The dumbing down of America continues
Ever wonder why so many Americans seem, well, so damned dumb? It is as if they have absolutely no ability to think, or prioritize anymore. It is as if every last drop of common sense has left them. I have come to believe that the origin of this problem can be found in our education system. Kids are no longer taught to think, individualism is frowned upon, hypersensitivity is the rule, and administrators are scared that any perceived offense will result in lawsuits. And the authority of teachers to use common sense? Forget about that!
Thus, we have seen our schools delved headlong into “zero-tolerance” policies that are too often enforced with zero common sense. Take this example, that Yankee Phil blogged about yesterday.
A third-grader at Brazos Elementary was given a week’s detention for possessing a Jolly Rancher.
Leighann Adair, 10, was eating lunch Monday when a teacher confiscated the candy. Her parents said she was in tears when she arrived home later that afternoon and handed them the detention notice.
Brazos Elementary Principal Jeanne Young, said the problem, in this instance, was that the candy was provided by another student – not the girl’s parents.“The Texas Public School Nutrition Policy (TPSNP) explicitly states that it does not restrict what foods or beverages parents may provide for their own children’s consumption.”
You see? Here is a classic example. Combine a stupid rule, add a complete lack of any rational thought, and top it off with a dash of zero tolerance, and you get a child, punished for, well, being a child. And this type of nanny statism, where everyone who makes the rules seems to be completely clueless, has been slowly permeating every level of our society for decades now.
The message, it seems, is DO NOT THINK! EVER! Don’t take any initiative, EVER! Don’t do anything, except what is scripted for you, because you might do the wrong thing. So, we are beset by it in school, in college, at our jobs, and of course, we are besieged by our lawmakers with the same type of stupidity.
Still wonder why we all seem less intelligent these days? Still question where the ability to think went?
5 Responses to “The dumbing down of America continues”
Trackbacks / Pingbacks
- - June 1, 2010
Gatordoug
darcprynce
Dave C
Ever notice that most of these “teachers” who follow the rules like Joseph Goebbels used to be hippies who preached that only squares followed the rules?
Whatever happen to “question authority” and “down with the man”? I guess that once YOU become the man, questioning YOUR authority is suddenly a bad thing.
No doubt Leftism has much to do with this, they LOATHE individualism, as you know.
Leftism has everything to do with it, my friend. Ya know, Adolf Hitler used to extol the virtues of questioning authority all the time… right up to the point at which he became Der Führer. Then, not so much.