OT: As if we didn't know, American teenagers "stunningly ignorant"

[Dolf]

Kinda off-topic: What amazes me is how people think that high-school dropouts, or people who never went for college are total retards. NO, not all people end up as junkies or wellfare parasites NO, you're not doomed to an eternal life of {censored}ty-to-nothing wages NO, not all people are ment for college, or the education that is there. seems like today, more and more people are pushed to take something in the college, or even high-school. And what do we end up with then? {censored}ty results. If there's one thing I can't stand, it's the elitism of college kids towards those who are "below them" about 60-70 of the people I know, never went to college or uni, and for some weird reason...they're making as much as their college-educated friends HARD WORK will get you anywhere in life, educated or uneducated. and this comes from one who's in college btw. but aaaaaaaanyway. cary on

What you're not GETTING--and I think this is the real crux of the argument here--is that education is not about getting a better paycheck, but about continual self-betterment.

If you drop out of high school and don't even consider taking courses in college that suggests that you're already done with learning. It's not that I don't think an uneducated person can be successful, or have a decent job, or have a loving family, etc, but that's not what we're talking about.

An uneducated person is not going to make educated political decisions (unless they choose to educate themselves, which I find highly unlikely considering they chose to drop out of high school. Not to mention the fact that during the formative years where information will be retained the LONGEST is the time that they chose to stop learning).

An uneducated person is far less likely to be a strong, concise communicator.

An uneducated person is far less likely to have an interest in the philosophical, the psychological, the supernatural.

Not that these things are required for a steady 9-5 making good wages, but they ARE required for a well-rounded person.

How many high school dropouts have read Plato? Socrates? Faulkner? Vonnegut? Hell, even Homer?

[Weathered]

Whats bad is that when im sitting in school, all the gangster kids and minorities, and the white kids that hang out with them are the unintellegant ones. I cant count how many times ive heard a realy stupid comment from one of them that thinks their smart. One time in economics the teacher asked us to define economics, of course the spanish gangster wannabe kid said " its about how much money be in my pizocket (yes pizocket) after i iz hustle some tree on da streets to deese niggas". Its just amazing how stupid they are, so what im getting at in this post is that we should focus on immigrants coming into this country becomin retarded criminals, and making alot of white people act like them. Theres my .02

 

 

Holy bigoted post Batman.

[chakosh]

Kinda off-topic: What amazes me is how people think that high-school dropouts, or people who never went for college are total retards. NO, not all people end up as junkies or wellfare parasites NO, you're not doomed to an eternal life of {censored}ty-to-nothing wages NO, not all people are ment for college, or the education that is there. seems like today, more and more people are pushed to take something in the college, or even high-school. And what do we end up with then? {censored}ty results. If there's one thing I can't stand, it's the elitism of college kids towards those who are "below them" about 60-70 of the people I know, never went to college or uni, and for some weird reason...they're making as much as their college-educated friends HARD WORK will get you anywhere in life, educated or uneducated. and this comes from one who's in college btw. but aaaaaaaanyway. cary on

Statistically speaking, not getting higher education will earn you ~$1 million less. http://www.neweconomyproject.org/Documents/cnred-news-march.htm Here's another source from Oregon from a study in 2004 (http://www.ode.state.or.us/policy/pubs/briefs/issue03oct2004.pdf).

The increase in people demanding lower prices for goods drives the prices down. In order to compete, many companies will have to out-source manufacturing, and in many cases development into countries where the salaries are drastically lower. The term "one in a million" means there are 100 people in China that are exactly like you, and 50 people in India that are exactly like you. And they'll do the job for pennies on the dollar compared to what it costs to employ you - with lower costs for Health Insurance, Disability, etc. Hell, McDonald's has been experimenting with out-sourcing the Drive Thru ordering process, so even service jobs are starting to shrink.

So again, dropping out of high school in this global economy is not sound advice to give to youngsters who are going to be competing for jobs. The best thing that we as a nation can do is give our youth the skills and drive to innovate and be the leaders of the pack, not the apathetic, "entitled," that they have become.

[rememberduane]

Holy I-just-got-{censored}ing-PWND Batman

I wish he was right, it would mean I wasn't wasting time when I should be writing an essay. Oh snap, there's the education.

Now where are some people I can put down? Grrrr.

[dreamspace]

But how does earning power = intelligence? I could be making what I'm making now without a degree (because my job pays {censored}), but I feel that what college did was change my approach to thinking.

 

 

It all comes down to the person and what he likes, I have one friend that barely made it through HS, he's now an plumber. Not the brightest kid on the block, but atleast he's making 80k a year.

 

on the other hand, I have a friend that dropped out first year of HS, stayed in ALL day long (you could call him a geek), programmed on his computer all freakin day from age 8 to now (24 now), and pretty much worked his way up. he's the Senior programmer right now for some firm...makes about 120-140k a year, all depending.

he's what you could call intelligent, you can talk with him about _anything_

 

he could probably fly through college and uni today, but he's too bussy with work, and is probably not going to out of work anytime soon.

