BigDog Speaks

Via the Internet, you can find the information about, and learn how, on nearly everything you've ever wanted to know. A wee bit of time searching can net results on anything you can think of and a lot that you never wanted to know. How is it, with all this information available, we still have people who cannot read or do basic math?

[More:]

Yes, we can blame technology if we wish but the real cause is us and our society. How many kids are running around with no grasp of basic math but can work cellphones into the ground? We aren't raising dumber, we aren't teaching basics. Education comes in many forms yet we put the blame on teachers. Well, blaming teachers is just a convenient way for us not to blame ourselves. Parents spend minimum time with their kids. They are busy with careers or just working to survive, the kids take a back seat. In essence, they are allowing the society at large to raise their kids and the results aren't good. Left to their own devices, kids will gravitate to their peer groups, good or bad and follow their example. Without a bit of guidance, knowledge is learned on the street and certainly not in the classroom. Street smarts are required for reasonable survival, book smarts are required for progress. Is it any wonder we have cashiers who can't make change? They relied on the machines to do that and never learned to do it on their own. Education is the key to the future and progress but it needs input from the parents at home. Dumping your kid on the world without parental control and guidance guarantees you will get back a monster. Spend time with your kids. Take an interest in what they are doing and raise them to be productive members of society not rejects. A little less time with the games and TV would be helpful. A lot more one on one would do wonders. Technology is a wonderful thing but it isn't everything.