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22 Sep 2013
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Join Date: May 2012
Location: On the road around Oz
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In Australia its been in a downward spiral for years.
15 years ago I had "words" with my daughters primary school about not picking up her spelling mistakes... their response was "it stifles their creativity".
Now I have a uni student who can't spell - and can't rely on spellchecker because she simply doesn't know which is the correct version.
If the schools stopped continually testing our kids (NAPLAN) and actually started teaching our kids - we'd have a fighting chance.
But alas - the gov't closes down the TAFEs and kids can no longer learn the basics of mechanics, carpentry, hairdressing, sewing etc
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22 Sep 2013
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Join Date: Feb 2002
Location: Wessex, UK
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Scootergal
In Australia its been in a downward spiral for years.
But alas - the gov't closes down the TAFEs and kids can no longer learn the basics of mechanics, carpentry, hairdressing, sewing etc
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They are just starting to reverse this trend in the UK with the re-introduction of apprenticeships, the government has finally realised that you need people with manual skills in order for a country to function.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Scootergal
15 years ago I had "words" with my daughters primary school about not picking up her spelling mistakes... their response was "it stifles their creativity".
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Is this their way of saying "we don't know how to spell either"?
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22 Sep 2013
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mark manley
Is this their way of saying "we don't know how to spell either"?
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Most likely!
We set the bar high for doctors and lawyers but if the kids don't get the top marks they "just become a teacher".
So now we have mediocre teachers pumping out mediocre students.
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23 Sep 2013
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seeing my 13 year old stepsons education has been a real, well, education!!
I truly cannot believe the crap they are taught in schools. The kids can't spell and can't add up. He doesn't know his times tables, AT 13!!! Some of the stuff the teachers tell them is beyond belief. The latest in a long list is the boys in his class were fretting because their teacher had told them coal will run out in 30 years and then civilisation will fall apart.
And don't even get me started on those children's rights lectures
BTW, I work in A&E and I can assure you, people are stupid!!
Are they more stupid than 10 years ago? I don't know. The Austin metro was the best selling car in the UK for many years. That perfectly demonstrates the level of reasoning and intelligence that was around then.
It's one reason I believe we should never have a referendum on anything, too many people are too stupid to understand the concepts involved.
One thing I do think though is that these days people expect other people to look after them and provide all the answers. People seem incapable of taking responsibility for themselves or their actions.
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23 Sep 2013
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Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: Dunedin, NZ
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I don't think people are more stupid than before but due to population growth, there are certainly more stupid people around 
I do think people are being dumbed down by various organisations but sadly as these people become parents too, standard life-skills are becoming a rarity.
Don't bother with reading a map - use a GPS
Don't bother learning how to cook - buy a pre-prepared meal
Don't bother learning a language - everyone speaks English, just talk louder!
Don't bother looking when crossing a road after all, the driver will have to stop or go to jail!
Don't bother getting a job - the state will give you money to stay at home
...... 
and breathe....
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Striving to live the ordinary life in a non ordinary way
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23 Sep 2013
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controversially, as the scrotes in the pool at the bottom of society also tend to breed like rabbits, is the pool of scrotes getting bigger and bigger?
Although of course I accept other people have large families, some scrotes are actually quite clever and rather a lot of the supposedly educated middle classes are extraordinarily stupid!!
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24 Sep 2013
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Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: Province of Luxembourg, Belgium
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Quote:
Originally Posted by moggy 1968
controversially, as the scrotes in the pool at the bottom of society also tend to breed like rabbits, is the pool of scrotes getting bigger and bigger?
Although of course I accept other people have large families, some scrotes are actually quite clever and rather a lot of the supposedly educated middle classes are extraordinarily stupid!!
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That's the plot of Idiocracy.
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24 Sep 2013
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Quite a few obsolete skills getting a mention here IMHO. How many here could;
Use acetylene lighting?
Start something with hot bulb ignition?
Drive a vehicle with a crash box?
Some downtown abbey-esque chauffeur thinks you are all a bunch of namby pamby sprogs. The OP's jerry can is not current standard BTW, or it would be plastic and screw cap.
Some of the other skills are of course timeless and while I can't spell for toffee ( i'm 38 and my teachers were hippy wastrel s who wanted me to dance like a flower man), I at least know this and use the checker carefully. My education started after university which is mad.
Andy
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22 Sep 2013
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Scootergal
If the schools stopped continually testing our kids and actually started teaching our kids - we'd have a fighting chance.
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It's the same here in the UK. That's the problem with league tables and the relentless focus on results at the exclusion of all else. Yes, obviously we all want the kids to do well in school, but focusing purely on relentless assessment regimes without allowing time for any real depth or breadth in the curriculum has the nock on effect that practicality or common sense often goes by the wayside. In order to pass exams, many kids have their work scaffolded to such an extent that when it comes down to real problem solving, they don't know where to start, as they've never encountered it before.
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22 Sep 2013
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Recently I was shocked to find out my new son in law did not know how to change a wheel on his car. had to call out to rescue services, everything was there just no idea 
Just a few days ago I dug out my old Holbrook lathe and cleaned it up thinking I would get rid of it. But just seeing it has made me decide to recommission it.
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