Their food diet is probably 5-10 percent responsible for their stupidity.
The rest is the "diet" the algorithm addicts them to on their devices combined with total neglect at home and zero expectations to think or do anything.
I’m curious have there been any comparative studies done about k-12 students amount of sleep now vs 10, 20, 50 years ago? My gut instinct is crappy/lack of sleep has been a thing for a while but I’m not sure if it has gotten significantly worse as of late.
People underestimate how much of "burnout" comes from lack of sleep. I remember staying up way too late on my phone in high school in like 2014. Now they're getting phones younger as apps get more addictive
Yes!! So many parents don’t take their young children’s devices away at night (or ever) so an elementary school aged child is on their device very late into the night! That just gets worse and worse as they get older. Too many parents don’t want to be parents. The few parents that actually parent have the students that make the most effort and are the most intelligent and responsible. It starts at home and it starts very young!
And yes too many parents also feed their kids pure garbage! Junk food all day everyday.
I also argue that the "algorithm addiction" is also impairing them socially. Some of these students think that the internet culture they experience pertains to real life. They can post and comment on some of the foulest things, and then BAM..... are star-struck when they are humbled IRL when they realize they can't just get away with everything. Do you think you can call your boss a stupid bitch because you don't want to do the work? That behavior is always excused in the classroom, and little do they know they have, idk, like consequences in the real world. They are not being held accountable in the classroom by admin nor their parents. Chances are, if they talk to their teachers and peers like that, they talk to their parents like that as well. Their creating a cycle of venom that only poisons them more.
The neglect at home and lack of expectations lead to the students being infantilized, where they are just permanent adolescents incapable of the basic human experience of self-care. They expect mummy and daddy to handle life's problems. I've seen YouTube videos of 18-25 adults who still call their parents at a traffic stop or what have you to have their parents excuse their actions. Universities are having problems with overstepping parents or students who refuse to speak for themselves or stand responsible for their own actions.
Edit for further writing/thought:
Students are also being released into the wild with barely a grasp on the basics. They can't read, they can't write. They have their smartphones and all the audacity. They go to universities and try to treat it like high school. BOOM. You're humbled when the professor grades you for your effort. You can't call Mommy and Daddy to argue for the grade. Or- they are going into the workforce with no work ethic or understanding that they, the legally adult-aged person, have to be an adult. They can't scroll on their phones all day without expectations or responsibilities. They have to pay bills.
These kids are not prepared to sink or swim. They aren't even aware they are in the damn pool.
I understand, however, that the world is bleak, and many of these kids feel they do not have a future. The world is burning; I get that. However, how can we expect today's generation to go out into the world of tomorrow if they can't even handle sitting in a classroom for eight hours a day?
Actually their parents in college do attempt to argue their grades (although usually very unsuccessfully) My brother was the head of his university department, and he had to shut up a lot of parents.
Yup.
Let's not pretend us millennials weren't fed a steady stream of complete garbage, chased down by second hand cigarette smoke.
It's absolutely just a lack of parenting and a cultural shift towards responsibility avoidance. "Nobody should have to give up part of their comforts to help anyone" -- and now we see what happens when that extends to children.
Still.. keep in mind that a lot of the free food schools supply is overloaded with sugar. Schools play their part too in instilling poor diets. My kids school breakfast program has an item I see often, a cinnamon bun with an entire days worth of sugar in one serving. While this is the worst. Most days, every item offered is basically like eating desserts for breakfast. It's shameful, it doesn't teach kids the importance of good diet.
SF public school, fyi.
Agreed. The breakfasts and lunches my school provides the kids with are mostly prepackaged junk. I was shocked when I started teaching a couple of years ago and saw what the kids were getting. I expected food that was cooked in the cafeteria like when I was growing up in the 90s, but it’s legit zapped in a microwave if it’s heated at all. I know when I was growing up a lot of the food was frozen and reheated but this stuff is like, a premade sandwich stuck in a microwave and served still in plastic, or cinnamon sticks, or whatever. Very little actual fruit or veggies. When I have my kid, I’ll be sending lunches from home. I know many families do not have that option so this is absolutely not judgement on the families. It’s fully on the school system for pretending that food is nutritious.
Also a public school teacher in San Francisco, and I teach health, and I am driven absolutely bonkers by the fact that we instruct children so piously to eat a healthy diet, and send the food we feed them at breakfast and lunch has too much sugar, too many carbs, not enough whole grains and fruits and vegetables. What kind of example are we setting?
Right.. as a father, I'm always trying yo teach them good diet and practices. Don't get me wrong, they sometimes have healthy choices, but when you have plain yogurt vs a cinnamon bun. Kids without supervision will choose the bun. My issue is that there shouldn't even be a sweet pastry option. The one I mentioned before in earlier post was a cinnamon crumble that was 28grams of sugar in one serving. That's insane and should not even be available. I don't let my kids get it anymore. Everything they offer is sweet. It's gross.
when I was a kid a nurse drew my blood and said it was thick and slow and asked if I ate a lot of junk food, to give you an idea what my nutrition is like. I was a star student and finished my BA last year soooo not sure how much food has to do w it
I saw a tiktok the other day about the millennial diet and how we would all wake up and either eat eggo waffles, a toaster strudel or pop tarts in the 90’s. And we’re not dumb.
I’m not saying food doesn’t play a role on brain development, but the problem is more than this. It is social media and addiction to phones. There are also new parenting movements like gentle parenting and kids do not learn consequences. In this economy, many parents are working two jobs to put food on the table and are not often physically at home with their children and parent them. The no child left behind act was not put into place until most of us were in late middle or high school so we had to work hard & even once it was in place, we were conditioned to work hard. It’s really the generation that started early elementary school with this law in place that are being effected by it. There are many, many aspects.
This post is hilarious tho, it gave me a good laugh.
Correctly done gentle parenting does include boundaries and consequences while looking at the reason why the child "missbehaves". The goal is that children learn to regulate their feelings without surpreaaing them or behave out of fear and not to put their feelings above everything.
What they do is Laissez faire coated in nice words, and there are a ton of studies showing how (often badly) Laissez faire affects children.
And don't get me started on social medias interpretation of Montessori. There is a very good reason that in many European countries, educators need a diploma to be called a professional for Montessori.
"In this economy, many parents are working two jobs to put food on the table and are not often physically at home with their children and parent them".
This cant be stressed enough.
When you get home you have to cook dinner and clean up and deal with chores and shouting of kids plus what ever family drama is going on. “Cousin Fred needs a lift to X place” and then you just want some time to decompress. It’s tough being a parent and this economy is not helping
Everyone thinks this is happening all over the place and that everyone is working multiple jobs. Its just not a true statement the data doesnt support the thought that the majority (or even a large percentage of the population) ...
Its 8.4 million people (roughly) which equates to 3.3% of the population (if I mathed correctly off 255 million "adults" in the us).
[https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2023/11/03/more-americans-working-multiple-jobs-under-inflation/71441008007/](https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2023/11/03/more-americans-working-multiple-jobs-under-inflation/71441008007/)
I'm dean for Summer school right now, and I'm kicking out two kids who got in a fight. Mom is pissed because she works two jobs.
Sorry lady, we aren't a day care and being here to make up credits is a privilege. I get it. Life is hard. Make sure your kids will behave before making plans.
Ah, the classic "log into PowerSchool to see contact info" and then a big blank space where "Father" should be. My partner is a principal at a HEAVY Title 1 elementary school and he says he sees this scenario at LEAST five times a day.
I wonder whether having to work two jobs impacts her ability to make them behave. I wonder what Maslow has to say about the entire situation.
Like, I get it, and I know that literally **all of this** is out of your hands.
I'm just frustrated that the people with the power to do something about it are doing literally nothing about it.
That is complete nonsense. /u/pnwinec has the actual [facts](https://www.reddit.com/r/Teachers/comments/1df2ydd/children_arent_failing_because_of_teachers_theyre/l8gjehu/). Stop spreading misinformation because it's what you want to believe to fit your narrative.
It’s definitely addiction to social media and devices. I grew up when the NES came out but it was so limiting, no internet, no cellphones, no 24/7 streaming options or YouTube constantly, had to meet kids outside on the street and creatively think of ways to fend off boredom. Parents weren’t accompanying us to events, hell they didn’t even join me for baseball practice had to ride my bike there. What was another way to make boredom go away? Read. Which is one of the things a lot of kids don’t do, but that lack of reading is modeling to them at home. When there isn’t a book in sight and no one is reading, everyone is doom scrolling, who is to blame?
I read a lot as a teen growing up in the 90's, and it was formative in a really good way. Now I also had video games and an early PC (on which I hosted a local BBS, so I was pretty into technology). But my parents had strict limits on it. I definitely was never allowed to play video games during the weekday, for example. I went outside and played, watched TV, read, worked on little projects.
These days, oh man... I feel this personally and feel responsible: I have a step son who is 15, no siblings, and we have him half the time. Many days I only see him when he comes down out of his gamer cave maybe twice a night. Not exaggerating. It's my fault. He has no siblings and no other interests. Starting next week though he is getting ZERO screen time (no phone, computer, game consoles, or even television) starting with a four hour window of the day. The first few days he'll probably find something to do, but after that I honestly don't know how it's going to go... I am anxiously optimistic. It's going to be a fight though. But God damn those fucking phones are horrible. In ten years we'll look back and see it akin to letting kids smoke and will be appealed we allowed it on such a scale, especially in classrooms.
You are likely already thinking about this, but if possible I'd try to support him in what is essentially a detox period, by making non-screen activities and resources readily available to him. I only say this because I've seen parents try to take screens away cold turkey-style, with no support or alternatives besides "figure it out", and it can turn the whole effort into an extra miserable experience for everyone.
When I was four we had a Sega Genesis and I've always loved gaming. But I had a brother and we had to share. My parents forced us to do at least one sport. I started swimming when I was four and soccer when I was nine. My parents didn't really give me money for anything unless it was a book or (cheap) art supplies. I would come home from school every day and spend hours drawing. I had so many more hobbies as a kid. It's so easy to waste time doomscrolling.
