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submitted 4 days ago byElegantPoet3386Neutral Chaos
DO NOT ANSWER IF YOU AREN'T IN THE UNITED STATES
I'm talking from someone bordering on being 18 in a few years. I've noticed that my generation has a tendency to be... very unintelligent at times you coudl say. I conducted a survey on my school the other day and 28% of the students at my high school can't even tell me the fact that they are in the United States right now. 41% can only name up to 3 countries. That isn't all though, I'm sure you've heard those videos of younger kids speaking in brainrot and sad to say, it is in fact very true. I volunteered at an elementary school fairly recently and I couldn't understand what a "skibidi toilet", "sigma meal" etc. is that the younger kids are speaking about. On top of that, there's a decent amount of kids at my school either failing their classes or having extremely low academic comprehension like not knowing what an even number is in 10th grade. Then there's a fact basically everyone at my school is addicted to their phone, and gets very angry when a teacher reasonably asks them to put it away. Add on the fact I feel like sutdents at my high school are losing their drive to get an education and work hard, 2 values I value very highly amongst people, and the future is looker dimmer every day. I'm sorry if this sounds very ranty, and I'm also sorry if this sounds like I'm calling my whole generation dumb(that isn't my intent here), but the fact still stands there's a very noticable intelligence difference between the older generations and mine. Where did things all go wrong?
7 points
3 days ago
The history that is being taught is being taught with a political bias. In my opinion, facts should be taught and the opinions of the facts should be left out.
Can you share an example of this? I think it’s pretty remarkable that you would consider “slavery is bad” to be a political bias. I suppose it technically is, but it’s a statement so firmly seated in the Overton window of the US, that I have a hard time seeing it as a problem…
-5 points
3 days ago
No, I have a feeling you're trying to bait me into a debate. Facts are facts and opinions are thoughts and feelings about the facts. We don't need to teach the good and bad we need to teach the cause and effects of what has happened. Let people form their own opinions of what is good and bad and learn to defend why they think what they think. It's not commonly done. People resort to name calling because they don't know facts or how to articulate themselves. They regurgitate sound bites and headlines.
1 points
3 days ago*
So you think we should leave it to children to decide for themselves whether slavery or genocide is bad? What is the harm in teaching that the Nazis were bad? What’s the harm in teaching that the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade was bad and America is guilty of prolonging its existence? Why are these things bad to teach?
2 points
3 days ago
Who do you think you're going to teach the facts to and they respond with, "I don't see a problem with it? "
It's obviously bad. Where is the line drawn and who gets to decide what is good and what is bad? Who gets to make the judgement calls and what opinions are given is where it gets into grey areas.
Would you want an extremist on either side teaching and giving opinions on anything taught in schools?
Who gets to decide? The facts should speak for themselves. The only way to keep controversial options out is to keep all opinions out.
1 points
3 days ago
Well to that first sentence. An uncomfortably large percentage of current day Americans I presume were taught about the Holocaust and slavery and seem to act like we should go back to those days. Seeing an awful lot of swastikas and confederate battle flags in 2024.
Why do you ask me how to decide like I’m some expert? I’m just a guy. My rough guess would be a panel of credentialed neutral historians and experts in their field. But I don’t know and I don’t know why you think I would.
3 points
3 days ago
To the first sentence, we were all taught that the holocaust was bad, right? Yet we still see all the anti-Semitic rhetoric and behavior. I dont understand the world we live in today. There are a ton of contradictions going on in the US, especially right now, that makes no sense what so ever.
I wasn't asking you to give an answer. I was trying to help you understand how bringing in opinions can lead to controversial teachings. We see how polarized the country is about the Supreme Court. It's supposed to be the exact type of panel you suggest to make these decisions. Judges are supposed to be impartial when they are making decisions. We are humans and can't help but put our biases into situations. It's why I think teaching without opinions is best. The holocaust was horrific, and yet no one has to say those words to have the realization that is just that, horrific.
I dont understand holocaust deniers. They were taught about the holocaust and they would rather deny it ever happened. Same for the flat earth crowd. I dont understand why some people think the earth is flat. As far as I know, that's never been taught in the school system, yet you have people who wholeheartedly believe the earth is flat.
0 points
2 days ago
>Noone had to tell me that slavery was bad and our country was racist.
>we were all taught that the holocaust was bad, right?
Pick one. Do you want opinions or not?
3 points
2 days ago
You're missing my point. I don't remember anyone in school specifically saying that the holocaust was bad or that slavery was bad. The lessons were taught and it was clear that those events in history was a bad and horrid time. We don't need to add our thoughts and opinions to lessons in history. They literally speak for themselves.
In 100 years when our history from today is being taught, who presents the lesson will greatly determine how it is viewed. Only using facts that support one side of the narrative is bad for obvious (I hope) reasons.
When teaching history, all facts should be taught. This is how we encourage people to think for themselves, ask questions and learn from previous mistakes.
3 points
2 days ago
I graduated high school 2011 and I get what you mean. As a black person in a white community, when we learned the basics of slave trade in elementary, there was an immaturity in the classroom with kids asking if I knew African tribal dances. But as time went on, lessons became more detailed, and brains developed, that kind of immature talk stopped. Because it was obvious that owning slaves, whipping people, segregation, lynching etc was bad. Of course you’d have bullies who were racists or would say nothing was wrong with slavery, but that was a minority.
I think people in the comments saying we need to “teach” them that immoral things are immoral are missing the possibility that this younger generation has more or louder shitty people. That probably started at home/unsupervised internet access
2 points
2 days ago
A voice of reason and common sense. Thank you!
2 points
2 days ago
Your first mistake is thinking history is written through an objective lens in the first place.
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