No, i'm not yelling at you :]i think that episode is making U.S look like a dumbass. :] |
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Apr 13 2006, 10:39 AM
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#22
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 cool by default. Group: Member Posts: 147 Joined: Apr 2006 Member No: 392,925 |
i think it's because since we're in America, they teach us the history of America differently than they do in China or any other country. maybe in other countries, they focus more on the names of the presidents&their order, and possibly their main accomplishments. in my school, they mainly focus on different historical events and the presidents that were in office at that time, and the actions of the president. personally, i dont think anyone cares about the order in which the presidents were in office.
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Apr 13 2006, 10:58 AM
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#23
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 I love Havasupai Group: Member Posts: 1,040 Joined: Jul 2005 Member No: 163,878 |
It's ironic that rote memorization is lauded as the benchmark of educational achievement. What happened to problem solving skills, communication and computation?
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| *CrackedRearView* |
Apr 13 2006, 11:04 AM
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#24
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Leave it to Bill and Melinda Gates to politicize an already recognized topic. They recycle issues such as poverty in India, problems in Sudan, and issues with inner-city Chicago educational systems and all of a sudden they're Time Magazine's 'People of the Year'.
Don't get me wrong, I respect the fact that their charitable organization filters $29 billion directly into social problems, but why does it have to take Oprah and Bill Gates for anything to be done about it? |
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Apr 13 2006, 11:14 AM
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#25
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 Senior Member Group: Member Posts: 2,881 Joined: Apr 2005 Member No: 132,134 |
does the order of president really matter?
but then again its kinda sad to see that a girl from another country can answer that question, but kids that are from america can't. I think i also heard somewhere that like people who take the US citizen test thing, they know more about america's history then people who originate from here. Thinking about this, maybe education does need some changes. 'Cause im noticing me, myself slacking off in school. From the previous years to now, my grades have gone down like heck. =T |
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