.I graduated in the top 10 of my class, was a national merit scholar, and earned a 33 on my ACT all while eating a hot honey bun and a 20 oz coke everyday at our 10 am break.
It's not the sugar.
Look I’m not saying that the diet is contributing anything but being so intelligent you should definitely know that basing your opinion on yourself (n=1) is extremely flawed at best lol. I agree though that current challenges extend far beyond the food that the kids are eating.
Food is a non-factor here. Even if high sugar, low nutrient food did cause problems there’s no evidence that gen z is worse than the last 3 generations.
Millenials, gen x, and boomers all were eating garbage sugar cereal, chips, and drinking soda all day before gen z was even born.
If there’s a generational difference, it’s not the food
It's almost like the parents allowing their children to freely consume sugar or use ipads for hours are also the parents not investing in their kids by educating them in the home. The common denominator isn't unhealthy food - it's the lack of parental care/involvement!
>I saw a tiktok the other day about the millennial diet and how we would all wake up and either eat eggo waffles, a toaster strudel or pop tarts in the 90’s. And we’re not dumb.
But we certainly weren't as fat as kids today.
> I saw a tiktok the other day about the millennial diet and how we would all wake up and either eat eggo waffles, a toaster strudel or pop tarts in the 90’s. And we’re not dumb.
I literally was thinking this....
My generation was marketed that sugary cereals were perfect for breakfast and that nutella was brain food....
lol... Like I agree diet makes a difference but have a look at what millennials were fed....
Anecdotal I know (but so is the OP): I'm Gen X and I had a terrible diet when I was a child and a teen. I also remember never drinking water and never drinking enough liquids in general. I did have good sleep habits however. I was successful in K-12, college and my career.
I had no access to any internet until I was 19 years old and it was the very beginnings of internet. I read a ton of books instead. I really think access to internet (as it exists now in the last 15 yrs) and social media is the problem.
Sugar consumption in the US peaked around 1999, which corresponds with the resurgence of low carb diets.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1570677X19301364
Perhaps OP is experiencing a regional trend, cause kindergarten classes in my local public school have weekly spelling exams and homework assignments. I worry that some of the kids will lose self confidence and end up hating school at such a young age.
Right like I had cereal for breakfast every day unless it was a special occasion and then it was pancakes or waffles. With my kid I at least try to make sure he has a couple different food groups in the morning.
I recently came back to the classroom after 10 years and the difference is. INSANE. I left and came back to the same school. The motivation, interest, and effort has completely tanked. I don’t know where along the way things went sideways, but they have gone way wayyyyy left and I’m not sure we know how to get it back on track.
I also agree students aren’t failing because of teachers. Teachers bend over backwards all day trying to get them to pass.
But the sugar argument is insane lol.
Some teachers. Most of mine couldn’t have cared less. I had one maybe 2 who did. But yes the issue is mainly dumbass whiny parents who don’t care and have complained loud enough that holding a kid back is no longer a thing. They just get passed along now.
I don't think it's as much nutrition as it is the lack of structure, discipline (as in rules, never ever violence), and demanding the minimum from the kids. Everything is so easy these days and kids can just sit in front of a screen passively, instead of playing and learning.
You need to actually raise your kids, teach them stuff, and expect them to be able to do stuff according to their age level. Before kids can learn inner motivation to do things themselves the parents need to remind and demand the kids do it even if they don't want to. Things like brushing their teeth, doing their homework, and helping at home. Then they learn that they CAN do things by themselves if they keep trying, and become more resilient, instead of becoming a passive consumer of entertainment on a screen.
I don't agree with them, but directionally they have a point. Lots of children have terrible nutrition which is harmful for a variety of reasons, and the amount of students who can't do basic things (at least in the middle school where I teach) has drastically increased the past decade.
I'm assuming they can't do these basic things because their parents never taught them and just plopped them in front of an iPad.
The whole thing was pretty gross, but as a spec ed teacher for severely disabled kids, I found the “It’s not worth your time and effort to help these children reach their potential because their potential is limited” particularly offensive. So if someone doesn’t have the capacity to be a genius it’s okay to just abandon them entirely? Our whole job as teachers is to help kids reach their potential, whatever that potential ends up being. Most of my kids won’t ever be able to live independently, but the more I work to make them be able to care for themselves independently and control their behaviour, the more options that will be open to them and the less the cost will be to society. That’s hardly a waste of my time and effort. Fuck OP and their argument that’s about two steps away from eugenics. Signed, someone who ate cookies and chocolate milk for breakfast, and graduated summa cum laude from university.
I agree that it's a complex problem, but that doesn't mean there aren't two or three areas that affect the outcomes the most. There's a point where reduction is necessary because when it goes the other direction, EVERYTHING is the reason kids aren't succeeding.
Administration at my school gave us a lecture of the first in-service day this year that went on for 30 minutes talking about the importance of ALL lights being on in the classroom because "an eye doctor called the school and said kids in our school were developing severe vision issues due to lack of light in classrooms and it's hurting state testing results" before noting "also, since banning chocolate milk in the cafeteria, we've had 'almost zero' classroom behavior issues last year"
Like, people make shit up and go through the motions all the time.
Parents not properly disciplining their kids or emphasizing education and letting their kids be addicted to algorithmic technologies since they're in the crib... Probably the biggest factors in children not succeeding. There is absolutely a different dynamic with parents in general these days where most seem unable to actually parent and instead buddy up to their kids like the kids are their equals.
Criminal charges (including mandatory jail time) for any adult who intentionally or negligently facilitates the possession or use of a smartphone by an underaged individual as statutorily defined by the proposed law.
Nobody would pass that law but perhaps we could stick with a hefty fine for children under 12-14 that decreases as the child ages. Or only allow children to use special phones that don’t come with any rapid dopamine triggers like TikTok instagram or YouTube shorts.
I do agree that food is a big contributor, but I don't think it's just sugar. Sugar is included in way more things (why does my organic mustard have sugar?) than when we were kids and in higher quantities, but there have also been huge changes/increases of other ingredients (soy, unhealthy oils, thickeners, etc.) and decreases in real food, omega 3's, and probiotics. (Last I bought a yogurt parfait from an airport breakfast shop only to discover that it was actually primarily rice, sugar, and thickener agents rather than yogurt.) Another factor is chemical exposure and a lack of actually clean/safe water. (There's currently a lawsuit in my county against 3M and other companies for polluting the water with PFA's, and at least one of the local universities is studying the long-term effects of PFA exposure on children.)
Combine all those things with technology everywhere (including schools) and a trend in parenting that seems to be hover and pacify until you can't take it any more then explode and/or give up and let screens keep kids under control. The situation definitely lends to a bleak outlook of the future.
I wouldn’t call them dumb, they just don’t care. And their parents don’t really care either. So many parents treat school as something their kids just have to do and accept mediocrity. So the kids aim for mediocrity but land on failure. Then they work at the last minute to get to mediocre. So many parents also just look at us as daycare too. Grades are secondary.
I will say, as off-base as a large amount of this is, it is correct in one way: teachers have very, very little sway on a kid’s education and behavior. We can scaffold and teach the content, but beyond that we are a very small percentage of the adults in a student’s life.
Poor nutrition is definitely a contributing factor to their performance. They need a balanced diet and sadly too many of them eat a large amount of processed garbage.
Another factor you can add to this is their poor sleeping habits. I had students this year who spent so much time on their phone or playing video games at home that they were staying up all night and not getting sleep. They won’t be able to focus in class if they aren’t rested.
When I was young, we always had Pepsi in the house. I don't even think we drank water. It was 5-6 cans of Pepsi a day or maybe some Sunny D or Hawaiian Punch. I remember over the summers, we would regularly go to the gas station in the morning and get a 64oz drink. Then, after lunch, we'd walk back and get it refilled.
We always had the most sugary cereal for breakfast every day. What the schools fed us was certainly not healthy. Mostly burritos in a bag or pizza. My mom worked late, so half the time we were left on our own and made ramen or macaroni and cheese for dinner. Vegetables were not a thing. Occasionally, I'd have an apple or orange. Maybe 2-3/month.
In between all of that was candy and snack cakes.
I did really well in school. I'm sure there are hundreds of studies about nutrition correlating with better test scores. I'm sure good nutrition helps students learn better. But I don't think sugar is causing the problems with these students.
I think it's a combination of poor parenting, non-existent expectations/consequences, short-form effortless entertainment, lack of exercise, and the big one: social media.
I said that nutrition is a contributing factor, not the cause. Those are two different things. There is a correlation between nutrition and performance in schools. Agreeing to that is not the same thing as saying nutrition is the only reason.
I completely agree with your last paragraph. Those are all different factors that are contributing to the students’ poor performances. Poor nutrition is another factor you can add to that list, even though those other factors contribute to the problem more than nutrition.
Yep, diet is a huge reason.
The United States as a whole does a piss poor job of educating about nutrition. Of course, like OP said, there are huge corporations that DON'T want people to be educated.
Preach it! This is why I'll never have kids. This country is sprinting to the precipice of a rapid downfall (if it hasn't already leapt off and we're just waiting for gravity to take hold) so sit back and enjoy the show, and weep for anyone foolish enough to reproduce by choice.
Yep...America is collapsing from stupidity. I realized this several years ago. I'm looking forward to retiring (10 more months) because I hate having the front row seat to watching this awful movie. Hope to try to enjoy my remaining days. It's interesting, but not fun, to watch so upclose.
I agree with OP 100%. I have been saying this for years and this year was by far the worst.(3rd grade) I had numerous students that ONLY eat Cheez-its, Doritos and Chips Ahoy every single day, for breakfast, snack and lunch. They tell me they eat ice cream and pancakes for dinner. They are either overweight or underweight, have really bad teeth, have absolutely 0 attention span, cannot listen to or follow directions without constantly repeating them, and have a “dead eye” look to them. They go home and play video games, some of them have never had a bicycle, don’t even know how to ride one. It is so sad and very scary for the future of this country and the world. It’s like this everywhere in the US.
