According to Washington State Institute for Public Policy (WSIPPA – March 2005) the high school graduation rates in the United States in 1870 were less than 5% of school age teens. In 1940 that number reached 50% and by 1960 reached 70% where it started to fluctuate annually a few percent (single digits) one way or the other.
The reason for the need of a better educated population today is because we are no longer an agricultural country. In 1870, 74% of the population lived on rural farms and it doesn’t take a lot of science, math and literacy to farm [before farming became high tech]. By 1990, 75% of the US population had moved from the country to the city.
Along with this shift in rural to urban population centers, parenting methods went through a metamorphosis. In 1870, children were considered property and could be forced to work hard labor on the farms or be sold into servitude to work in coal mines or factories.
The Child Labor Public Education Project says that it wasn’t until 1938 that for the first time, minimum ages of employment and hours of work for children were regulated by federal law. Before that, children were treated as if they were property—treated as if they were slaves.
Parallel to these changes came the self-esteem movement that had its start in the 1890s and by 1960 was the common practice of the average American parent (about 40% of all parents) to inflate a false sense of self esteem in children while pressuring the schools and teachers to do the same through grade inflation, doing away with rote learning, and dummying down the curriculum so it was easier for children to earn higher grades and feel good about themselves. In addition, having fun is now more important than merit.
The result, generations of young American narcissists that believe they are entitled to have fun and watch TV, eat what they want and not what they need, and have unlimited freedom to play video games, listen to music and spend as much time as they want social networking on sites such as Facebook.
If you have noticed that I am sometimes repeating myself from post to post, you are right. Rote learning does work and helps students remember important facts instead of forgetting them daily. Do you know who America’s 16th President was or its 32nd President and the significance of these two men?
When we ignore the lessons that history teaches us about our mistakes, our leaders (and parents) tend to make the same mistakes again and again.
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Perri O. Blumberg writing for Shine reported on foods that make you dumb. I’ve known about this for some time. There has been plenty of reputable research on this topic for years–for decades.
In a recent animal study, UCLA researchers found that rats fed a solution of fructose had a harder time navigating a maze, a sign of slowed learning and memory loss, compared to a second group of rats who were given the fructose solution as well as omega-3 fatty acids, which are thought to have a brain-boosting effect. The researchers suspect that the fructose-only diet decreased brain activity because it affected insulin’s ability to help brain cells use sugar to process thoughts and emotions. Certain omega-3 fatty acids may buffer the brain from the harmful effects of fructose.
A diet high in “bad” saturated fat may hurt brain function, according to new Harvard research published in the Annals of Neurology. When researchers studied the eating habits and tested the brain function of 6,000 women for an average of four years, they found the women who ate the most saturated fat scored lower on tests of brain function and memory.
A recent British study published in the Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology found that chewing gum during a memorization exercise impaired participants’ short-term memories.
After teaching for thirty years, this is what I learned from about 6,000 students by working with them and through obeservation. In addition, I discovered (by asking questions of my students) that the average American child/teen does not eat breakfast, hates water, loves soda, loves French fries and cheese pizza, hates to read, hates to do homework, uses the excuse that the teacher was boring not to study or pay attention in class and then most of America blames the teachers when the child does not remember what he or she was taught.
In addition (and I’ve written about this in detail before on this Blog), studies also show that the average American child/teen spends about 10 hours a day dividing his or her time watching TV, listening to music, playing video games, spending time on social networking sites such as Facebook, sending endless text messages, etc. If this is true, when do those children and teens find time to read, do homework and study?
At the one high school where I worked, after the soda machines were installed, the students were drinking about 2,000 cases of soda a week. There were 24 Cokes to a case and about three thousand students. Do the math. How many Cokes did the average student drink a week at that high school while classes were in session? It cost $1 for one soda and the district was paid 50 cents for each sale.
