Are we living in a society that retards the development of young people?

well, there is a whole lot wrong w/ the educational system. no child left behind is a huge mess and is completely backward when it comed to how it works. it puts every child at the same bar, and doesn't allow for advanced children to thrive, and the kids that may need a little more help are not really getting it. they are trying to make it so that everyone feels good about themselves, rather than actually trying to better themselvs. it is teaching our children that in life, everyone is a winner. the reason our education system is like this, is because the people makiong these laws have never taught a day in their life. so yes, it is keeping our children back and making their transition into life a lot harder. thats just my 2 cents!

YES COMPLETELY Ive spent 10 years in the american public school system and so far i have learned 1)My abc's 2)My multiplication tables 3)Something about a civil war 90% of everything i know hasnt come from schools; luckily for me my parents are teachers so ive grown up reading books and learning all sorts of things, so i have never been dependant on the school system. But most of my schoolmates are, and as a result, they are total idiots. Go to any local public highschool in the US and youll find that 98% of the kids have never read a book outside of school, have no knowledge of current world affairs, and dont know were their own assholes are.

Yes, I agree completely. Sometimes our "advances" in society are really steps backwards to places we have never been. The same holds true for some recently held medical beliefs. Too much trying to "improve" things by change only does harm to whats right. We treat our children as children longer both educatioanlly, physically and socially. There are MANY things we are capable of at yougner ages than society and law now deems appropriate.

In many ways I'd have to agree. The dumbing down of education really bugs me. My hubby has to pass his students even if they don't do any of their exams. As long as they have demonstrated the skills tested in their exam, at some point in the semester, they pass. My god-brother teaches English, and has to pass students if they can write a paragraph he can understand. Even if it isn't on the correct topic. There's a reason I intend to home school my daughter! College has had to be dumbed down too. People don't have the time to devote to their studies, because they have to work to support themselves. I think the government should be paying a subsistance wage to students. A country is going to benefit from their education, if they come out educated, not just with a bit of paper that says they are. I think when you have a culture than has the value of the young and old out of balance, you will have problems. People are irresponsible because there is no pressure to grow up, it seems. I had someone tell me it was ok for him to speed, rather than get going earlier, because he was "only 23." I was only 22 and incredibly disgusted. It seems that no one respects the knowledge of the older generation, due to a "youth is beauty" type of culture; and teenagers are treated as though they are dangerous, and must be locked up in school until they are old enough to let loose on the world. A bit of respect goes a long way. (I wonder how my views will change once I have teenagers :) The "everyone is a winner" thing really gets taken too far. People can't be good at everything and should just accept it.

THANK YOU!!!!!!!! It makes me so glad to see that other people in this world agree with my views on society in general! I don't think that school is a very effective way to teach children, i do know that it can teach some important life lessons but not as many things as kids today could learn on their own. If you think about all of the things you can learn outside of a conventional classroom it makes the amount that you can learn in a classroom look very small. i have been lucky enough to grow up with a wonderful mother who understood how little kids really learn in school. She sent me to school because it was not possible to home school me (single mom worked full time), and because she wanted me to grow up with the same social experience as other kids my age. The biggest problem I have with the educational system is why to they do so many tests that are considered mandatory? What is the point of testing and retesting on things that they already know the concept of? It makes no sense how they don't let kids who are mature for their age rise in the system, they are held back with the kids who are completely immature and then the kids who do take education seriously are often forced to be partnered for "group projects" with other children who are far below there educational level. I do feel that society is holding many children back from their full potential and keeping them immature much longer the necessary.

well...I don't believe in getting married or becoming parents at such a young age...only because I think those things deserve more thought and time no matter how mature the child is. But I do agree that if so many things were not taught and re-taught so many times, teens would be much more knowledgeable at a far younger age. I see a lot of "immature" people everyday at my high school, some even acting like children still and I believe part of it is society's fault. We encourage kids to keep their youth as long as possible...but it does come to a point when we need to grow up and allow ourselves to grow. I've begun to wonder if some people just don't grow up. Kids could be so much smarter these days if we stopped re-covering the same material.

actually i think u strike a few good points. first off yes, the education system does need some fixing up, they re-teach us things a lot, and they also teach us a lot of things i think really are a waste of time, such as, this year in science we had to learn about the reproductive methods of PLANTS... i mean come on! i dont need to know that. and as for your comment about teens getting married... wow i didnt know they got married so young, but when you think about it, every part of the body works for a certain reason, and the body goes through puberty for a certain reason, so you would wonder why the human body goes through puberty in the very early teens (10-12 for girls and 12-14 for boys i think) but yet, the "advances" of the body aren't "used" until late teens early 20's... or that's what people think should be "right" so you would think the body goes through those changes at that age for a reason. and also the body creates a lot of testosterone at that age, and again, you would wonder why, since in today's world any sexual activity at the age is deemed wrong.

erm...i dont know what kind of schools you guys go to, but the reason they go over the same things every year is to go more in depth about it. the reason they teach random stuff that we will 'never' use such as reproduction of plants or geometry is because there are many professions and kids need to be equipped to choose any one of them. what if we stopped teaching geometry? would all the future architects start learning the pythagorean theorem in college and grad school? would all the future botanists learn about plant reproduction in college? the reason they cover and re-cover the same topics is because theres so much to cover. if they taught me all the stuff i know about biology now[10th grader] in 3rd grade, we probably wouldnt have even had time to learn division, and if i had learned all the stuff i know about math right now in 4th or 5th grade, there wouldnt have been time to explore anything else, unless you would have certain grade devoted to learning one subject, in which case by the time you graduate high school youve forgotten everything you learned. i mean, really, really think about it. do you think your 10 year old mind wouldve been able to grasp calculus in the 5th grade? theres a reason why they spread things out and why they go over them, because you have to learn the basics step-by-step and really know the basics before you can learn the harder things. besides, i doubt any of those teens pre-industrial revolution know how to do fractions, much less calculus or algebra.

I am 18 and married. I married my husband when I was 17 and he was 22. I am in my 3rd year of college now. I graduated high school at 16. When I was in 8th grade, I tested out as a senior in college. So it just really depends. I know 8th graders that are dumber then a box of rocks.