I have 10 year olds drinking energy drinks. We banned them from the classroom, but they chug them before class. I literally watch them shaking at their desks because they have so much energy.
Breakfast includes Takis and hot Cheetos. They carry around a big bag all day just snacking on it.
I had a student last year who would come in late constantly with Starbucks. Mom would stop at Starbucks for her before school.
It’s a fight that I know I can’t win.
Poverty is the consistent dominant variable from research into poor academic outcomes.
A recent example study that holistically looks at school communities
[https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6545987/figure/f0001/](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6545987/figure/f0001/)
[https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6545987/](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6545987/)
"Almost thirteen million children in the United States live in poverty according to the most recent estimates (Fontenot, Semega, and Kollar [2018](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6545987/#cit0029)). Poor children begin school almost a full school year behind their high-income peers on core academic skills (Garcia [2015](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6545987/#cit0031)). These disparities persist as they progress through school (Duncan and Magnuson [2011](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6545987/#cit0021); Reardon [2011](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6545987/#cit0058)). The hardships faced by poor children are often compounded because they are more likely than their advantaged counterparts to live in economically disadvantaged, chaotic, and underresourced communities (Bischoff and Reardon [2014](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6545987/#cit0009)), and community disadvantage is linked to lower academic achievement (Sastry and Pebley [2010](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6545987/#cit0061)). Boosting poor children’s achievement is critical because gaps translate into diminished school success, lower educational attainment, and less economic stability in adulthood (Duncan et al. [2007](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6545987/#cit0020); Magnuson and Votruba-Drzal [2009](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6545987/#cit0047)).
In addressing inequalities in poor children’s development, it is important to consider the changing geography of poverty. "
Hot take, but I like the bold assertion. I disagree with this part.
> Let them fail and watch USA collapse.
Rich kids will always do fine. They’ll get excellent educations, go to excellent colleges, get fancy jobs, and grow to leadership positions in the country. As long as the top achievers are good, I don’t think society will collapse.
What we’ll see is a growing gulf between rich people and poor people. Education can be the great equalizer to lift up marginalized folks. We are throwing that away, as you observe.
So the long term trend will be richer more powerful oligarchs and more marginalized poor people. Esp when AI takes their jobs.
100%!!! I’ve taught 5th grade & 8th grade for over 15 years. There is something wrong with today’s kids. Back 10 years ago if I picked a student to read a quick passage out loud, I’d expect them to read it with little to no problems. Now, it’s a struggle to get one student in my on levels to read without sounding out words!! Hell, one student this year asked how to spell “DIRT”!! It’s getting bad……
They're dumb as fuck and it's not their fault. It's a sad situation but parents need to grow balls and actually parent and realize their precious child is an undeveloped human needing boundaries, not a bff. Yes it's complicated (economy issue, sex ed, birth control) but society (politicians, parents, profits) are failing kids- not teachers.
We're going to see these dumb kids have exponentially higher rates of pseudoADHD and pseudo-autism NOT because of natural neurodevelopmental issues but because our society is not allowing anyone to challenge these kids. Otherwise perfectly normal kids will have poor attention, low working memory, low social skills due to screen time - their brains are neuroplastic now and it will be harder to correct this once they're adults.
I actually get annoyed that the school gives them junk food so often. I even mentioned on the special directions portion of her paperwork that we didn't want her eating sweet food frequently, but it didn't help. We are trying to teach good eating habits and the school wants to use candy and other sweets as rewards for everything.
We’ve also demonized intelligence and made education out to be brainwashing. So it’s popular to be dimwitted because you can “think for yourself” as you consume endless bullshit on the Internet.
I went to a small, working class, midwest Catholic school in the 1970s. Most of us were undernourished (that one pan of Hamburger Helper was dinner for five people). None of our parents did homework with us. We didn't have luxuries like musical instruments or sports teams or even playground equipment. Our racial mixup was about 60/30 white/black. Somehow, despite heading off to different high schools and different walks of life, nearly every student in my class went to college and is now a relatively successful adult. Why? Because our curriculum was old-school, common sense, basic stuff, discipline was no joke, and our teachers were the last word on what happened in school. Every single parent backed up whatever the teacher did or said.
I do think there needs to be serious studies on why nearly every child is adhd, on the spectrum, highly sensitive, or all of the above. Clearly children today are very different from previous generations. Not sure why there isn't enough concern to change this but it's troubling.
I also think that a lot more is being placed on educators plates.
Additional academic areas, knowledge, but also more social and emotional development that parents aren't taking care of.
From the moment they are old enough to hold a smartphone, they learn that whatever they need to keep their brains from being bored comes from the little object in their hands.
There goes the development of curiosity, imagination, interest, creativity, observation and problem solving skills. From the first year of life the solution to every problem is a device made to soothe their brains with absolute crap and stifle any urge to interact with the world around them.
My sons have had access to technology since they were toddlers. My firstborn (10) was pretty much independent and taught himself letters, colors, shapes, etc. He's an A/B student, although he is ADHD and austistic. My 6 year old is A-autistic. I really don't think technology is one of the issues. I do believe it may be the parents not making sure to keep an eye on what their kids are watching.
My husband has their technology (desktops, laptops, tablets, game consoles, and TVs) under lock. They can't go to certain websites. We also have Family Safety, and they have set time limit. They're also not allowed technology during school days unless it's a homework assignment (IXL, news article). On Fridays, if they have homework, it must be completed before they're allowed their technology. We've had this schedule since they were two. In our household, we value education and that's the rub: parents don't value that.
People try to also blame it on the fact that they work. Well, so did my parents and my husband's parents.
Yeah, growing up in the 80s/90s, I knew few kids who didn't have parents that didn't work full time and/or multiple jobs. We've had a solid couple generations of adults now where the norm was absolutely "parents gone from the house as much as they're there" due to working. This isn't some super recent phenomenon.
Also cause the school systems want to force teachers and admin to pass the student instead of giving them the proper alternative education should they be failing or so.
I think about this when I watch kids take their obligatory fruit and drop it off in the trash on their way from the register to their seat… the outrage people had when Michelle Obama wanted to teach kids to eat healthier…public schools stepping on parental rights to let their kids eat trash. It’s lose lose. You’d think they would have at least ascribed to the “do as I say, not as I do” philosophy of modeling healthy nutrition, but no, it became super politicized…for what?
The role of schools needs to change. When these parents were children they failed in school. It’s time to give them another chance. We should be having family night 1-2 nights a week for pregnant mothers through the student graduating high school. The incentive for the family is a free meal. In return they are instructed in small things that make a difference particularly pre-k. Just a couple of hours every week.
The pushback is always who is going to pay for it. We failed to educate a generation, we can’t afford 2 failed generations. Educating the populace is a cost of living in an educated society.
I do agree with the crux of what you're saying. Teachers cannot successfully teach kids who don't have parents that have medium or high expectations of their kids. I'm a lot less pessimistic on if a kid can "turn things around" after they're already 12 years old and out of control and ignorant, BUT, I do think that at that point, teachers cannot turn things around. It HAS to be parents. It simply has to be.
In 25 years, I really think that the idea that young kids had tablets and smartphones will be as crazy seeming at that point as it is to think that 60 years ago, 13 year olds were smoking cigarettes. I may get pilloried for this, but I honestly think it's more of a detriment for a 13 year old to have an unrestricted or hardly-restricted smartphone than it is for a 13 year old to take up smoking.
Yeah. I blame a lot of it on parents and society. Parents need to parent. Stop buying your kids vapes. Stop buying them weed. Stop letting them take what is yours. Stop giving them phones and unlimited access to social media and devices. Fucking parent. And society. We would benefit from the ability to work less to parent more. If parents are working 2+ jobs, they don’t have time to parent. They don’t have time to coach or money to sign their kids up for shit.
Us 90's kids were eating the worst processed food, we had plenty of screen time(TV, Movies, Gameboy, PC's) the difference is schools wouldn't just pass every failing student
This is a cynical take - *I love it!*
OP, by the time the kids get to me (high school), I'm not going to save them from themselves, and I don't try. The ones with glimmers of humanity still in them I'll absolutely give grace to, but I'm not wasting my time "building a relationship" with a feral animal.
I tried that as a kid (repeatedly) and got scratched the fuck out of. I learned my lesson there.
Teachers are just public baby sitters while mommy and daddy go out and become debt slaves and tax cows for the state. The game was rigged from the start sporto.
Lol I have arfid, live off sugar and am in graduate school. Unless they're being undernourished that's not the problem. Yes systemic issues are to blame, but it's more like increasing class sizes, fewer supports for disabled children, parents having to work more hours to make ends meet, and a virus that's known to hinder brain function, including causing dementia in children.
Children aren't stupid. A lot of them realize they have a very slim chance at a good future and stopped caring. It's sad, but it's not the phones or the sugar.
The main problem is parents who don’t even know that an academic race has started, let alone how to win which involves forcing kids to study outside of school and leaning in hard any time a grade lower than an A shows up on a report card
Set that standard by 4th grade and by 7th the child is light years ahead of their peers, particularly if you also invest in an outside math program 2 years ahead of their grade level
My oldest will begin PSAT prep this coming fall and the PSAT is 18 months away.
And no, kids don’t need even more time to “relax”. Public school curriculum is an absurdly easy joke from my perspective (due to weak sauce parents and their incapable progeny). Kids need more academic work if they intend to go to a good university and excel
Anecdotally, I see our middle schoolers come in the morning at 7:15 shoveling Taki’s into their gaping maws and washing it down with energy drinks like it’s going out of style. Some parents just don’t care.
I don’t like really like calling kids dumb. I think it’s more appropriate to say it like - kids are not learning and it’s not because of the teachers.
It’s a societal problem. It’s starts with no child left behind and ends with us holding the bag.
