It's a well known saying that If America sneezes the UK catches a cold ...so, although Gatto is writing about the public school system in America one part of his argument against schools caught my attention

"But keep in mind that in the United States almost nobody who reads, writes, or does arithmetic gets much respect.
We are a land of talkers; we pay talkers the most and admire talkers the most"

In fact as he points out American children spend more time watching TV each week than in formal education almost 6.75 hours a day according to one study

"It's a simple matter of arithmetic: between schooling and television, all the time children have is eaten up.
That's what has destroyed the American family"


My first impression to this unsubstantiated statement was simply
why not attack the content of TV programmes then instead of teaching?
My second was why not just switch it off?


I've heard horror stories by teachers who, when asking pupils what they wanted to be when they grew up, instead of the usual replies from my childhood reply 'celebrity'

The cult of celebrity is producing a generation that believes education and hard work are not important in achieving success, claims the Association of Teachers and Lecturers.
Teachers in primary and secondary schools have commented that the cult of being famous for being famous was perverting both children's aspirations and expectations.

On one hand many youngsters do not realise just how hard some of their idols have worked to earn their fame.
But, on the other there was also a belief that academic success was not necessary, because they could become rich and famous through   'reality' (what a misnomer!) TV shows, like Big Brother, that have made celebrities out of individuals who represent the epitome of the 'barely educated ignorant and puerile'

……………..And so we wonder why children and parents think school and education is less important than a cheap package fortnight in the sun


Susan Jacoby writing in the Washington post in 2008 commented on the current rise of anti intellectualism in the US

"In 1982, 82 percent of college graduates read novels or poems for pleasure; two decades later, only 67 percent did. And more than 40 percent of Americans under 44 did not read a single book -- fiction or nonfiction -- over the course of a year.

The proportion of 17-year-olds who read nothing (unless required to do so for school) more than doubled between 1984 and 2004.
This time period, of course, encompasses the rise of personal computers, Web surfing and video games."

She argues that "The shrinking public attention span fostered by video is closely tied to the second important anti-intellectual force in American culture: the erosion of general knowledge."

According to a 2006 survey by National Geographic-Roper, nearly half of Americans between ages 18 and 24 do not think it necessary to know the location of other countries in which important news is being made.
More than a third consider it "not at all important" to know a foreign language, and only 14 percent consider it "very important." ...

She claims that the third and final factor behind the new American dumbness is not lack of knowledge per se but arrogance about that lack of knowledge.

"Not knowing a foreign language or the location of an important country is a manifestation of ignorance; denying that such knowledge matters is pure anti-rationalism. The toxic brew of anti-rationalism and ignorance hurts discussions of U.S. public policy on topics from health care to taxation."

The Dumbing of America

Atchoo!! …………pass me the tisues!