If you do the math, it works out to three Cokes a day per student. One 12 oz can of Coke has 39 grams of sugar x 3 = 117 grams. However, one 20 oz bottle of Coca Cola, which is what they sold out of the vending machines at the high school where I was a teacher, has 65 grams of sugar or 195 grams for three bottles.
Meanwhile, the average American parent (about 40% of all parents representing an influencial block of voters) continues to inflate a false sense of self esteem in his or her children while pressuring teachers to find ways for the kids to have more fun, feel successful in class by inflating grades and dummying down the curriculum while doing away with boring rote learning, which is necessary for some subjects such as spelling, the rules of grammar and mechanics, math, science and the history of the United States in addition to how the US government works.
How does a child/teen know what the Constitution means when he or she cannot remember what it says?
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Ray Bradbury is gone and like Krista Bunskoek I too was influenced by this amazing man. In 1968, my first year in college, I heard him speak in person and what he said lit a fire inside of me to write stories and that flame is still burning.
Thank you, Ray Bradbury — may you rest in peace. The last time I saw Bradbury in person was a few years ago in the authors’ room at the Los
Angeles Times Festival of books at UCLA. He sat in a wheel chair and did not look healthy. I was tempted to go over and say hello but decided not to. Maybe I should have thanked him for inspiring me to write.
One of the most influential, prolific and talented writers of our time. Ray Bradbury.
It’s sad to see him go. But, wow, I’d like to give him thanks for living the way he did!
My most memorable influences from Mr. Bradbury came in Grade 9. I recall, rather vividly, sitting in class, as a young aspiring writer myself, reading the required Fahrenheit 451. It was written decades before then, but the realism and the path we were on rang true: the television screens which took over housing walls, and society’s obsessions over the small, sensationalized news headlines. Yeah, he wrote about that – in 1953.
I am certain this one book of his made me even more determined to one day write a book of my own. And dang gum it, to ensure that books – in whatever form they may be – will not burned by the…
To show how the average American (including children and teens) are getting dumber, let’s look at today’s average American diet.
USDA.gov reported that in 1950-59, the average consumption of fats and oils was 44.6 pounds per capita. In 2000, it was 75.6 pounds. That was almost a 70% increase in bad fat and oil consumption.
However, total fruit consumption only improved 12% while total vegetable consumption improved 26%. Meanwhile 75% of Americans are now fat and a third obese.
The USDA also reported that consumers eat too much refined grain; too little whole grain. Per capita use of refined flour and cereal products increased by 75%. According to the survey only 7% of Americans ate the recommended three or more servings of whole-grain foods a day.
In addition, America’s sweet tooth increased 39% between 1950-59 – 2000 as the use of corn sweeteners octupled (eight times). In 1950, high fructose corn syrup consumption (the most unhealthy sweetner choice) was zero. By 2000, high fructose corn syrup consumption was 63.8 pounds per capita (mostly in sodas such as Coke).
The USDA says Americans have become conspicuous consumers of sugar and sweet-tasting foods and beverages. As for the U.S. Beef and Cattle Industry, in 2011 it was worth 79 billion dollars. The US beef, milk and dairy producers are the largest in the world. There are about one million people that work in this industry. In addition, around 3.5 million work in the fast food industry and Americans spend more than $110 billion for fast food, while the impact of the sugar industry on the US economy adds up to over 142,000 jobs and nearly $20 billion in economic activity in the US alone.
Next, how does a bad diet impact the average child’s ability to learn?
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An example of America’s continuing Cultural Revolution was reported on ABC News: “The mother of an 8-year-old Arizona girl who was presented with a “Catastrophe Award” for apparently having the most excuses for not having homework believes her child was humiliated by her teacher.”
So what!
When you scan the comments for this ABC piece , many sound like these, which I copied and pasted from the ABC News piece:
“Where has this MOTHER been? why hasn’t she been aware that her daughter hasn’t been doing her homework? Why is she going on t.v. to complain about this issue?”
“The mother wasn’t aware that her daughter had a problem with homework? Maybe she should have gone to a parent/teacher conference or two. But no. She goes on TV to cry and complain. At least we know where the daughter gets her talent for making excuses.”