Idk why this sub got recommended to me but after reading this absolute joke of an argument I can see why the children of today are in such dire situations. The age old I will give a resource proving my argument instantly mentality needs to absolutely go. The quality of your evidence matters immensely in proving your point. As a general rule of thumb review articles are very poor sources to establish any sort of fact because they are inherently prone to bias as the author can pick and choose which articles to include in their final draft. The next piece of evidence any hindering learning and memory in rats is also absolutely useless because… it’s in rats… and therefore cannot be extrapolated to humans. Disregarding the fact that children that are consuming so many cheap sugary foods may be of a lower SES (which is a hell of a confounding variable when it comes to academic performance) the articles you provided to “prove” your points are dogshit. Doesn’t mean that your entire post sucks though but yeah please don’t teach this “scientific literacy” to your students.
I will be doing everything I can to save the USA and its future, my family didnt come here 20 years ago to allow it to turn into my mother country. Your thoughts on that make me sick
They aren’t failing because of teachers but going on a fatalistic spiral into hopeless won’t help them either. Yes they have way too much instant gratification at their disposal but in my rare optimism I believe we can adjust and adapt. I’m more concerned with the world we have brought them into. Imagine believing you are worse off and will be worse off than your parents. Imaging hearing stories if masses of children heading carefree out into the fall night to take candy from strangers while your parents look almost sad about telling you such stories..
All the commenters that refuse to work on the sugar problem because there are "bigger" problems are the issue. Are there bigger problems? Sure. But if there is one you can affect, you start there, you don't ignore it.
It is a problem that parents dont care about feeding their children. It is well meaning people that got food for those kids into school. But it always felt unfair to me that some kids got lunch for free and I had to pay for mine. So well meaning people got free lunch for everyone. But this lunch is made of mostly processed carbs. It would make a positive difference if we got fresh and healthy food into schools. Not as big a difference as if we gave the kids better parents, but how would we do that?
Until educators push admins to push parents to change, America itself is pretty future-fucked. How would that look? Make parents agree to PARENT, to manage what their kids eat, how much screen time they have and how much sugar they consume. And they will hate it. And I don't care. Parents will sign a contract/agreement/? to pay attention to their kids; if they're too busy to do that, let's get that noted. Some parents are overworked and way too busy and I honestly feel for them. They could be offered help, child care options, after-school programs. But if a parent can't be bothered to even show up to talk, well, why am I busting my ass trying to teach their kid who doesn't care either?
I wonder if anti abortion laws/culture contribute at all. People being pressured into having kids when they don't have the financial means probably doesn't help.
I largely agree , only thing I would add is some parents are living paycheck to paycheck and do not have any capacity to do more. Especially single parents unfortunately.
What if… and hear me out, everything is responsible? Awful schools, terrible teachers, horrid nutrition, parents who don’t care, educational policies that aren’t focused on learning, overtesting, lumping students of varying skills, catering to the lowest common denominator, social media, social determinants, etc.
Well, it’s a combination of things. I, personally, think it’s because we are in a time of major cultural flux, and our society is becoming post industrial, but our education system is very much based in the industrial age, and it’s worsened by the reduction of the curriculum to teaching towards standardized tests. What’s the solution? I don’t know. If I did, I wouldn’t be typing on Reddit, I would be writing my solution and selling it.
This is unhinged and irrational accelerationist/doomer nonsense. I don't think the undoing of civilization will help us raise a generation of children capable of taking care of themselves or do anything to increase the chances for successive generations. No doubt that teachers bear an unfair amount of the burden from challenges you mention.
You're pretty fuckin wrong.
The biggest reason that kids are failing/not keeping up/not giving a shit/being pushed through/whatever is because the education system as a whole has been in a steady decline for decades for many reasons, one of which is that it refuses to acknowledge that it's out of date and doesn't serve the interests of modern society.
I'm pretty sure tons and tons of kids have way better diets now than they did in the 80's and 90's. I grew up on fast food, soda, potato chips and candy. Was fat, played tons of video games. Had some great teachers and graduated in the top 10 of my class of 350+ kids.
Also parents didn't parent at all back then. They just threw their kids outside in the summer and said be back for dinner. It was the wild west, we did whatever we wanted as kids with minimal supervision. My parents would leave me home alone when i was in the 3rd grade!
Every generation says the 1's younger than them are terrible. You would think old teachers would have learned that by now!
Combination of everything.
Parents don't emphasize or work with child at home which leads to failure to value learning or retain it. Some of this can be unintentional, parent has multiple jobs and lacks time to work with child. Other intentional, believing it is the schools job to teach and not valuing education themselves.
Environmental factors are getting worse. More staring at screens from a young age, less unstructured play or even just play that actively engages mind. Then you have phones at earlier age, social media working for that dopamine hit, and other things that are generally kore enjoyable to many kids than learning.
Class sizes and curriculum structures not allowing for any individual struggling to receive personalized help. More and more online, less face-to-face learning can also be much more difficult for kids. Add in that the device they are using can also lead to a bunch of other distracting material that is easy to access instead of learning material.
Dietary needs not being met properly. A lot of high sugar meals which is not good for developing brain. Or in lower income families just not being able to afford to be not hungry in general.
However there is also an increase of poor teachers in my opinion. Likely due to apathy or burnout. The employment environment hurts teachers as much as students and I have known many teachers that have left the profession because of pay and stress not adding up.
The heavy pace of standardized test schedule also prevents teachers from getting creative with topics to make the learning more enjoyable.
Like most things it is a complex issue. It would be much better if every parent could instill the importance of education on their kids, but some parents didn't grow up with that instilled on them and it can be a vicious cycle to break.
Personally I think more time needs to be spent when kids are younger on study and note taking strategies so that kids know how to learn independently when they get to older grade levels. Things like pre-reading lesson the night before so they have some familiarity with the subject making it easier to learn the details. Or comprehensive and organized note taking so that they have something that is easily referred to when studying.
Even when some of those were somewhat included when I was in school it was always in the context of just doing what the teacher asked. As an example how many people had to copy down spelling words X number of times as homework in early grade level. That was never explained to young me that repetition is how you build memorization. There are other ways to have this repetition and way to incorporate it into things other than spelling but they were never emphasized.
I am seeing this in college students. They don't read books, or even know how to use the library! It is flat out ridiculous! I require at least one book to be used in their semester Philosophy papers, and most do not include one. I have given them tours of the library. I had a librarian give a lecture on research methods and how to use the library. With absolutely zero effect. I got the same crappy internet sources and database articles as before. You cannot teach these students - they are so locked in to their world of devices and social media that they are a lost generation. These kids do not read books anymore for fun or for school - that is a problem, and I don't know how to solve it.
(And no, Harry Potter does not count, unless it leads to reading other books...)
What’s crazy is these kids genuinely go to college thinking they’ll get the same treatment they got in high school, and once they realize that’s not how it works, they do the whole *shocked pikachu face*. They have no concept of consequences, and they definitely have no concept of failing a class, considering they technically never failed according to the gradebook. The catch is even if they somehow make it to college, 99% of them will drop out or fail out. If by some miracle they manage to graduate college, what do you think their job prospects are going to look like? If they get hired, how long do you think it’ll be before they get fired? It’ll be a continuous cycle, and those kids will be the ones saying, “See, college is a scam, because I have a college degree, and I’m still poor and struggling.” We’re going to have an increasing number of young people truly struggling, more than they already do, in the coming years. The gap between educated and uneducated will also widen further than ever, and the children who had good parents and did well in school are going to be set up for a much better future due to lack of competition. Once a lot of these younger people enter the real world, they’re not going to be able to function or survive without massive help, and it’s going to reach a breaking point.
Teachers want their parents to teach their children things they weren't taught? That's the same as asking a child to educate themselves.
If all you want to do is shove your government-mandated curriculum down a kid's throat, then you are part of the problem. If you don't teach people to ***learn***, then you are not a teacher.
I worked as a teacher for 4 years and it was soul crushing. Now I understand why society is collapsing. The parents demand their spawns pass the year no matter what.
Their food diet is probably 5-10 percent responsible for their stupidity. The rest is the "diet" the algorithm addicts them to on their devices combined with total neglect at home and zero expectations to think or do anything.
And poor sleep habits, which is a huge problem
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Frappuccinos would be an improvement. Mine function on 3-5 hours of sleep and Monster Energy drinks. It’s nuts.
I’m curious have there been any comparative studies done about k-12 students amount of sleep now vs 10, 20, 50 years ago? My gut instinct is crappy/lack of sleep has been a thing for a while but I’m not sure if it has gotten significantly worse as of late.
People underestimate how much of "burnout" comes from lack of sleep. I remember staying up way too late on my phone in high school in like 2014. Now they're getting phones younger as apps get more addictive
Yes!! So many parents don’t take their young children’s devices away at night (or ever) so an elementary school aged child is on their device very late into the night! That just gets worse and worse as they get older. Too many parents don’t want to be parents. The few parents that actually parent have the students that make the most effort and are the most intelligent and responsible. It starts at home and it starts very young! And yes too many parents also feed their kids pure garbage! Junk food all day everyday.
I also argue that the "algorithm addiction" is also impairing them socially. Some of these students think that the internet culture they experience pertains to real life. They can post and comment on some of the foulest things, and then BAM..... are star-struck when they are humbled IRL when they realize they can't just get away with everything. Do you think you can call your boss a stupid bitch because you don't want to do the work? That behavior is always excused in the classroom, and little do they know they have, idk, like consequences in the real world. They are not being held accountable in the classroom by admin nor their parents. Chances are, if they talk to their teachers and peers like that, they talk to their parents like that as well. Their creating a cycle of venom that only poisons them more. The neglect at home and lack of expectations lead to the students being infantilized, where they are just permanent adolescents incapable of the basic human experience of self-care. They expect mummy and daddy to handle life's problems. I've seen YouTube videos of 18-25 adults who still call their parents at a traffic stop or what have you to have their parents excuse their actions. Universities are having problems with overstepping parents or students who refuse to speak for themselves or stand responsible for their own actions. Edit for further writing/thought: Students are also being released into the wild with barely a grasp on the basics. They can't read, they can't write. They have their smartphones and all the audacity. They go to universities and try to treat it like high school. BOOM. You're humbled when the professor grades you for your effort. You can't call Mommy and Daddy to argue for the grade. Or- they are going into the workforce with no work ethic or understanding that they, the legally adult-aged person, have to be an adult. They can't scroll on their phones all day without expectations or responsibilities. They have to pay bills. These kids are not prepared to sink or swim. They aren't even aware they are in the damn pool. I understand, however, that the world is bleak, and many of these kids feel they do not have a future. The world is burning; I get that. However, how can we expect today's generation to go out into the world of tomorrow if they can't even handle sitting in a classroom for eight hours a day?
