Does this article sound true?

This Teacher Said That Students "Can't Do Basic Things Anymore," And Surprisingly, LOTS Of Teachers Agree

My favorite quote is at the end of comment #8: "When parents tell their kids they can be anything they want, while also saying they cannot handle a five-minute passing period or use a locker, it is a wild, contradictory stance. They are raising a generation of 35-year-old basement dwellers."

1 hour ago, Mike A said:

Does this article sound true?

Honestly, not really.

There is literally not a single possible cause that I can think of for all these problems that I can post here without the post getting deleted, getting a temporary ban from the forum or getting kicked off Avsim.

I have a sister-in-law who teaches special education.  I'll ask her about it some time.

Hook

This isn't nonsense.  My daughter has been teaching 5th grade for over 20 years and she relates stories that closely match those in the article.  The problem started with GWB's "No Child Left Behind!"  There are no penalties for failing to do work at any level.  Those who don't even show up are promoted.  Those who don't do the work are promoted.   Those who create problems and disrupt the classroom are promoted.  If the average school attendee understood that if they didn't do the work, come to school or created problems would flunk, I think that might get their attention.  If the parents of these miscreants understood that their 12 year old wouldn't advance out of the 4th grade for the second time, maybe things would change.  My wife taught 6th grade in the 1960s.  She remembers one of her students worrying about the draft because he was 16th.

Nothing gets a student's attention more than the knowledge that he was failing and would not advance.  

I haven’t been inside a school for decades so I don’t know, but should we be capitalizing on this trend and invest in Crocs (CROX)? 🤔

58 minutes ago, jmdriskell said:

GWB's "No Child Left Behind!"

I knew this would be a problem, but it sounds like the kids are gaming the system.  I didn't know if it was still in effect.

My son, in the early 90's, totally refused to learn to read an analog clock... until he discovered he was the only one in his class who couldn't.  About 10 minutes one-on-one with the teacher and he had no more problems.

Part of the problem was kindergarten.  They taught the class that there was a difference between "fact" and "opinion."  After that, if he didn't like something, then "That is just your opinion."

Hook

31 minutes ago, LHookins said:

They taught the class that there was a difference between "fact" and "opinion."

In kindergarten? 😆  When I was in Kindergarten, one of the nuns (K through college I went to Catholic schools, even though I'm not Catholic) came to the class and told us about *******, and showed us a communion host.  She said it was unblessed, so it could be handled.  She said we could handle it, but we had to wash our hands first, because if we didn't ******* would appear.  So we marched to the bathroom and I thought about it.  Being aware of magicians at that age from children's TV programs, I imagined if I touched the host without washing my hands, this ******* guy would appear in a puff of smoke.  So I casually walked back to the end of the line so that I would be the last one to the sinks and no one would see I didn't wash.  I went to the back of the class while the nun passed the host around, and my excitement grew thinking about the commotion when I would touch the host.  Unfortunately for me, the bell rang for lunch and I didn't get my chance. 

Edited November 25, 2025Nov 25 by Mike A
blanked out above is J-E-S-U-S, for Crike's sake!

I'm sure many would agree with this, but I'm glad I was a kid when I was.  No home computers, definitely no internet and kids spent most of their time outdoors. 

It was a big deal to sit around as a family and watch the original Star Trek on Thursday nights and then Friday nights.  Achieving basic skills as a young kid really meant something and you were proud of it.

I have confidence in today's youth, but maybe it would be best if they had a few weekends a year of zero technology.  No cell phones, no internet, no computers and just experience the world around them.

Just thinking like a old faart.

5 hours ago, LHookins said:

They taught the class that there was a difference between "fact" and "opinion."  After that, if he didn't like something, then "That is just your opinion."

Yeah, kids can be annoying like that, like they’re little legal sharks pounding you relentlessly with some technicality.  I experienced that when my nephews and nieces would do that.  I would dissipate my annoyance by thinking of this scene:

 

Do you remember when the HP35 and TI45 calculators first came on the market?  I was working for Air Research at the time and they got a bunch of HP35 calculators to sell to their engineers and technicians at cost.  Al most all of us bought one.

When I showed it to my family  after I got it the first things my kids asked was if they could use it to do their math homework.  I told them "No Way!  I'll help you check your homework after you've done it but I'm not giving you a crutch."

Little did I realize then how the iPhone crutch would start dumbing them down.  I see it with my great gandkids.  They can't divide 356/26 with a pad and pencil.  They can't even start.  Watching a TV presentation about the Revolutionary War instead of reading about it greatly hinders retention.  When I ask them about the French connection to the Revolution they look at me questioning; like the never heard of that.  When I tell them the Colonists would have lost that war without the French assistance they don't believe me or say they don't need to know that.

Technology is a wonderful thing when used as a tool instead of a crutch.

Noel 

18 hours ago, LHookins said:

They taught the class that there was a difference between "fact" and "opinion." 

"The irony of the information age is that it has given new respectability to uninformed opinion."

Noel

If even half of that article is true then it is a travesty.  The parents are to blame for failing to teach many of those skills to their own children.  Schools shouldn't have to each a kid how to tie his/her shoes.

Public school education in the USA has been on the decline for decades despite the fact that we spend more per student than almost any other country.  The "dumbing down" of education began in the 1990s and was designed to allow more kids to graduate and thus make it appear that the public schools and teachers were performing better than they actually were.  International test scores prove out the fact that the USA ranks quite low in math, science, and reading compared to other countries.  This trend has continued and now includes even more egregious practices like DEI, critical race theory, participation trophies, and general propaganda and brainwashing.  So, with all this, where does one find the time to teach reading, writing, and arithmetic?

To be fair, a lot depends on not only on which State you live in, but which particular city and school district you live in.  There are certainly good schools in many districts of the country, but also too many bad ones unfortunately.

Dave

On 11/24/2025 at 3:47 PM, Mike A said:

I haven’t been inside a school for decades so I don’t know, but should we be capitalizing on this trend and invest in Crocs (CROX)? 🤔

Jibbitz for your Crocs.

https://www.crocs.com/c/jibbitz

1 hour ago, Fielder said:

Jibbitz for your Crocs.

https://www.crocs.com/c/jibbitz

Yes, but if they're wearing Crocs because they can't tie shoelaces, do they have the skill to attach the Jibbitz? 😱