Things most people never learned... But should have.
Most of the things discussed below, were once common knowledge. The scary part, is that only 30 years ago you would have learned them in elementary school.
Are you smarter than a 5th grader from the 1980’s - 1990’s ?
Most people would like to say yes. In many cases it's true, take for example the people who after graduating still read on a regular basis, they tend to have a much higher average IQ. If you stumbled upon this article, it's likely that you fall into that group. Let me also clarify from the beginning, that I will not be demeaning those who do not, at least not in this article. They are the victims of the skewed metrics, and media spin.
The Breakdown
The statistics from the schools then to now are obviously skewed to look favorable. The problem that the D.O.E. is having now, is that the lie they tell, and it's honest explanation are both sitting in plain sight. When they say the standardized test scores like the ACT and SAT are both up, they aren't lying. What they do not mention is that the students are not getting smarter, instead the standards were just lowered in order to allow more students to reach the lowering bar.
The first question we have today, is how drastically has the learning curve been bent and reshaped. How far has the bar been lowered? Let's look at some highschool graduates in the 1980’s. They had to be able to not only Read, and do math in order to graduate, but also to be able to speak a second language, learn basic home economics like how to do their own taxes, balance a check book, and plan a grocery budget. That's not a joke, or being hyperbolic for the younger readers, those were mandatory in highschool.
When we take a look at high school students now, the picture is clear. The education system has not improved, they have dropped the bar so low that some highschool students are graduating, while only reading at a 2nd grade comprehension level. Or in some cases not at all.
What Can We Do To Fix This?
First we have to look at the new social factors that have been introduced to everyone's lives. Things like social media, YouTube, and Short Form Video platforms. Then we can analyze the changes in our learning behaviors that started when they were introduced. For instance, how do we consume new information, and how well do we retain it.
The way it used to be, learning was work, but it stuck with you. When people wanted to know something, and they hunted down the needed information and then figured out how to apply it to a given purpose they retained it. The reward of them learning it felt good, and the long and short of it, gave them a dopamine release. They remembered the good feeling, and associated it with the learning task they completed.
Things have changed, with Google, YouTube, and TikTok there is no learning journey. They search it, find it, and then it's wiped from their memory sometimes just minutes later. When people consume only Video, especially short form mediums like Tik Tok and YouTube Shorts, they do not get the full explanation, or nuance to any given thing, just the surface level or 101 version. These people often do not retain what they consume, how can they when the next video plays automatically and it's a different topic all together. Bam, their thought train is derailed, and the information from the last 30 seconds is mostly lost.
Hands on learning is the only course correction. We as parents have to make sure our children are learning the needed life skills that are being overlooked or flat out neglected by the Department of Education. Not just the basic things like Math and Reading, but actually teach them real life skills. Things like basic carpentry, seed germination and seasonal growing cycles, crop rotation, making compost, basic auto maintenance and repair, animal husbandry, how to fish, and maybe even identifying local edible plants. If so, we can avoid things like 👇 this.
We also have to teach them how to read social cues, and the body language of other people. The biggest failing that smart phones and digital media have caused is the lack of situational awareness. They are so focused on the phone in front of their face, that they do not see the busy intersection, or open sewer access that is right in front of them. Not only are they missing the happenings of their immediate surroundings, but they are also missing out on things happening in their neighborhood, their city, and their country. So intently focused on scrying in their little black mirror, to try to find some deeply esoteric or hidden truth, that they miss living a real life all together.
For some other people it's an attempt to unlock and cast a magically viral post or video hoping and praying to the digital gods for a moment of fame. Meanwhile they film themselves waking past areas where there there is literal buried treasure, artifacts, or historically significant items that they will never even notice. They are so concerned with trying to find combinations of talking points and hot button issues that will get the most clicks in a headline, that they don't notice the way that it has disconnected them from the people sitting in the same room.
The Fix.
We need to reconnect with real local people, not strive to gain a bot farm full of fake digital followers, or likes for a dopamine hit.
We need to find real physical communities of like minded people to do it with. It took me a while, but I found my Tribe.
Within them, we as men and leaders need to begin teaching our young men things like morals, community values, and basic life and survival skills again.
Once we make a noticable change, even if it is just among our small community, we have created an environment for these values and ideas to safely grow. A place where their skin color, or religious beliefs, will not be used and weaponized against them. When that is done, we will have also proven to be a successful positive example, and will have created a model for others to follow.
One man can't build a whole city in a day, but he can start the process.
Links and Sources :
What they want you to believe.