[artplumber]

Originally Posted by Tobra

It is not the schools that are failing, it is the parents and the students. One of the biggest mistakes we make in our educational system is that everyone wants and will benefit from a college education.

As my father always told me when I didn't want to do my schoolwork.

"That is fine, the world needs ditch diggers too"

Same here, except that we are needing fewer ditch diggers as we are more mechanized.

Nobody mentions that American society does nothing to honor academic achievement at all levels - unlike sports/entertainment. While validation and motivation are important from the parents, the media response (IMO based on advertising dollars) to knowledge is limited to Jeopardy! and the national spelling bee (you have to pay for the Discovery Channel and then it's nothing about competition just achievements/history).

In England, years ago, there were nationally televised competitions between highschools and universities about real knowledge. Probably also kept some of the public more educated too....