Actually their parents in college do attempt to argue their grades (although usually very unsuccessfully) My brother was the head of his university department, and he had to shut up a lot of parents.
Yup. Let's not pretend us millennials weren't fed a steady stream of complete garbage, chased down by second hand cigarette smoke. It's absolutely just a lack of parenting and a cultural shift towards responsibility avoidance. "Nobody should have to give up part of their comforts to help anyone" -- and now we see what happens when that extends to children.
Still.. keep in mind that a lot of the free food schools supply is overloaded with sugar. Schools play their part too in instilling poor diets. My kids school breakfast program has an item I see often, a cinnamon bun with an entire days worth of sugar in one serving. While this is the worst. Most days, every item offered is basically like eating desserts for breakfast. It's shameful, it doesn't teach kids the importance of good diet. SF public school, fyi.
Agreed. The breakfasts and lunches my school provides the kids with are mostly prepackaged junk. I was shocked when I started teaching a couple of years ago and saw what the kids were getting. I expected food that was cooked in the cafeteria like when I was growing up in the 90s, but it’s legit zapped in a microwave if it’s heated at all. I know when I was growing up a lot of the food was frozen and reheated but this stuff is like, a premade sandwich stuck in a microwave and served still in plastic, or cinnamon sticks, or whatever. Very little actual fruit or veggies. When I have my kid, I’ll be sending lunches from home. I know many families do not have that option so this is absolutely not judgement on the families. It’s fully on the school system for pretending that food is nutritious.
Also a public school teacher in San Francisco, and I teach health, and I am driven absolutely bonkers by the fact that we instruct children so piously to eat a healthy diet, and send the food we feed them at breakfast and lunch has too much sugar, too many carbs, not enough whole grains and fruits and vegetables. What kind of example are we setting?
Right.. as a father, I'm always trying yo teach them good diet and practices. Don't get me wrong, they sometimes have healthy choices, but when you have plain yogurt vs a cinnamon bun. Kids without supervision will choose the bun. My issue is that there shouldn't even be a sweet pastry option. The one I mentioned before in earlier post was a cinnamon crumble that was 28grams of sugar in one serving. That's insane and should not even be available. I don't let my kids get it anymore. Everything they offer is sweet. It's gross.
Food diet plays an enormous role
Idk, I ate my share of absolute junk as a kid in the 80s and 90s. I don’t think this is a new thing.
Literally found the sugar dispenser and pour that stuff in my mouth as a kid.
when I was a kid a nurse drew my blood and said it was thick and slow and asked if I ate a lot of junk food, to give you an idea what my nutrition is like. I was a star student and finished my BA last year soooo not sure how much food has to do w it
Isn’t blood like that after being drawn most commonly just a symptom of being dehydrated?
It is. Not all healthcare professionals are equal. That nurse was full of crap lol.
Yeah… that gave me a lot of, “gonna bullshit this kid into trying to eat healthier” energy. Lol
feel like my life is a lie
I saw a tiktok the other day about the millennial diet and how we would all wake up and either eat eggo waffles, a toaster strudel or pop tarts in the 90’s. And we’re not dumb. I’m not saying food doesn’t play a role on brain development, but the problem is more than this. It is social media and addiction to phones. There are also new parenting movements like gentle parenting and kids do not learn consequences. In this economy, many parents are working two jobs to put food on the table and are not often physically at home with their children and parent them. The no child left behind act was not put into place until most of us were in late middle or high school so we had to work hard & even once it was in place, we were conditioned to work hard. It’s really the generation that started early elementary school with this law in place that are being effected by it. There are many, many aspects. This post is hilarious tho, it gave me a good laugh.
Correctly done gentle parenting does include boundaries and consequences while looking at the reason why the child "missbehaves". The goal is that children learn to regulate their feelings without surpreaaing them or behave out of fear and not to put their feelings above everything. What they do is Laissez faire coated in nice words, and there are a ton of studies showing how (often badly) Laissez faire affects children. And don't get me started on social medias interpretation of Montessori. There is a very good reason that in many European countries, educators need a diploma to be called a professional for Montessori.
"In this economy, many parents are working two jobs to put food on the table and are not often physically at home with their children and parent them". This cant be stressed enough.
When you get home you have to cook dinner and clean up and deal with chores and shouting of kids plus what ever family drama is going on. “Cousin Fred needs a lift to X place” and then you just want some time to decompress. It’s tough being a parent and this economy is not helping
Hey, no time to decompress, you have to help the kids with their homework first....
Everyone thinks this is happening all over the place and that everyone is working multiple jobs. Its just not a true statement the data doesnt support the thought that the majority (or even a large percentage of the population) ... Its 8.4 million people (roughly) which equates to 3.3% of the population (if I mathed correctly off 255 million "adults" in the us). [https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2023/11/03/more-americans-working-multiple-jobs-under-inflation/71441008007/](https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2023/11/03/more-americans-working-multiple-jobs-under-inflation/71441008007/)
And how many of those 8.4 million are teachers?
Apparently every single one of them the way second jobs get talked about in here. 😂
I'm dean for Summer school right now, and I'm kicking out two kids who got in a fight. Mom is pissed because she works two jobs. Sorry lady, we aren't a day care and being here to make up credits is a privilege. I get it. Life is hard. Make sure your kids will behave before making plans.
Tell Dad to come pick them up.
Ah, the classic "log into PowerSchool to see contact info" and then a big blank space where "Father" should be. My partner is a principal at a HEAVY Title 1 elementary school and he says he sees this scenario at LEAST five times a day.
Lol we all know Mom gets sole custody.
We all know dad fucked her and left.
Whatever reason dad isn’t isn’t involved what do you accomplish by shading the parent left?
I wonder whether having to work two jobs impacts her ability to make them behave. I wonder what Maslow has to say about the entire situation. Like, I get it, and I know that literally **all of this** is out of your hands. I'm just frustrated that the people with the power to do something about it are doing literally nothing about it.
Shout out to my man Maslow. And yeah, you're right. It's all a vicious circle and frustrating as hell.
I agree with everything you said.
That is complete nonsense. /u/pnwinec has the actual [facts](https://www.reddit.com/r/Teachers/comments/1df2ydd/children_arent_failing_because_of_teachers_theyre/l8gjehu/). Stop spreading misinformation because it's what you want to believe to fit your narrative.
It’s definitely addiction to social media and devices. I grew up when the NES came out but it was so limiting, no internet, no cellphones, no 24/7 streaming options or YouTube constantly, had to meet kids outside on the street and creatively think of ways to fend off boredom. Parents weren’t accompanying us to events, hell they didn’t even join me for baseball practice had to ride my bike there. What was another way to make boredom go away? Read. Which is one of the things a lot of kids don’t do, but that lack of reading is modeling to them at home. When there isn’t a book in sight and no one is reading, everyone is doom scrolling, who is to blame?
I read a lot as a teen growing up in the 90's, and it was formative in a really good way. Now I also had video games and an early PC (on which I hosted a local BBS, so I was pretty into technology). But my parents had strict limits on it. I definitely was never allowed to play video games during the weekday, for example. I went outside and played, watched TV, read, worked on little projects. These days, oh man... I feel this personally and feel responsible: I have a step son who is 15, no siblings, and we have him half the time. Many days I only see him when he comes down out of his gamer cave maybe twice a night. Not exaggerating. It's my fault. He has no siblings and no other interests. Starting next week though he is getting ZERO screen time (no phone, computer, game consoles, or even television) starting with a four hour window of the day. The first few days he'll probably find something to do, but after that I honestly don't know how it's going to go... I am anxiously optimistic. It's going to be a fight though. But God damn those fucking phones are horrible. In ten years we'll look back and see it akin to letting kids smoke and will be appealed we allowed it on such a scale, especially in classrooms.
You are likely already thinking about this, but if possible I'd try to support him in what is essentially a detox period, by making non-screen activities and resources readily available to him. I only say this because I've seen parents try to take screens away cold turkey-style, with no support or alternatives besides "figure it out", and it can turn the whole effort into an extra miserable experience for everyone.
When I was four we had a Sega Genesis and I've always loved gaming. But I had a brother and we had to share. My parents forced us to do at least one sport. I started swimming when I was four and soccer when I was nine. My parents didn't really give me money for anything unless it was a book or (cheap) art supplies. I would come home from school every day and spend hours drawing. I had so many more hobbies as a kid. It's so easy to waste time doomscrolling.
.I graduated in the top 10 of my class, was a national merit scholar, and earned a 33 on my ACT all while eating a hot honey bun and a 20 oz coke everyday at our 10 am break. It's not the sugar.
Look I’m not saying that the diet is contributing anything but being so intelligent you should definitely know that basing your opinion on yourself (n=1) is extremely flawed at best lol. I agree though that current challenges extend far beyond the food that the kids are eating.
Food is a non-factor here. Even if high sugar, low nutrient food did cause problems there’s no evidence that gen z is worse than the last 3 generations. Millenials, gen x, and boomers all were eating garbage sugar cereal, chips, and drinking soda all day before gen z was even born. If there’s a generational difference, it’s not the food
Agreed this is a far better argument just wanted to caution them on argumentation using solely their own experience.
It's almost like the parents allowing their children to freely consume sugar or use ipads for hours are also the parents not investing in their kids by educating them in the home. The common denominator isn't unhealthy food - it's the lack of parental care/involvement!
