[It's come to this] paying students to go to school

Sad.

DD

 

it's not the poverty, it's the inequality (lets not act like education in 3rd world countries perfect, though).

Inner city kids see new books, up to date buildings and state of the art extracurricular facilities in other schools and feel like 'what's the use, they don't think we should succeed anyway.' In impoverished nations kids can't look down the street and see what they could have. Rather depressing, don't you think?

 

not true. it's mainly a cultural thing. being smart isn't cool here. nobody wants to be a nerd/geek etc.. there are plenty of poor kids in China that see expensive things other people have. they probably feel it ain't fair too. but they know going to school will one day get them the stuff they want.

 

pretty much what i wanted to say. educational disparity is everywhere. difference is education is almost the only way you can 'make it' in poorer countries, so you burn the midnight oil if you have to.

 

They have been doing something like this in Kentucky for years. Only I think it's a better way.

For each good grade that they get, a fund is created for them to go to a KY college. It started in 1999 I think.

Basically over the last seven years my sister has built up a small amount of money to help her pay for college. It's a pretty good deal for the kids that work hard to do well.

 

I was also going to say the same thing. Poverty certainly does make some families put education on the backburner (families that can barely make rent, so they need their 16-year old to work any available job just so that they can have a roof over their head). But a large part of it is culture. Kids look around their immediate culture and see that the people who have status and are "cool" are the gang bangers, drug dealers, and others who didn't take education seriously - all the ones who did take it seriously are already out of the 'hood. They want to have status and be cool, so they take the path of least resistance and emulate them.

(Though the above examples can probably be inferred to apply to areas with high african american population, I'm sure a similar phenomenon takes places in undereducated areas with primarily white populations).

 

subtle racism.

 

Being smart isn't cool here regardless of race, creed, religion, etc.

Your charge of racism against that poster = FAIL.

 

Not everywhere. It depends on the crowd you are part of. In many situations in Houston, at least, there are several groups with their own idea of cool. There are kids that think being intelligent means they can't fit in, but being smart just means you are going to be in a different crowd. While it may be difficult to change the people around you, having people who have the same goals as you and that you trust is a better feeling than being cool any day.

You can't categorize everyone in this country just like you can't do it for other countries. From talking to people in 3rd world countries, I've realized that nobody values education all the time and poverty can steer you in two entirely different paths.

 

anyone find this funny:

so 30 is "too much" but 25 dollars is "real good"?

 

Nevermind.

 

That's actually a great idea...I lean more toward people not thinking its cool to be smart and study...There are social economic diversity everywhere, but only in America will you find on athletics and "being cool" vs. good grades, IMHO...

 

i would be fine with a program like this starting from 4th grade is that where you start getting grades? like 25 for an A and 10 for every B. maybe a little bit more once in high school if you start taking AP/Honor classes since they are harder. it would encourage students to go to college and help them with the cost as well. and then if a student gets a full ride to a school the money built up can be given to him/her to purchase a new pc/laptop and books

 

How could you interpret that as even subtle? That has absolutely nothing to do with racism. Its about class and culture if anything.

 

i don't believe that. When i was in grade school being "cool" had nothing to do with intelligence level. There were nerdy/geeky kids but they weren't necessarily smarter, just not into popular things. I think American people are very willing to pay alot to watch dumb people entertain them, which could lead to a false interpretation of how vital education is. Franchise3 brought up a good point that there are other outside influences.

I'm just not ready to pass the buck to American culture and give the American school system a free ride on this one. I don't think its outlandish to believe that there would be smarter inner city kids if they had the same resources as the richer kids. Also, i don't have any stats in front of me but i wouldn't be surprised if there was a class/education disparity in other countries.

Many americans also get paid quite a bit w/o a college education so i can see how some kids would let their grades slip if they could go work for some power plant and make 6 figures through overtime. You don't get that everywhere.

 

education does not have much to do with intelligence level. it isn't a place to find out who is the smartest kid on the block. it's a system that means different things to different people. dumb people can still work hard and learn at school and make a decent living later in life. smart kids or strong willed people will always make it regardless what kind of education they get.

and just like in US, people with lousy education in other parts of the world can make it big without going to school. for example, a lot of the rich people in China don't even have a college degree. they get rich either by doing business, sports, or just plain lucky. people see that too. but majority of the people still go to school without being paid. it has a lot to do with culture differences and poverty. of course, poverty and inequality really goes hand in hand. usually unfairly treated people are the poor ones because they don't have the means to fight back.

 

I was trying to point out that Americans thinking that it's cool to lack education is kind of a stereotype. It is not always true, i have never met anyone that looked down on someone with a higher education. Other things may be considered cool-er but getting education is never considered un-cool in America. I'm not gonna get into some America vs. China discussion. I'm sure you feel a certain way, and i think you've expressed it here and in other threads. I just think there are more tangible problems with the American school system, that deserve a change.

 

Exactly. Isn't this the basis of the appeal of Sarah Palin?