|
I care. We've never been rich or in a particularly good school district (until recently - not rich, but in a good school district), but my children have learned.
The larger part of the problem is that people do not value knowledge the way they used to. The concept of knowledge seems to have value only to the extent that it can be used to make you money. We are a couple of generations into this mindset. Therefore little Johnny and little Johnny's parents not only do they not care, but they do not even notice that Johnny is receiving an inferior education at school and Johnny's parents, having received the same education do not place a sense of value on a comprehensive, well-rounded education. If you want your kids to learn more than just enough to pass through the public education system, you have to instill in them an appreciation of knowing. You have to make it attractive and valuable. This is how I have passed a love of knowledge on to my children. It may seem ridiculous, but I made them think it was cool to be smart and knowledgable. And it worked. They have always stood out amongst their friends for "knowing lots of stuff" and that has since translated (as they've grown) into accumulating knowledge about their own interests. When they become interested in something, they learn everything they can about it and very often knock my socks off by how much more they know than me about certain subjects.
So all that said, I think what we have lost is an appreciation of knowledge, as a society, and we are dumber and more shallow because of it. And the public education system is only symptomatic of this phenomena.
__________________
Most people go through life dreading they'll have a traumatic experience. Freaks were born with their trauma. They've already passed their test in life. They're aristocrats. - Diane Arbus
PESSIMISM, n. A philosophy forced upon the convictions of the observer by the disheartening prevalence of the optimist with his scarecrow hope and his unsightly smile. - Ambrose Bierce
|