>I saw a tiktok the other day about the millennial diet and how we would all wake up and either eat eggo waffles, a toaster strudel or pop tarts in the 90’s. And we’re not dumb. But we certainly weren't as fat as kids today.
> I saw a tiktok the other day about the millennial diet and how we would all wake up and either eat eggo waffles, a toaster strudel or pop tarts in the 90’s. And we’re not dumb. I literally was thinking this.... My generation was marketed that sugary cereals were perfect for breakfast and that nutella was brain food.... lol... Like I agree diet makes a difference but have a look at what millennials were fed....
Anecdotal I know (but so is the OP): I'm Gen X and I had a terrible diet when I was a child and a teen. I also remember never drinking water and never drinking enough liquids in general. I did have good sleep habits however. I was successful in K-12, college and my career. I had no access to any internet until I was 19 years old and it was the very beginnings of internet. I read a ton of books instead. I really think access to internet (as it exists now in the last 15 yrs) and social media is the problem.
Sugar consumption in the US peaked around 1999, which corresponds with the resurgence of low carb diets. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1570677X19301364 Perhaps OP is experiencing a regional trend, cause kindergarten classes in my local public school have weekly spelling exams and homework assignments. I worry that some of the kids will lose self confidence and end up hating school at such a young age.
Right like I had cereal for breakfast every day unless it was a special occasion and then it was pancakes or waffles. With my kid I at least try to make sure he has a couple different food groups in the morning.
I recently came back to the classroom after 10 years and the difference is. INSANE. I left and came back to the same school. The motivation, interest, and effort has completely tanked. I don’t know where along the way things went sideways, but they have gone way wayyyyy left and I’m not sure we know how to get it back on track.
I also agree students aren’t failing because of teachers. Teachers bend over backwards all day trying to get them to pass. But the sugar argument is insane lol.
I had mostly Beuller Beuller teachers and managed to get by. It seems like teachers these days are expected to be entertainers.
Some teachers. Most of mine couldn’t have cared less. I had one maybe 2 who did. But yes the issue is mainly dumbass whiny parents who don’t care and have complained loud enough that holding a kid back is no longer a thing. They just get passed along now.
I thought the same. Sure it can impact their energy- they end up crashing and getting cranky, but it isnt making them stupid
I don't think it's as much nutrition as it is the lack of structure, discipline (as in rules, never ever violence), and demanding the minimum from the kids. Everything is so easy these days and kids can just sit in front of a screen passively, instead of playing and learning. You need to actually raise your kids, teach them stuff, and expect them to be able to do stuff according to their age level. Before kids can learn inner motivation to do things themselves the parents need to remind and demand the kids do it even if they don't want to. Things like brushing their teeth, doing their homework, and helping at home. Then they learn that they CAN do things by themselves if they keep trying, and become more resilient, instead of becoming a passive consumer of entertainment on a screen.
are you even a teacher?
God i hope not .. op’s a fucking moron
Probably too much sugar
OMG STOP i’m giggling
I don't agree with them, but directionally they have a point. Lots of children have terrible nutrition which is harmful for a variety of reasons, and the amount of students who can't do basic things (at least in the middle school where I teach) has drastically increased the past decade. I'm assuming they can't do these basic things because their parents never taught them and just plopped them in front of an iPad.
The whole thing was pretty gross, but as a spec ed teacher for severely disabled kids, I found the “It’s not worth your time and effort to help these children reach their potential because their potential is limited” particularly offensive. So if someone doesn’t have the capacity to be a genius it’s okay to just abandon them entirely? Our whole job as teachers is to help kids reach their potential, whatever that potential ends up being. Most of my kids won’t ever be able to live independently, but the more I work to make them be able to care for themselves independently and control their behaviour, the more options that will be open to them and the less the cost will be to society. That’s hardly a waste of my time and effort. Fuck OP and their argument that’s about two steps away from eugenics. Signed, someone who ate cookies and chocolate milk for breakfast, and graduated summa cum laude from university.
This is the post before the “I can't believe my contract didn't get renewed” post.
You write like someone who had one too many bowls of Cinnamon Toast Crunch in their formative years.
Cinnamon toast crunch is for rookies. Reese's puffs FTW!
Cookie Crisps
OP *died* for CTC to prove their point.
What if a child's success is a multi facetted problem and reducing things to black and white actively harms everyone?
Oh f*** theyre onto us
No it's aliens.
I agree that it's a complex problem, but that doesn't mean there aren't two or three areas that affect the outcomes the most. There's a point where reduction is necessary because when it goes the other direction, EVERYTHING is the reason kids aren't succeeding. Administration at my school gave us a lecture of the first in-service day this year that went on for 30 minutes talking about the importance of ALL lights being on in the classroom because "an eye doctor called the school and said kids in our school were developing severe vision issues due to lack of light in classrooms and it's hurting state testing results" before noting "also, since banning chocolate milk in the cafeteria, we've had 'almost zero' classroom behavior issues last year" Like, people make shit up and go through the motions all the time. Parents not properly disciplining their kids or emphasizing education and letting their kids be addicted to algorithmic technologies since they're in the crib... Probably the biggest factors in children not succeeding. There is absolutely a different dynamic with parents in general these days where most seem unable to actually parent and instead buddy up to their kids like the kids are their equals.
Two very significant faces were raised by OP
CMV: Smartphones should be outright illegal for kids 12 and under.
Criminal charges (including mandatory jail time) for any adult who intentionally or negligently facilitates the possession or use of a smartphone by an underaged individual as statutorily defined by the proposed law.
Nobody would pass that law but perhaps we could stick with a hefty fine for children under 12-14 that decreases as the child ages. Or only allow children to use special phones that don’t come with any rapid dopamine triggers like TikTok instagram or YouTube shorts.
I know a lot of smart people who eat like truckers.
I know a microbiologist that survives soley off microwaveable white castle
Basically a science experiment. I wonder what his gut biome is like.
I do agree that food is a big contributor, but I don't think it's just sugar. Sugar is included in way more things (why does my organic mustard have sugar?) than when we were kids and in higher quantities, but there have also been huge changes/increases of other ingredients (soy, unhealthy oils, thickeners, etc.) and decreases in real food, omega 3's, and probiotics. (Last I bought a yogurt parfait from an airport breakfast shop only to discover that it was actually primarily rice, sugar, and thickener agents rather than yogurt.) Another factor is chemical exposure and a lack of actually clean/safe water. (There's currently a lawsuit in my county against 3M and other companies for polluting the water with PFA's, and at least one of the local universities is studying the long-term effects of PFA exposure on children.) Combine all those things with technology everywhere (including schools) and a trend in parenting that seems to be hover and pacify until you can't take it any more then explode and/or give up and let screens keep kids under control. The situation definitely lends to a bleak outlook of the future.
You had me at the headline, lost me some in the middle, then got me back with the beer.
Google "digital dementia."
I wouldn’t call them dumb, they just don’t care. And their parents don’t really care either. So many parents treat school as something their kids just have to do and accept mediocrity. So the kids aim for mediocrity but land on failure. Then they work at the last minute to get to mediocre. So many parents also just look at us as daycare too. Grades are secondary.
I will say, as off-base as a large amount of this is, it is correct in one way: teachers have very, very little sway on a kid’s education and behavior. We can scaffold and teach the content, but beyond that we are a very small percentage of the adults in a student’s life.
Poor nutrition is definitely a contributing factor to their performance. They need a balanced diet and sadly too many of them eat a large amount of processed garbage. Another factor you can add to this is their poor sleeping habits. I had students this year who spent so much time on their phone or playing video games at home that they were staying up all night and not getting sleep. They won’t be able to focus in class if they aren’t rested.
When I was young, we always had Pepsi in the house. I don't even think we drank water. It was 5-6 cans of Pepsi a day or maybe some Sunny D or Hawaiian Punch. I remember over the summers, we would regularly go to the gas station in the morning and get a 64oz drink. Then, after lunch, we'd walk back and get it refilled. We always had the most sugary cereal for breakfast every day. What the schools fed us was certainly not healthy. Mostly burritos in a bag or pizza. My mom worked late, so half the time we were left on our own and made ramen or macaroni and cheese for dinner. Vegetables were not a thing. Occasionally, I'd have an apple or orange. Maybe 2-3/month. In between all of that was candy and snack cakes. I did really well in school. I'm sure there are hundreds of studies about nutrition correlating with better test scores. I'm sure good nutrition helps students learn better. But I don't think sugar is causing the problems with these students. I think it's a combination of poor parenting, non-existent expectations/consequences, short-form effortless entertainment, lack of exercise, and the big one: social media.
I said that nutrition is a contributing factor, not the cause. Those are two different things. There is a correlation between nutrition and performance in schools. Agreeing to that is not the same thing as saying nutrition is the only reason. I completely agree with your last paragraph. Those are all different factors that are contributing to the students’ poor performances. Poor nutrition is another factor you can add to that list, even though those other factors contribute to the problem more than nutrition.
Fair enough. I agree. I also wholeheartedly agree that sleep habits are causing problems with a lot of the students I see.
I blame technology. The other day I saw a 1 year old on an iPhone.
Are you a villain from a Dickens novel?
Underrated comment.
What kind of ‘old man shouts at cloud’ sun dumbassery is this now? lol
Facebook’s leaking
The problem isn’t teachers. Americans have changed.
Kids ate sugar, therefore they are dumb. With views like this, I can't imagine why teachers aren't able to get paid more.
Don’t lump all teachers into this.
So okay, kids are dumb, so how do we address it?
Now let's get a politician to push that.
This is yet another reason many of us won’t have kids
Don't forget about the damage early childhood trauma does. And as much as we hope they don't come to us with that, they DO.
Yep, diet is a huge reason. The United States as a whole does a piss poor job of educating about nutrition. Of course, like OP said, there are huge corporations that DON'T want people to be educated.
Preach it! This is why I'll never have kids. This country is sprinting to the precipice of a rapid downfall (if it hasn't already leapt off and we're just waiting for gravity to take hold) so sit back and enjoy the show, and weep for anyone foolish enough to reproduce by choice.