 

So it pretty much comes down to the individuals, and what they make out of the situation.

Sure, college opens new doors, and probably makes it easier to get a job, but the idea of tight scheduals + massive study loan that will be hanging over you 'til your 40s may not suite everyone.

[DoubleBarrel]

My blog? Newsflash: "Rememberduane opens up yet another thread to pwn as many HCAF's as possible. Statistics show that 5 new forumites will hate him that have previously never come into contact with his bitter brand of elitist put downs. Surprisingly Rememberduane has yet to make a ref to his expensive education, but studies predict it should be stated in or around page 10. Rememberduane still insists on posting social/political threads on the amp forum, knowing full well there are separate forums designed for threads of this theme. This stems from a history of him being chased off the amp forum around a year ago when he gave a classic "Leaving the forum" post which was jeered and laughed at by the HC population. He still has revenge on his mind and takes out his frustrations on the HCAF when he feels down. Especially in and around the weekends where he is often "at a loose end."

lol,

PWNED

[Weathered]

It all comes down to the person and what he likes, I have one friend that barely made it through HS, he's now an plumber. Not the brightest kid on the block, but atleast he's making 80k a year. on the other hand, I have a friend that dropped out first year of HS, stayed in ALL day long (you could call him a geek), programmed on his computer all freakin day from age 8 to now (24 now), and pretty much worked his way up. he's the Senior programmer right now for some firm...makes about 120-140k a year, all depending. he's what you could call intelligent, you can talk with him about _anything_ he could probably fly through college and uni today, but he's too bussy with work, and is probably not going to out of work anytime soon. So it pretty much comes down to the individuals, and what they make out of the situation. Sure, college opens new doors, and probably makes it easier to get a job, but the idea of tight scheduals + massive study loan that will be hanging over you 'til your 40s may not suite everyone.

 

 

Your first example is (I think) very common for people, especially if they have family in the industry. I had some friends in high school that became electricians right out of school because their families ran electrical companies. Similar stories.

 

Your second example is sadly the exception to the rule, and I have no doubt that he is a smart guy if he's been able to get to where he is.

[rememberduane]

lol, PWNED

:cry:

I has been teh pwnz0rs. :cry:

What's sad is I thought it was the PP, but then I realized it might stir up some {censored} when I saw it was AF after I posted it.

[Elric]

You have to remember this was a phone survey it was only responded to by people dumb enough to not hang up the phone when called up at random and asked a bunch of liberal arts questions. They should count all hang ups as 100% correct responses, IMHO. :love:

[chakosh]

It all comes down to the person and what he likes, I have one friend that barely made it through HS, he's now an plumber. Not the brightest kid on the block, but atleast he's making 80k a year. on the other hand, I have a friend that dropped out first year of HS, stayed in ALL day long (you could call him a geek), programmed on his computer all freakin day from age 8 to now (24 now), and pretty much worked his way up. he's the Senior programmer right now for some firm...makes about 120-140k a year, all depending. he's what you could call intelligent, you can talk with him about _anything_ he could probably fly through college and uni today, but he's too bussy with work, and is probably not going to out of work anytime soon. So it pretty much comes down to the individuals, and what they make out of the situation. Sure, college opens new doors, and probably makes it easier to get a job, but the idea of tight scheduals + massive study loan that will be hanging over you 'til your 40s may not suite everyone.

 

 

I can see what you mean, and I think the big picture is that motivated individuals can do great things. However, these seem to be the exceptions to the norm. Sure, not every person that drops out of high school will be a failure, but most of them will. Not every athlete will make it to the major league/professional level. Relying on being that one individual that disproves the norm is not a good long-term plan.

[rememberduane]

You have to remember this was a phone survey it was only responded to by people dumb enough to not hang up the phone. They should count all hang ups as 100% correct responses, IMHO. :love:

Best post of the thread.

[DoubleBarrel]

:cry: I has been teh pwnz0rs. :cry: What's sad is I thought it was the PP, but then I realized it might stir up some {censored} when I saw it was AF after I posted it.

That's what happens when you go to Scotland to study terrorists :poke:

[dreamspace]

yeah, but thing is that if you drop out of HS over here in Norway, when you're say 16...and suddenly the years go by, you've hit 23-24, you pretty much have to stay in a year or two in HS, taking up classes. then you jump on the college train, which takes 3 years, and 2 to 6 on uni, all depending on what you're going after.

By the time you're that old, you've got a {censored}load of other responsebilities...some may have got children, big loan on House, Car etc.
Taking up a loan for HS+College+Uni, while having to pay other stuff, ain't gonna cut it for alot of people.

so yes, it's a very expensive mistake to do, but when you're 16, you don't think too much.

[Johnny'sGotTheBlues]

 

 

Sadly, I agree. I wouldn't say "who cares" but schools need to teach basic urban survival skills like: basic nutrition, like how to read a food label and what foods are good for you and why; basic monetary skills, like how to negotiate a loan, what coumpond intrest means; basic life skills, like how a toilet works and how to fix it, how a car works and how to maintain it.

