Dispite living in a world of information technology there is much talk of falling educational standards and some Children being unable to speak at age three. The older generations always seem to believe that they were more clued up than the young people are today. Is this true and if so who's to blame?

It's been happening for years.

Want a great example??

Go to MySpace and click on a few random profiles.

Who's to blame??

Lackluster teachers....lazy parents...mass media.....not necessarily in that order.

I think a lot of it has to do with some of the parents these days. It seems, as time goes by, more and more parents expect others to do their job of raising the kids.

JMO

..if children cant speak by age ..what 3 then who elses fault could it be but the parents after all the kids arent even old enough to go to school,as far as being dumbed down..some of the greatest minds

were self taught..so is it dumbed down or just plain lazy,especially with all the technology at one's finger tips..who else would be to blame but the individual,but let's not forget the american way and that is to blame everyone else..because were too stupid to press a button and type a few words...and learn...

If the child is Autistic, then that child may not be speaking by age 3. That one can't be laid off on the parents.

Age 3 is no place to put the cut-off for oral language. Einstein himself didn't speak until age 3. He was labeled retarded for many of his early school years. Children develop at their own pace in the early formative years. Some who seem stupid are actually contemplating the universe. One of my sons was one of these. And then when he did decide to talk he always whispered. He is studying to be a chiropracter now. If you are concerned about a specific child, you can help out by buying them books, offering to read to them, seeing if the parents will let you take them on a journey to the library. Every little bit counts big time to a child.

Good topic, Rolland, thanks!
Oh, and no, I don't think so.
We always look back at the younger generation and say to ourselves,
Gee, I don't remember ever being that dumb, or that disinterested in learning. Oh yeah, you were.

I think , in general, people have become lazy thinkers because there are so many technological shortcuts to make things 'easier'. Social skill has been lost to a culture of immediate gratification and self centeredness. Children dont have as much of the foundation that they had when economy allowed for one parent to be home nurturing and the other to work. Now that most have both parents gone or one raising the child alone, our kids are missing out on alot of the valuable skills and lessons that strong family units once offered.

ON the plus side, I think these things come and go in cycles, like on a pendulum. Once things swing as far as they can go in the 'whatever makes me happy culture' they will start to swing back towards the 'whats good for the (big picture, or community, or family) culture"

The teachers because they don't teach the whole class . and grade on a curve so they can pass on the slower ones . and as I use the word slower I am not talking about the retarted . I talking about kids who have for one reason or another not able to get the support needed to achive as the fortune few . it has been going on as long as i have lived . we need a different system where all the children learn . its the only thing g w did that was good . but he didn't get it working. it needed away to get rid of the teachers who fail to produce .

You cannot imagine the difficulty of having larger and larger classes to teach, with not enough resources, and some parents who think it's all the school's obligation to teach the child.

Also, I understand what you're saying about the curve. I too wish everything could be based on professional standards. Not all things are based on a curve, in fact usually homework is not. But in order to get some of these kids through school, we have to go on what the community is able to achieve in a 12 year period. Some of the communties we are dealing with have an overabundance of drug users and/or immigrants. Would you like to devote the extra time to bring everyone up to par? Please volunteer.

Why do you feel that children are unable to speak at age three? My child's first word was at 10 months old. I had a chatterbox at age three.

It depends on kinda what background you come from.

Those who watch Fox News and want to believe it seem to have problems in that area.

Education doesn't seem so important in like rural areas, small towns, etc... They believe living a simple god fearin life is all that is needed, education doesn't really fit that life style.

The extremely poor seem to value work over education so the kids learn early that making money is more important than going to school.

But dumbing down is only happening in certain situations. There are some extremely intelligent folks in this country and more are coming out of the schools every year usually graduating early.

I agree. If your memory is good enough and you think about it, you will remember how stupid you were...lol

This is not a personal oppinion it relates to a story in the Times I sincerley hope it is a very small amount of children but however small the number it doesn't say much about the society we live in

It sounds like an interesting article.

In my area, many children are in pre-school by ages 3 and 4. If they're not talking by age 3, they're tested for learning disabilities, autism, etc.
It's definitely not normal for a three-year-old to not be talking.

My child's teachers have never graded on a curve.

I have to admit I don't read the times myself. I read about it on infowars (your one stop shop for conspiricy theories) but here's a link to the Times artical if you wish to read it
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/education/article6974590.ece

the internet's made people really lazy to the point ppl don't know what a book is anymore...when you slap them with historical facts they always ask for a link

True as well. I also find people basically define their world through visual media. People seem to truly believe that if it hasnt been reported or written somewhere , it didnt happen. And if it is reported or written, it must have happened.

I was shocked during Katrina how many 'celebs' caught flack for not doing enough as if any of us had a personal fly with them that told us EVERYTHING they were doing or not. But people live their lives out of that idiot box ,,,,some people anyhow