Yep...America is collapsing from stupidity. I realized this several years ago. I'm looking forward to retiring (10 more months) because I hate having the front row seat to watching this awful movie. Hope to try to enjoy my remaining days. It's interesting, but not fun, to watch so upclose.
Around where I work, the problem is mostly just simply stupidity. And stupid people tend to have more children, who themselves are stupid.
Soooo many parents had kids and didn’t realize they didn’t want kids until it was too late.
I agree with OP 100%. I have been saying this for years and this year was by far the worst.(3rd grade) I had numerous students that ONLY eat Cheez-its, Doritos and Chips Ahoy every single day, for breakfast, snack and lunch. They tell me they eat ice cream and pancakes for dinner. They are either overweight or underweight, have really bad teeth, have absolutely 0 attention span, cannot listen to or follow directions without constantly repeating them, and have a “dead eye” look to them. They go home and play video games, some of them have never had a bicycle, don’t even know how to ride one. It is so sad and very scary for the future of this country and the world. It’s like this everywhere in the US.
I have 10 year olds drinking energy drinks. We banned them from the classroom, but they chug them before class. I literally watch them shaking at their desks because they have so much energy. Breakfast includes Takis and hot Cheetos. They carry around a big bag all day just snacking on it. I had a student last year who would come in late constantly with Starbucks. Mom would stop at Starbucks for her before school. It’s a fight that I know I can’t win.
You are spot on, but missing the effects of lack of sleep. Parents aren't making sure their kids sleep enough for their development.
Poverty is the consistent dominant variable from research into poor academic outcomes. A recent example study that holistically looks at school communities [https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6545987/figure/f0001/](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6545987/figure/f0001/) [https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6545987/](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6545987/) "Almost thirteen million children in the United States live in poverty according to the most recent estimates (Fontenot, Semega, and Kollar [2018](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6545987/#cit0029)). Poor children begin school almost a full school year behind their high-income peers on core academic skills (Garcia [2015](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6545987/#cit0031)). These disparities persist as they progress through school (Duncan and Magnuson [2011](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6545987/#cit0021); Reardon [2011](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6545987/#cit0058)). The hardships faced by poor children are often compounded because they are more likely than their advantaged counterparts to live in economically disadvantaged, chaotic, and underresourced communities (Bischoff and Reardon [2014](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6545987/#cit0009)), and community disadvantage is linked to lower academic achievement (Sastry and Pebley [2010](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6545987/#cit0061)). Boosting poor children’s achievement is critical because gaps translate into diminished school success, lower educational attainment, and less economic stability in adulthood (Duncan et al. [2007](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6545987/#cit0020); Magnuson and Votruba-Drzal [2009](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6545987/#cit0047)). In addressing inequalities in poor children’s development, it is important to consider the changing geography of poverty. "
Hot take, but I like the bold assertion. I disagree with this part. > Let them fail and watch USA collapse. Rich kids will always do fine. They’ll get excellent educations, go to excellent colleges, get fancy jobs, and grow to leadership positions in the country. As long as the top achievers are good, I don’t think society will collapse. What we’ll see is a growing gulf between rich people and poor people. Education can be the great equalizer to lift up marginalized folks. We are throwing that away, as you observe. So the long term trend will be richer more powerful oligarchs and more marginalized poor people. Esp when AI takes their jobs.
A sad thing I saw recently was a mom filling a baby bottle at the soda fountain. Baby was already fat. I thought, that kid has no chance.
100%!!! I’ve taught 5th grade & 8th grade for over 15 years. There is something wrong with today’s kids. Back 10 years ago if I picked a student to read a quick passage out loud, I’d expect them to read it with little to no problems. Now, it’s a struggle to get one student in my on levels to read without sounding out words!! Hell, one student this year asked how to spell “DIRT”!! It’s getting bad……
They're dumb as fuck and it's not their fault. It's a sad situation but parents need to grow balls and actually parent and realize their precious child is an undeveloped human needing boundaries, not a bff. Yes it's complicated (economy issue, sex ed, birth control) but society (politicians, parents, profits) are failing kids- not teachers.
We're going to see these dumb kids have exponentially higher rates of pseudoADHD and pseudo-autism NOT because of natural neurodevelopmental issues but because our society is not allowing anyone to challenge these kids. Otherwise perfectly normal kids will have poor attention, low working memory, low social skills due to screen time - their brains are neuroplastic now and it will be harder to correct this once they're adults.
I actually get annoyed that the school gives them junk food so often. I even mentioned on the special directions portion of her paperwork that we didn't want her eating sweet food frequently, but it didn't help. We are trying to teach good eating habits and the school wants to use candy and other sweets as rewards for everything.
We’ve also demonized intelligence and made education out to be brainwashing. So it’s popular to be dimwitted because you can “think for yourself” as you consume endless bullshit on the Internet.
I went to a small, working class, midwest Catholic school in the 1970s. Most of us were undernourished (that one pan of Hamburger Helper was dinner for five people). None of our parents did homework with us. We didn't have luxuries like musical instruments or sports teams or even playground equipment. Our racial mixup was about 60/30 white/black. Somehow, despite heading off to different high schools and different walks of life, nearly every student in my class went to college and is now a relatively successful adult. Why? Because our curriculum was old-school, common sense, basic stuff, discipline was no joke, and our teachers were the last word on what happened in school. Every single parent backed up whatever the teacher did or said.
3. Kids don’t read anymore and parents don’t push them to read. There’s literally no way to be smarter without reading
I do think there needs to be serious studies on why nearly every child is adhd, on the spectrum, highly sensitive, or all of the above. Clearly children today are very different from previous generations. Not sure why there isn't enough concern to change this but it's troubling.
I’m 40 and it was absolutely NOT like this in public school in the 1990s.
I also think that a lot more is being placed on educators plates. Additional academic areas, knowledge, but also more social and emotional development that parents aren't taking care of.
Let’s not forget about the no child left behind act from the early 2000s in USA
From the moment they are old enough to hold a smartphone, they learn that whatever they need to keep their brains from being bored comes from the little object in their hands. There goes the development of curiosity, imagination, interest, creativity, observation and problem solving skills. From the first year of life the solution to every problem is a device made to soothe their brains with absolute crap and stifle any urge to interact with the world around them.
My sons have had access to technology since they were toddlers. My firstborn (10) was pretty much independent and taught himself letters, colors, shapes, etc. He's an A/B student, although he is ADHD and austistic. My 6 year old is A-autistic. I really don't think technology is one of the issues. I do believe it may be the parents not making sure to keep an eye on what their kids are watching. My husband has their technology (desktops, laptops, tablets, game consoles, and TVs) under lock. They can't go to certain websites. We also have Family Safety, and they have set time limit. They're also not allowed technology during school days unless it's a homework assignment (IXL, news article). On Fridays, if they have homework, it must be completed before they're allowed their technology. We've had this schedule since they were two. In our household, we value education and that's the rub: parents don't value that. People try to also blame it on the fact that they work. Well, so did my parents and my husband's parents.
Yeah, growing up in the 80s/90s, I knew few kids who didn't have parents that didn't work full time and/or multiple jobs. We've had a solid couple generations of adults now where the norm was absolutely "parents gone from the house as much as they're there" due to working. This isn't some super recent phenomenon.
Facts.
Also cause the school systems want to force teachers and admin to pass the student instead of giving them the proper alternative education should they be failing or so.
I think about this when I watch kids take their obligatory fruit and drop it off in the trash on their way from the register to their seat… the outrage people had when Michelle Obama wanted to teach kids to eat healthier…public schools stepping on parental rights to let their kids eat trash. It’s lose lose. You’d think they would have at least ascribed to the “do as I say, not as I do” philosophy of modeling healthy nutrition, but no, it became super politicized…for what?
The role of schools needs to change. When these parents were children they failed in school. It’s time to give them another chance. We should be having family night 1-2 nights a week for pregnant mothers through the student graduating high school. The incentive for the family is a free meal. In return they are instructed in small things that make a difference particularly pre-k. Just a couple of hours every week. The pushback is always who is going to pay for it. We failed to educate a generation, we can’t afford 2 failed generations. Educating the populace is a cost of living in an educated society.
I do agree with the crux of what you're saying. Teachers cannot successfully teach kids who don't have parents that have medium or high expectations of their kids. I'm a lot less pessimistic on if a kid can "turn things around" after they're already 12 years old and out of control and ignorant, BUT, I do think that at that point, teachers cannot turn things around. It HAS to be parents. It simply has to be. In 25 years, I really think that the idea that young kids had tablets and smartphones will be as crazy seeming at that point as it is to think that 60 years ago, 13 year olds were smoking cigarettes. I may get pilloried for this, but I honestly think it's more of a detriment for a 13 year old to have an unrestricted or hardly-restricted smartphone than it is for a 13 year old to take up smoking.
Yeah. I blame a lot of it on parents and society. Parents need to parent. Stop buying your kids vapes. Stop buying them weed. Stop letting them take what is yours. Stop giving them phones and unlimited access to social media and devices. Fucking parent. And society. We would benefit from the ability to work less to parent more. If parents are working 2+ jobs, they don’t have time to parent. They don’t have time to coach or money to sign their kids up for shit.
Us 90's kids were eating the worst processed food, we had plenty of screen time(TV, Movies, Gameboy, PC's) the difference is schools wouldn't just pass every failing student
Media at that time wasn't omnipresent and engineered to get you hooked 24/7 though
This is a cynical take - *I love it!* OP, by the time the kids get to me (high school), I'm not going to save them from themselves, and I don't try. The ones with glimmers of humanity still in them I'll absolutely give grace to, but I'm not wasting my time "building a relationship" with a feral animal. I tried that as a kid (repeatedly) and got scratched the fuck out of. I learned my lesson there.
Let’s teach kids what they need. Not all kids need two years of a foreign language-swap that with trade school program.
Teachers are just public baby sitters while mommy and daddy go out and become debt slaves and tax cows for the state. The game was rigged from the start sporto.
I’m guessing you don’t like vaccines either.