” It is not the teachers responsibility to have a child do homework.. it is the parents! If a parent is having trouble taking time in the evening to help her child than she needs to hire a tutor.”
“The mother should be more aware of what her child is doing at school……I’m sorry but kids have homework every night maybe the mother should go through her back pack once in a while. I’m so sick of parents no being responsible for their children’s ACTIONS!!!!!”
As you can see, it is obvious that this mother was not doing the best job she could but she is not alone. In fact, she represents the average American parent as you shall discover. If you are reading this, I hope you are not one of those average parents.
Liberty.edu says, “Overall, most findings have shown parental involvement, whether at home or at school, have a moderately significant relationship with higher academic achievement, and this relationship has been found consistently across demographics (e.g., ethnicity, sex, or socioeconomic status) and measures of achievement (e.g., achievement tests, grades, and grade point averages). Research points to the conclusion that “parental involvement is an important predictor of children’s achievement in school” (Englund et al, 2004, p. 723).”
In addition, “A 1999 survey of St. Louis kindergarten students revealed that while 95% of the parents rated reading as very highly important, only 16% of the parents were reading to their children each day… .
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One could argue that America’s transformational Cultural Revolution started in 1861 at the start of the American Civil War which ended slavery in the United States in 1865.
In addition, the way the average American parent raises his or her children today, and how the public schools operate and the character of the average American child are all affected by this continuing revolution.
Several significant changes track this Cultural Revolution and metamorphosis—some good and some bad. After all, America’s leaders and citizens are only human. To understand this ignored revolution, one should know a few facts about US history first.
Good changes are in bold print showing improvement.
If the print is gray, the change is questionable.
If in italics, it means BAD things happened!
1. In 1800, about 6% of the US population lived in cities and more 94 % lived on farms and/or small rural communities. By 1990, almost 70% of the rural population had migrated to cities. This change took place due to the US Industrial Revolution (1820 – 1870), and America needed more educated citizens.
2. In 1850, life expectancy by age in America at birth was 38.3 years. By 1900, life expectancy at birth reached 48.23. In 1990, it was 72.7, and by 2012 (according to the CIA Factbook, life expectancy for all races and both sexes had reached 78.49 (ranked #50 globally).
3. Although critics of public education harp on the so-called low high-school graduation rates in the US, in 2007 the national graduation rate was almost 70%. However, to put this into perspective, in 1870, the high school graduation rate was less than 5% and by the turn of the century in 1900, thirty years later, only 7%. Forty-five years after that at the end of World War II, the rate was up to 55%. It wouldn’t be until 1970 that we would see the highest graduation rate at 76%. After that, it leveled off and hasn’t changed much and fluctuates a few percentage points up or down.
4. The Chinese Exclusion Act was signed into law on May 6, 1882. This act was one of the most significant restrictions on immigration in U.S. history and focused on all Asians. The act also affected Asians that had already settled in the US before it became law.This Act would not be repealed until December 17, 1943—sixty-one years later.
5.The 19th Amendment was ratified on August 26, 1920 establishing a woman’s right to vote.This movement started in 1848 and took 72 years to achieve.
6. For more than one-hundred-and-sixty-two years, Children in the United States could be sold by their parents into servitude to work in coal mines and factories up until the Fair Labor Standards Act in 1938, which set federal standards for child labor.
7. During World War II, 120,000 Japanese-Americans lost their homes and businesses when they were rounded up and sent to dozens of prison camps where they languished until the war ended (February 1942 – 1944; the last prison camp closed in 1945.) This act was challenged in the courts but the Supreme Court ruled in favor of the U.S. Government.
8. In 1948, President Truman signed Executive Order 9981 ending segregation in the US armed services: “”It is hereby declared to be the policy of the President that there shall be equality of treatment and opportunity for all persons in the armed services without regard to race, color, religion, or national origin.”
