Quote:
Originally Posted by ilovejedd
Yep. I guess part of it is due to attitude, too.
You'll often see in US TV shows and movies that it's cheerleaders and jocks who are popular and are treated as "first-class" citizens, especially on shows which take place in high school. Geeks are to be ignored or bullied. The emphasis is in looks and physical prowess.
Watch a Japanese anime or read a manga and you'll notice it's the smart people, the ones who are top of their class, etc, that are lauded. It also seems that schools over there are pretty strict. There are national ranking exams that all students have to take.
Sure, it might not be an exact depiction of society, but I think both have sufficient basis in real life.
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I hear in other countries everyone's grades are public knowledge so if you fail everyone knows. I think the perserving students self esteem by hiding their grades from their peers isn't really working. I think students need to know if they are not keeping up (maybe not little kids) but certainly by middle school and high school. Also, I agree being smart in america is considered very uncool. Whereas in other countries (anime being a good example) the popular students are the ones that make good grades and participate in sports or other student activites.
I do think parents also have a big influence. but it would require parents to want their children to excel in school and actively participate in their eduction. I read that reading and talking to children helps increase their spoken vocabulary and basically helps set a good foundation for learning. My brother who's baby is sometimes kidnapped by the child development teachers to show off in class has told him that sometimes babies have flat heads from where the kids were left in rockers for too long and their skull changes shape. And that many parents just leave their children in front of the tv for way too many hours. (okay the flat head thing is kind of scary to me.)
I think that trend has more to do with dumbing down people more so than any technology.