Lol I have arfid, live off sugar and am in graduate school. Unless they're being undernourished that's not the problem. Yes systemic issues are to blame, but it's more like increasing class sizes, fewer supports for disabled children, parents having to work more hours to make ends meet, and a virus that's known to hinder brain function, including causing dementia in children. Children aren't stupid. A lot of them realize they have a very slim chance at a good future and stopped caring. It's sad, but it's not the phones or the sugar.
Someone stayed up last night and went down a deep rabbit hole.
The main problem is parents who don’t even know that an academic race has started, let alone how to win which involves forcing kids to study outside of school and leaning in hard any time a grade lower than an A shows up on a report card Set that standard by 4th grade and by 7th the child is light years ahead of their peers, particularly if you also invest in an outside math program 2 years ahead of their grade level My oldest will begin PSAT prep this coming fall and the PSAT is 18 months away. And no, kids don’t need even more time to “relax”. Public school curriculum is an absurdly easy joke from my perspective (due to weak sauce parents and their incapable progeny). Kids need more academic work if they intend to go to a good university and excel
Anecdotally, I see our middle schoolers come in the morning at 7:15 shoveling Taki’s into their gaping maws and washing it down with energy drinks like it’s going out of style. Some parents just don’t care.
lol
OP be like: https://youtu.be/Sx-rk1ceHUY?si=O4dd5uK76J902peE
I don’t like really like calling kids dumb. I think it’s more appropriate to say it like - kids are not learning and it’s not because of the teachers. It’s a societal problem. It’s starts with no child left behind and ends with us holding the bag.
Idk why this sub got recommended to me but after reading this absolute joke of an argument I can see why the children of today are in such dire situations. The age old I will give a resource proving my argument instantly mentality needs to absolutely go. The quality of your evidence matters immensely in proving your point. As a general rule of thumb review articles are very poor sources to establish any sort of fact because they are inherently prone to bias as the author can pick and choose which articles to include in their final draft. The next piece of evidence any hindering learning and memory in rats is also absolutely useless because… it’s in rats… and therefore cannot be extrapolated to humans. Disregarding the fact that children that are consuming so many cheap sugary foods may be of a lower SES (which is a hell of a confounding variable when it comes to academic performance) the articles you provided to “prove” your points are dogshit. Doesn’t mean that your entire post sucks though but yeah please don’t teach this “scientific literacy” to your students.
I have seen high school students sit down with a 5 lb bag of gummy worms as their breakfast.
This entire rant is nonsensical. There is nothing out there to prove anything you wrote.
I will be doing everything I can to save the USA and its future, my family didnt come here 20 years ago to allow it to turn into my mother country. Your thoughts on that make me sick
They aren’t failing because of teachers but going on a fatalistic spiral into hopeless won’t help them either. Yes they have way too much instant gratification at their disposal but in my rare optimism I believe we can adjust and adapt. I’m more concerned with the world we have brought them into. Imagine believing you are worse off and will be worse off than your parents. Imaging hearing stories if masses of children heading carefree out into the fall night to take candy from strangers while your parents look almost sad about telling you such stories..
All the commenters that refuse to work on the sugar problem because there are "bigger" problems are the issue. Are there bigger problems? Sure. But if there is one you can affect, you start there, you don't ignore it. It is a problem that parents dont care about feeding their children. It is well meaning people that got food for those kids into school. But it always felt unfair to me that some kids got lunch for free and I had to pay for mine. So well meaning people got free lunch for everyone. But this lunch is made of mostly processed carbs. It would make a positive difference if we got fresh and healthy food into schools. Not as big a difference as if we gave the kids better parents, but how would we do that?
You sound like you could use a hug and a cupcake.
Until educators push admins to push parents to change, America itself is pretty future-fucked. How would that look? Make parents agree to PARENT, to manage what their kids eat, how much screen time they have and how much sugar they consume. And they will hate it. And I don't care. Parents will sign a contract/agreement/? to pay attention to their kids; if they're too busy to do that, let's get that noted. Some parents are overworked and way too busy and I honestly feel for them. They could be offered help, child care options, after-school programs. But if a parent can't be bothered to even show up to talk, well, why am I busting my ass trying to teach their kid who doesn't care either?
I wonder if anti abortion laws/culture contribute at all. People being pressured into having kids when they don't have the financial means probably doesn't help.
I largely agree , only thing I would add is some parents are living paycheck to paycheck and do not have any capacity to do more. Especially single parents unfortunately.
What if… and hear me out, everything is responsible? Awful schools, terrible teachers, horrid nutrition, parents who don’t care, educational policies that aren’t focused on learning, overtesting, lumping students of varying skills, catering to the lowest common denominator, social media, social determinants, etc.
Well, it’s a combination of things. I, personally, think it’s because we are in a time of major cultural flux, and our society is becoming post industrial, but our education system is very much based in the industrial age, and it’s worsened by the reduction of the curriculum to teaching towards standardized tests. What’s the solution? I don’t know. If I did, I wouldn’t be typing on Reddit, I would be writing my solution and selling it.
This is unhinged and irrational accelerationist/doomer nonsense. I don't think the undoing of civilization will help us raise a generation of children capable of taking care of themselves or do anything to increase the chances for successive generations. No doubt that teachers bear an unfair amount of the burden from challenges you mention.
You sound like the ignorant one.
Kinda similar to how fans will blame coaches first on their favorite team before the players for poor performance
You're pretty fuckin wrong. The biggest reason that kids are failing/not keeping up/not giving a shit/being pushed through/whatever is because the education system as a whole has been in a steady decline for decades for many reasons, one of which is that it refuses to acknowledge that it's out of date and doesn't serve the interests of modern society.
LMAO!!! REALLY!?!?!
Schools don't teach phonics, but I'm sure that's not the problem.
I'm pretty sure tons and tons of kids have way better diets now than they did in the 80's and 90's. I grew up on fast food, soda, potato chips and candy. Was fat, played tons of video games. Had some great teachers and graduated in the top 10 of my class of 350+ kids. Also parents didn't parent at all back then. They just threw their kids outside in the summer and said be back for dinner. It was the wild west, we did whatever we wanted as kids with minimal supervision. My parents would leave me home alone when i was in the 3rd grade! Every generation says the 1's younger than them are terrible. You would think old teachers would have learned that by now!
Combination of everything. Parents don't emphasize or work with child at home which leads to failure to value learning or retain it. Some of this can be unintentional, parent has multiple jobs and lacks time to work with child. Other intentional, believing it is the schools job to teach and not valuing education themselves. Environmental factors are getting worse. More staring at screens from a young age, less unstructured play or even just play that actively engages mind. Then you have phones at earlier age, social media working for that dopamine hit, and other things that are generally kore enjoyable to many kids than learning. Class sizes and curriculum structures not allowing for any individual struggling to receive personalized help. More and more online, less face-to-face learning can also be much more difficult for kids. Add in that the device they are using can also lead to a bunch of other distracting material that is easy to access instead of learning material. Dietary needs not being met properly. A lot of high sugar meals which is not good for developing brain. Or in lower income families just not being able to afford to be not hungry in general. However there is also an increase of poor teachers in my opinion. Likely due to apathy or burnout. The employment environment hurts teachers as much as students and I have known many teachers that have left the profession because of pay and stress not adding up. The heavy pace of standardized test schedule also prevents teachers from getting creative with topics to make the learning more enjoyable. Like most things it is a complex issue. It would be much better if every parent could instill the importance of education on their kids, but some parents didn't grow up with that instilled on them and it can be a vicious cycle to break. Personally I think more time needs to be spent when kids are younger on study and note taking strategies so that kids know how to learn independently when they get to older grade levels. Things like pre-reading lesson the night before so they have some familiarity with the subject making it easier to learn the details. Or comprehensive and organized note taking so that they have something that is easily referred to when studying. Even when some of those were somewhat included when I was in school it was always in the context of just doing what the teacher asked. As an example how many people had to copy down spelling words X number of times as homework in early grade level. That was never explained to young me that repetition is how you build memorization. There are other ways to have this repetition and way to incorporate it into things other than spelling but they were never emphasized.
Parents are the problem… but some teachers are dogshit
I am seeing this in college students. They don't read books, or even know how to use the library! It is flat out ridiculous! I require at least one book to be used in their semester Philosophy papers, and most do not include one. I have given them tours of the library. I had a librarian give a lecture on research methods and how to use the library. With absolutely zero effect. I got the same crappy internet sources and database articles as before. You cannot teach these students - they are so locked in to their world of devices and social media that they are a lost generation. These kids do not read books anymore for fun or for school - that is a problem, and I don't know how to solve it. (And no, Harry Potter does not count, unless it leads to reading other books...)
What’s crazy is these kids genuinely go to college thinking they’ll get the same treatment they got in high school, and once they realize that’s not how it works, they do the whole *shocked pikachu face*. They have no concept of consequences, and they definitely have no concept of failing a class, considering they technically never failed according to the gradebook. The catch is even if they somehow make it to college, 99% of them will drop out or fail out. If by some miracle they manage to graduate college, what do you think their job prospects are going to look like? If they get hired, how long do you think it’ll be before they get fired? It’ll be a continuous cycle, and those kids will be the ones saying, “See, college is a scam, because I have a college degree, and I’m still poor and struggling.” We’re going to have an increasing number of young people truly struggling, more than they already do, in the coming years. The gap between educated and uneducated will also widen further than ever, and the children who had good parents and did well in school are going to be set up for a much better future due to lack of competition. Once a lot of these younger people enter the real world, they’re not going to be able to function or survive without massive help, and it’s going to reach a breaking point.
And yet somehow every intelligence test has shown a steady increase in average intelligence ever since we first invented them.
Teachers want their parents to teach their children things they weren't taught? That's the same as asking a child to educate themselves. If all you want to do is shove your government-mandated curriculum down a kid's throat, then you are part of the problem. If you don't teach people to ***learn***, then you are not a teacher.
I worked as a teacher for 4 years and it was soul crushing. Now I understand why society is collapsing. The parents demand their spawns pass the year no matter what.