9. From roughly 1950 – 1954, McCarthyism was the practice of making accusations of disloyalty, subversion or treason without proper regard for evidence. During the McCarthy era, thousands of Americans were accused of being Communists or communist sympathizers and became the subject of aggressive investigations and questioning before government or private-industry panels, committees and agencies. This movement was so popular that 50% of the American public supported McCarthy’s vigilante witch hunts.
10. On July 2, 1964, President Johnson sings the Civil Rights Act of 1964. It was the most sweeping civil rights legislation since Reconstruction prohibiting discrimination of all kinds based on race, color, religion, or national origin.
11. The Spread of American Imperialism:the war with Mexico (1846-48) where the US seized New Mexico and California; the US Indian Wars (1865-1891), whichcost the lives of about 19,000 white men, women and children, including those killed in individual combats, and the lives of about 30,000 Indians; in the Spanish-American War (1898) the US gained Guam, the Philippines and Puerto Rico; Philippine-American War (1899-1902); Banana Wars (1898-1935); Moro Rebellion in the southern Philippines (1899-1913); Vietnam War (1955-1975), and the Iraq War (note: this is not a complete list). In addition. to maintain this empire, according to the US Department of Defense, the US military maintains 662 foreign sites in 38 countries around the world. Other sources claim that number is more than 1,000.
Now, just as America need smarter people, the average US citizen is going in the other direction from dumb to dumber, and this change is a continuation of the American Cultural Revolution that has been taking place since 1861.
However, this revolutionary change has to do with how the average parent raises his or her children, and it had its roots with John Dewey in 1886. It would take 82 years for this negative element of America’s Cultural Revolution to reach critical mass when by the late 1960s self-esteem was a fashionable and influential idea and that movement, which spread to the schools by the 1980s led to grade inflation, an end to rote learning in addition to dummying down the curriculum.
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In my opinion, the age of consent should be linked to physical maturity and not an artificial age of consent age such as 16 or 18 (in one state it is actually 14). Physical maturity means the ability to conceive a child. When a child turns into a physically mature adult, she could elect to go on birth control to avoid getting pregnant if the family decided it would be a bad idea to start having children at such a young age.
When Mother Nature releases the hormones that turn individuals into physical adults, the sex drive is usually a stronger force than any written laws that create an artificial age of consent (no matter the punishment), which ignores the influence of God, DNA, genetics, hormones and/or Mother Nature (depending on what one believes).
If God had wanted children to stay children until the age of 14, 16, or 18 (depending on the state), He would have made sure those children’s physical maturity obeyed the artificial laws written by men that ignore the reality He created. Hmm, imagine a 16 year old living in a state where 16 was the age of consent and then moving to California where it is 18. God would have to flip off the hormones and revert that young adult back into a child to obey man’s artificial laws.
However, since society frowns on relationships between teens and someone decades older (evidently God and Mother Nature do not frown on it since physical maturity can arrive at anytime between 12 and 16 — on average — when I was teaching I knew of a young girl that was age 9 that got pregnant so there are exceptions to the average), then possibly the law could define what is legal between individuals by the number of years in age.
For example: If it were legal for a 13 year old that was sexually mature to have sexual partners, then the law might stipulate that anyone more than five years his or her age would be breaking the law (this is a suggestion. It could be two years or three years, etc), which means a nineteen year old would go to jail if he or she had consensual sex with a physically mature 13 year old but anyone 18 or younger would not. When that 13 year old turned 14, the five year gap for consensual physical relationships would move up a notch, etc.
At 17, that means he or she would be able to have a legal relationship with someone that is 22 but not 23. In addition, if a fourteen year old was still not physically mature and incapable of conceiving a child, then sex with anyone of any age would be considered illegal, which means if there were twins and one twin became physically mature at 14 and the other one didn’t until 16, then the 14 year old could date but the other twin couldn’t.
The only reason I suggest this is because so many in America do not approve of young adults having mature relationships with much older individuals.
