Kids and students are getting dumber. It’s the classic “Boomer” saying, lecturing about how “back in my day everyone worked 90 hour weeks and no one complained!.” But frankly? It’s true. With the prevalence of technology in today’s society, generations simply no longer need to rely on the old, outdated methods from the past—and that’s a good thing…right? Of course, technology has played a large role in what many see as the “dumbifaction” of generations: walk into any classroom and you’ll see half of the students on their phones, not paying attention, or even cheating on tests. But maybe, what many fail to consider, it’s not the fault of “those damn phones.” In reality, it’s the education system created by the older generations that’s led these young children and teenagers to hate school and learning, and in turn, stop trying.
In the United States, we spend 38% more government funding on education than an average country. However, our testing scores continue to disappoint compared to similar countries such as Russia, China, and the UK. How? Our education pathway simply isn’t set up for students to succeed. It’s the same reason there’s the stereotype of the dumb American—children aren’t taught geography, history, or even mathematics unless they take an interest in it.
As a Generation Z student, I’ve experienced this harmful “dumbification” of education. When I wanted to take advanced math in 7th grade, I discovered my middle school abolished the class in favor of students “fitting in” and achieving “equal outcomes.” Schools no longer care about how their students will do later in college, or even admit that some children are more passionate than others—all they want is “equality.” Read: the advanced kids become bored and the less advanced, confused. Simply, mushing all levels of children into one class does not, and will not, work. The kids who want to work will do so, and the ones who don’t will continue to lack the extra help they need.
Additionally, I can see the education system lacking in real time: I’ve had classmates and friends not know almost any history, or historical figures, even as teenagers. In 8th grade, I had to teach my friend the significance of Swastikas and how they were used for terrible acts of violence when we came across a historical fiction book based upon World War II. Just this year I discovered many fellow sophomores who were unfamiliar with Stalin and the atrocities he committed. The worst part? It’s none of their faults. Schools simply don’t teach history until tenth grade; far after many have already experienced hate speech or violence rooted in events they don’t even know about. While talking to my peers about this, I heard many recount stories about racism or sexism they experienced before they understood the harmful underlying reasons why they were discriminated against. I mean, even I was called a Nazi before I even knew what they were. It’s become a serious problem: students crack jokes about events they are uneducated about, and therefore unintentionally feed into the hurtful stereotypes from that era. Of course, I’m not saying it’s necessary to teach young children the gory, depressing details of events, just enough for them to understand the horrors of the time and realize the context of the jokes they make.
Students are struggling. They are struggling to compete in a world with those educated in other countries and they are struggling to compare to students of the past. It wasn’t perfect, in fact, it was far from it, but perhaps some elements of older education needs to be merged with the current. Make school an interesting, fun place for children of all levels, passions, and interests and teach important skills and lessons from a younger age. Immerse the easily influenced minds in the beginning levels of all subjects—math, history, science, English—and watch school become less of a burden and instead, a more inviting, healthier atmosphere. Nurture their interests and allow the eager to dig deeper into subjects they love by offering advanced classes. Don’t blame phones for the younger generations’ stupidity, blame the older generations who created the messed up education system that’s actively failing students.