 

Sure it's nice to know that Columbus came over in 1492 and it's nice to know what the integral of F(x)= sin(x^2) or that F Lydian = C major.

[CenturyStanding]

Whats bad is that when im sitting in school, all the gangster kids and minorities, and the white kids that hang out with them are the unintellegant ones. I cant count how many times ive heard a realy stupid comment from one of them that thinks their smart. One time in economics the teacher asked us to define economics, of course the spanish gangster wannabe kid said " its about how much money be in my pizocket (yes pizocket) after i iz hustle some tree on da streets to deese niggas". Its just amazing how stupid they are, so what im getting at in this post is that we should focus on immigrants coming into this country becomin retarded criminals, and making alot of white people act like them. Theres my .02

 

 

Wow, I didn't know the KKK frequent this forum.

[rememberduane]

That's what happens when you go to Scotland to study terrorists :poke:

Welshmen follow me around internet forums and try to pwn me through amateur psychoanalysis?

I never thought it would come to this!

:cry::cry::cry:

[TheToneMan]

There's a book called The World is Flat . Read that and see if dropping out of high school is good advice to give American youth.

 

 

 

LOL, Ok. I knew by dropping out I was pretty much choosing a specific life for myself. At the time, I was living with my single mother, a crack head brother, and just a severely disfunctional family. I made the decision to leave at 17, now 13 years later im doing ok. I've had alot of really {censored}ty jobs, but ive always had enough money to pay the bills, buy food, clothe myself. And now, ive landed a pretty sweet job being the middle man for a graphic design company that creates billboards and other advertising {censored}. I can't get fired, and I get payed for however much work I bring in. And in Houston i can bring in ALOT of work. I can afford a semi decent house in a not to bad neighborhood, have extra money left for doing things i enjoy, etc.

[Cibyl]

I wish he was right, it would mean I wasn't wasting time when I should be writing an essay. Oh snap, there's the education. Now where are some people I can put down? Grrrr.

 

My friend, you are obviously a smart guy. I tend to agree with your point of view on a lot of the threads you start that are either political and/or social in nature . But me thinks your agenda when starting these threads is to dual with guys like theFyn in an attempt to make yourself feel better,....or "hook" your self-esteem. Why?

 

Sometimes you do come off as a bit of an elitist and slightly douchie. No offense,...but I definitely get that vibe.

[Elric]

Sadly, I agree. I wouldn't say "who cares" but schools need to teach basic urban survival skills like: basic nutrition, like how to read a food label and what foods are good for you and why; basic monetary skills, like how to negotiate a loan, what coumpond intrest means; basic life skills, like how a toilet works and how to fix it, how a car works and how to maintain it.

 

How to field strip a Glock while taking fire...

[chakosh]

How to field strip a Glock while taking fire...

 

 

I like strippers.

[metallicarokerx]

Wow, I didn't know the KKK frequent this forum.

 

 

I wasnt trying to be racist, but imo it all boils down to people like that making america stupider. Just take a look back even say 25 years ago, there were way less minorities and more people were graduating and more people were educated well. Just my opinion i guess but i strongly belive that lack of education ties right to minorities taking over. (and again im not being racist as i know some black and hispanic people who are cool guys and are very well educated)

[rememberduane]

 

My friend, you are obviously a smart guy. I tend to agree with your point of view on a lot of the threads you start that are either political and/or social in nature . But me thinks your agenda when starting these threads is to dual with guys like theFyn in an attempt to make yourself feel better,....or "hook" your self-esteem. Why? Sometimes you do come off as a bit of an elitist and slightly douchie. No offense,...but I definitely get that vibe.

 

 

I wish that was the case. It's more along the lines that I'm addicted to this place like most people and I'm just douchie (I like that word) when I think people are being stupid. I also find a lot of the banter really amusing.

 

I know if I say "I have no need to make myself feel better", it automatically looks like I do. But really, I don't.

[DoubleBarrel]

Welshmen follow me around internet forums and try to pwn me through amateur psychoanalysis? I never thought it would come to this! :cry: :cry: :cry:

Tom Jones is here ?????????

[gdwill2u]

Not just kids, I heard this on Jay Leno the other night. It was one of those pretend game shows where they pull three people off the streets and ask them real easy questions.

 

Questions:

name the first ship to sail from England with a load of Pilgrims on board to settle in America.

 

After too wrong and silly answers Jay gives a hint, he says "Moving company..."

 

and this young woman (who is a school teacher ) says "The U-Haul".

[Weathered]

I wasnt trying to be racist, but imo it all boils down to people like that making america stupider. Just take a look back even say 25 years ago, there were way less minorities and more people were graduating and more people were educated well. Just my opinion i guess but i strongly belive that lack of education ties right to minorities taking over. (and again im not being racist as i know some black and hispanic people who are cool guys and are very well educated)

 

 

Oh.

 

 

 

My.

 

 

 

Gawd.

 

You know that saying that if you aren't part of the solution, you're part of the problem? Well, you're part of the problem.