Since 18 is the age when young people may join the military without parental consent and go to war and die for his or her country, which I did soon after graduating from high school (but I didn’t die), then at 18, the age of consent laws should cease to exist and if an 18 year old wants to have a consensual relationship with someone that is 70 or 80 or 90, that is their business. However, to be honest, my wife and I would hate it if our 20-year-old daughter decided to date someone that old, but it is her life—I’m sure we would express our opinions though.
The laws the way that are written today create a conundrum. When I was still teaching, I knew of one young man that broke up with his girlfriend when he turned 18, and she was still 16. They were together for three years and were great together. It was obvious they loved each other.
However, even though this couple had been sexually active and had a strong bond, after his 18th birthday, he feared that he might end up in jail for twenty or more years, so he broke up with her (it was emotional for weeks because they were both in one of my classes), and they were only two years apart. Eventually, they asked me to see if it was possible for one of them to be transferred into one of my other classes so they would not be together.
When I was a little kid in school back in the middle 40s, I can remember being rewarded for doing good work. I loved it when the teacher stuck a gold star on my paper or workbook, and it made me want to do even better.
I also remember that we had reading groups, and they were divided according to ability. If you were in a lower group and your reading improved, you’d get moved to a higher one.
But over the years I started to notice a change in this merit-for-excellence system. Teachers started giving poor performers more attention, and even rewards, so they wouldn’t feel bad about themselves. I thought, why should an under-achiever get a reward? It didn’t make sense to me. Encouraging and helping someone do better is one thing, but I came to believe over the years that stroking the underdog doesn’t help anyone.
PRESS RELEASE
FOR RELEASE before June 1, 2012
CONTACT:
Lloyd Lofthouse, author lflwriter@gmail.com
IN THE 19th and EARLY 20th CENTURY, ROBERT HART WAS CRUCIAL TO THE SURVIVAL OF CHINA!
WALNUT CREEK, CA (3/2/12) — Robert Hart (1835 – 1911) was the ‘Godfather of China’s modernism’ and the only foreigner the emperor of China trusted. In fact, Hart played a crucial role in ending the bloodiest rebellion in history, and he owed this success largely to his live in dictionary and encyclopedia, his Chinese concubine Ayaou. In Dragon Lady, Sterling Seagrave wrote that Ayaou “was wise beyond her years”. In Entering China’s Service, Harvard scholars wrote, “Hart’s years of liaison with Ayaou gave him his fill of romance, including both its satisfaction and its limitations.”
With sales in the thousands, award-winning author Lloyd Lofthouse brings My Splendid Concubine (2007) and the sequel, Our Hart, Elegy for a Concubine (2010) together in The Concubine Saga (2012).
My Splendid Concubine was the love story Sir Robert Hart did not want the world to discover.
In the sequel, Our Hart, Elegy for a Concubine, he was the only foreigner the Emperor of China trusted.
Soon after arriving in China in 1854, Robert Hart falls in love with Ayaou, but his feelings for her sister go against the teachings of his Christian upbringing and almost break him emotionally. To survive he must learn how to live and think like the Chinese and soon finds himself thrust into the Opium Wars and the Taiping Rebellion, the bloodiest rebellion in human history, where he makes enemies of men such as the American soldier of fortune known as the Devil Soldier.
My Splendid Concubine earned honorable mentions in general fiction at the 2008 London Book Festival, and in 2009 at the Hollywood Book Festival and San Francisco Book Festival.
Our Hart, Elegy for a Concubine earned honorable mentions in general fiction at the Los Angeles Book Festival, Nashville Book Festival, London Book Festival, DIY Book Festival and was a Finalist of the National Best Books 2010 Awards.
In addition, The Concubine Saga picked up an Honorable Mention in Fiction at the 2012 San Francisco Book Festival.
Lloyd Lofthouse served in the Vietnam War as a U.S. Marine and lives near San Francisco with his wife and family with a second home in Shanghai, China. As a former Marine, Lloyd earned a BA in Journalism and an MFA in writing. His Blog, iLook China.net, currently averages 600 views a day with more than 200,000 since its launch in January 2010. My Splendid Concubine.com, his Website, has had 72,000 visitors since December 2007. At Authors Den, his work has been viewed 336,000 times.
