[sageb1]

"in instilling self-esteem"

As a right, rather than something that is earned.

[Spirochete]

When the pussification of America is complete, I'll be like Stallone in "Demolition Man". The one-eyed man is king in the land of the blind.

[Hetty_Fauxvert]

Indeed, the descendants of the flinty New Englanders who chased the British redcoats from Lexington Green and Concord Bridge back to Boston are prohibited from playing all unsupervised "chasing games."

What kind of panty-waist kids are we raising these days? Heck, our ancestors are getting more exercise than the kids these days, from all the spinning they're doing in their graves!

Home-schooling is looking better all the time.

[Xenophon450]

This has been going on for some time. Sad state of affairs, but it is all part of a bigger plan. Make the population fat, lazy, and well in effect stupid but have a sense of high importance so that they may be strung around like a brutish oaf, to do the malevolent, much more charismatic and intelligent, individual's bidding.

[sizzlemeister]

I love articles like this because they're so true - at least in a sense. We can point fingers at the unions and liberals for watering down education in this country, and we'd be mostly correct, but at the end of the day WE ALL are to blame.

Our past, the blood, sweat and tears of our forefathers, who only tried to "make a better life" for their children, us, has become our decadence. Technology, market and societal advancement (although I don't necessarily mean that as a positive), and work ethic, have led us to become tired, easy to manipulate, dismissive, and as such FAT and STUPID. Yes, FAT and STUPID.

Where are all the kids playing football in vacant lots? Where are all the kids playing street hockey? I don't see it in my bucolic little corner of the country. I'd gladly wait for the kids to get the net out of the way of my car as long as they were playing outside. No, their ears are glued to their stupid cellphones, walking up and down my neighborhood streets late at night coping feels of one-another, spewing filth and practicing the art of seduction at 13.

Why? Because for 40 years the democrats wanted to create a society of sheep who fall for their brainless manipulations and "require" government direction at every step in their lives? Well, yes, but, WHERE WERE YOU? How did you vote? Did you care? Did you say something, write a letter, perhaps, *gasp* PROTEST? Now we have to clean this mess up. But we can't yet, now we have China, Iran, N. Korea, and Russia, eyeing us up, calculating our weaknesses - Russia and China are fairly quiet, most likely the ones controlling the experiments against us, and there's NO QUESTION their pawns, Iraq and N. Korea, are the "media" being used to conduct these experiments on US. Right? Do we take of "terrorism" (and I'm not suggesting terrorism is not real or an immediate threat, but I AM suggesting that its present scope is not the product of its own momentum) and then take care of home?

NO! Ignoring the issues of our weaknesses as a society NOW will lead to a failure to prevail in ALL AREAS of our future survival as a nation. We must put more stock in the clarion calls an articles like this are. We must use this skill we've all developed to multi-task for pleasure and commerce to repair and fortify our society!

[SpaceBar]

All things operate on cycles, social and political trends are not immune. The pendulum will only swing so far.

[RaceBannon]

must read bump

[goldstategop]

Liberals want us to rely on them. They are indoctrinating our children to wait for help rather than learn how to survive on their own in the world.

"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." -Manuel II Paleologus

[SheLion]

The author left out about how the do gooder anti's (living off of the smoker's tax dollars) are going into private businesses all across the United States and forcing smoking bans! Private businesses are forced to close or worse!

[SkyPilot]

"No playing tag, and no competition in any sport for that matter. In fact, no competition - PERIOD! We are all winners here. I have ZERO TOLERANCE."

[CDHart]

Almost everyone I work with who has kids spends most weekday evenings and some weekends running hither and yon to soccer games, basketball games, etc. to watch their kids play. Maybe they're getting exercise somewhere else?

Carolyn

[Anvilhead]

When I was but a wee lad my mother refused to let me play with any sort of gun toy. I responded by using anything and everything even remotely gun shaped as an imaginary firearm.

She finally relented and started getting me G.I. Joes after I started using pickles as pistols.

I'd imagine its the same way with a good chunk of the pint sized proto-men.

[GOPJ]

"Even the least confident students in Singapore outscored the most confident Americans."

So much for teaching self-esteem...

[Wings-n-Wind]

PING = Later

[verity]

"We're doing it to ourselves."

As the great swamp philosopher, Pogo, once said: "We have found the enemy and they are us."

[Uncle Meat]

I guess the days of kids playing Smear the Queer are over,replaced by the more acceptable"Kiss the Queer".

[Caipirabob]

The state of the public education system is dismal. We are in one of the A School districts and we are struggling to get our children the best education. Private school in Boca is an option, but one we are planning for when they are older. Still, we are spending 16-20 hours a week minimal for homework and additional tutoring, even today, Sunday, to get our kids on the ball for the level they need to be at. The teachers are barely capable, and are probably more adequate as day care specialists. They aren't teaching our children much of anything, and the burden falls to us to make certain the children learning what they need to.

We accept that. Our children are doing very well scholastically, I'm just pointing out that it is only because we put so much effort into what takes place outside of school. It sure as heck isn't because of the school.

What irritates me is when I compare the quality of education I received compared to what my children get. My parents never had to worry or work so hard as far as my school work. They were wonderful and supportive, but I don't recall them needing to spend 16-20 hours a week on my back asking "Do you understand?". Now we are seeing stuff that many people would assume are easily taught being entirely ommitted, and children being left with complex homework and no method to discern how to do it. Good review for us, but extremely troubling that the children don't get at least the basics at school. We are banding together with several parents in the same class and comparing notes on the teacher (who is highly rated!), the homework and general comprehension of the children. We are coping, but it's really concerning.

Thank God for our tutor, who is as devoted and wonderful as we could hope for. My son's getting highest marks because of her and his mother. I help too, but can't compare my effort to theirs.

When the kids get older, we'll consider the alternatives for education. Right now we can handle it. Later the $1,600 a month minimum (2 kids) for private school may be the option we take unless we can get involved with a good home schooling group. We'll see. For now, we want to focus on getting all the basic down.

[ReleaseTheHounds]

Indeed, the descendants of the flinty New Englanders who chased the British redcoats from Lexington Green and Concord Bridge back to Boston are prohibited from playing all unsupervised "chasing games."

Just as bad, those flinty New Englanders are about to re-elect a lying, murdering, woman-abusing, pile of cr*p to the U.S. Senate. Maybe America is lost.

[Doctor Stochastic]

When was the last time you had occasion in daily life to use that basic first step in introductory algebra? The more math you learn, the more remote it is from real life.

Unless you are saving for retiremtne, buying a house, buying a car, laying out a landscape, putting up shelves, connecting water pipes, etc.

[Uncle Vlad]

As I read this, I'm getting ready to go out and help run a hockey practice for nine and 10-year-olds. In our game, if a kid gets knocked down or falls down, we tell them, "Get up!" I fear for the future until I see these kids and their parents on cold winter mornings.

Nothing like a sheet of ice to teach a kid to stand on his own two feet. :)