rawbone8 said:
I disagree with the term you employed here.
I think a better characterization is "cool to not care". Slackers are not by any means uniformly unintelligent as a group nor necessarily proud of being seen as such........I agree with your distinction that the failings of a group is related more to attitude not aptitude.
Yes, I think 'cool to act dumb' may be a little nearer but your suggestion works fine for me too. I wasn't meaning to suggest that they
were unintelligent, merely, as result of 'slacking' were increasingly ill educated and thus appeared so and that to some this was somehow appealing.
As for the behavioural aspect, I do believe it's real. To me it's rather analagous to the 'traditional' lampooning of the nerd, yet taken to a new level where even someone of average intelligence is somehow to be scorned.
It's normal for children to 'buck the system', it's in their job description but by taking this particular path to this extreme, they, the boys are risking doing themselves real long term damage. The evidence that this is already happening is incontravertable.
mercurialbliss said:
That's why so many of the junior colleges here offer basic Math and English classes. Generally, you don't receive credit for them but after completion you're allowed to enroll in the college-level courses. Sad, isn't it?
There has been something of a push, albeit an intermittent one on improving adult literacy in England in recent years. It fails to tackle to problem at source but calling it bandaid is also probably overly harsh. If you're interested the DFES has a dedicated
adult literacy curriculum. It's aimed at educators but is accessible by all.
mercurialbliss said:
Yes, dear. Of course they are. I know you jest, but think about how many men occupy so many prestigious positions in "female" oriented occupations. When young girls see this they think men automatically have more opportunities to attain those positions and they'll have to work twice as hard to achieve them.
Indeed....the belief that to 'compete' equally, girls actually need to work twice as hard is still alive and often true. A sad corollary is that in doing so they frequently expose themselves to sexual predjudice in the workplace because, if they are as 'ruthless' and competent as men, well, they can't be real women can they and so must be treated as men.
mercurialbliss said:
Good article. Despite our gender differences, we all have our own special talents and I don't feel one gender is smarter than the other. Historically speaking, men haven't had to work nearly as hard to achieve their educational or occupational goals as women. Maybe the last two generations of women have been working harder to achieve their goals long enough that, on paper, it appears they're surpassing men in academics but the reality is that the men haven't been encouraged to work any harder than before. Why should they when they have all the options at their fingertips? I know i'm generalising but I hope you see my point.
I do get your point and I think social and thus educational change over the last 30 years has forced (western) societies as a whole to finally realise and accept, grudgingly in many cases that women can and should compete at the same level as men. It's a shame it took legislation to even attempt to level that playing field.
Most of this impetus has come from women themselves. And, as you suggest, over the same period there has been little or no incentive for men to work harder as they still hold that latent belief that overall, 'the breaks will fall their way'. While that belief still holds a signifcant degree of truth the times they
are a changing.
Aside:
I don't believe that women are
intrinsically more intelligent than men. What I meant but expressed poorly was that I think that compared to men, at any given level of 'intelligence' women are,
on balance, less prone to reverting to ego, bluff and aggression to 'cover up' a lack of knowledge when trapped in an intellectual cul de sac on a given subject. And more open to working to overcome it. Or, perhaps they are simply more gracious and competent than men at covering up any shortfalls, real or perceived.:wink:
mercurialbliss said:
If we're going backwards it's due to lack of internal and external motivation, as you mentioned before. Legislation aside, I wonder how it is that boys are not being motivated to perform better in school by parents who were generally more successful than their grandparents. Can it really be that the academic progress of girls make the boys that insecure about their own abilities and they hold themselves back? I would think the challenge of competition would give boys more incentive to work harder.
I
was being a bit of a doom monger I think. I don't know if we're actually retreating but it's not in keeping with human nature to even stand still for long, so either way it's an issue of concern. The added worry is that those who's task it will be to address the problem are increasingly at risk of failing to see that there is a problem to address.....
I agree that one could reasonably expect the spectre of 'girls being smarter than boys' to provoke a desire to at least redress the balance.:tongue:
To explore the flip side of my original argument, I'd suggest that it's not insecurity, but rather misplaced faith that a system formerly biased so strongly in favour of men and which, in the past had compensated for a lacklustre education will continue to do so for them today. If so, then I suspect a great many of the male school leavers are in for a rather rude awakening. And it may be that
that will drive them to ensure their children don't make the same mistake.
Thus, perhaps that pendulum will, as you suggest swing back a little over the next educational cycle. One can only hope.