In addition, in 2008, following the launch of My Splendid Concubine, Lofthouse appeared as a China expert on more than 30 talk-radio shows from The Dr. Pat Show on KKNW 1150 AM in Seattle to The Smith and Riley Show on WFLF 540 AM in Orlando Florida.
The real danger posed by alleged racist, money mongering Internet Troll sites such as the “Worsters” at Vote for the Worst.com is that if the viewers stop tunning in to watch American Idol and the show is cancelled, the opportunity for tens of thousands of music industry artists will vanish, and we will see a return to the old ways of becoming discovered, which means many will not stand a chance.
Phillip Phillips won season 11, but he was not the most talented singer. In fact, “When asked if he thought he would prevail after Tuesday night’s top two competition show, an incredulous Phillip gave powerhouse runner-up Jessica Sanchez—who some fans might argue was ‘robbed’—total props, answering: ‘No! Did you see Jessica’s last performance?’ Phillips also cited a standout performance by another powerhouse, Joshua Ledet’s ‘It’s A Man’s, Man’s, Man’s World,’ as one of his favorites of the entire season.”
Jessica is no “bot” as she sings with Jennifer Holliday
To explain the Worsters’ success, Ruchard Rushfield, the author of ‘American Idol: The Untold Story’ says, “But Idol voters aren’t thinking like record producers, according to Rushfield. “You have this alliance between young girls and grandmas and they see it, not necessarily as a contest to create a pop star competing on the contemporary radio, but as…who’s the nicest guy in a popularity contest,” he says, “And that has led to this dynasty of four, and possibly now five, consecutive, affable, very nice, good-looking white boys.” Source: ABC News
Therefore, viewers that stop watching American Idol because white boys with guitars win supported by the alleged racist Worster Internet Trolls may hurt undiscovered talent. In fact, without American Idol, even Phillip Phillips would not have had a chance to compete and win.
Phillip Phillips singing with John Fogerty – Bad Moon Rising
Although finalists such as Jessica Sanchez, Joshua Ledet and Elise Testone (for example) did not win, these talented individuals may not be losers. A few, as other finalist losers have done, will sign contracts and record singles and/or albums and if they have an audience of fans that love their work, they will succeed. In fact, some finalists have been more successful than winners.
If we compare the winners of the previous four seasons that the Worsters claim to have helped win, we learn who the real winners are.
When we add up the sales numbers of the winners from seasons seven through ten, the sales of albums add up to less than three million in combined sales while one white boy with a guitar, Lee DeWyze of Season 9, sold less than 150,000 albums.
However, David Archuleta (season 7) and Adam Lambert (season 8) both finalists that lost did sign contracts and went on to sell more than a million copies each. In fact, the combined sales of finalists that did not win on American Idol, but signed contracts anyway, total more than 18 million albums. If American Idol had not existed, this would not have happened.
Phillip Phillips singing with John Fogerty – Have You Ever Seen
Therefore, every time a fan of American Idol stops watching the show because a less talented white boy with a guitar wins, those viewers are only helping alleged racist Internet Trolls known as the Worsters to ruin it for everyone even those white boys with guitars.
To discover the real winners that compete on American Idol, we have to wait and see how many albums these artists that landed in the loser’s circle sell to their fans.
I suspect that these Worsters are examples of young adults that as children were raised by parents that pushed a sense of false self-esteem, and these adult children cannot stand competitions where talent and merit count more than just dreams and mediocrity. Instead, the Worsters are bitter and hate the real world where merit is the only way one really succeeds in life.
Worsters were raised to believe that all one had to do was dream of fame and it would arrive without effort until, as adults, reality taught them the truth and now they are jealous and want to ruin it for artists that are willing to work hard and risk failure to have a chance at success.
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Crazy Normal - the Classroom Exposé 