The Kids are Alright

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Oh goodie, another survey that shows kids are stupid. I’ve complained about his before but I always find it interesting how often these “how stupid are you” excercises target the younger generation. Cuz, you know, us more mature folks already know everything.

In a recent survey of college students on U.S. civic literacy, more than 81 percent knew that the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. was expressing hope for "racial justice and brotherhood" in his historic "I Have a Dream" speech.

That's the good news.

Most of the rest surveyed thought King was advocating the abolition of slavery.

The findings indicate that years of efforts by primary and secondary schools to steep young people in the basics of the civil rights leader's life and activities have resulted in a mixed bag. Most college students know who he is -- even if they're not quite clear on what he worked to achieve.

[snip]

The recent survey of college students, conducted by the University of Connecticut's Department of Public Policy for the nonprofit Intercollegiate Studies Institute, suggests that schools are not doing as much as they could to go beyond a cursory history lesson. More than 14,000 college freshmen and seniors at 50 colleges and universities earned an average score of 53.2 percent in the survey.

Many of the 10 federal holidays have become little more than days off school or work, even if they are dedicated to significant Americans, such as Abraham Lincoln and George Washington. Many people have no idea what Labor Day commemorates, educators say.

"Honestly, I never knew what Veterans Day was until last year," said Taneisha Rodney, 14, a ninth-grader at William E. Doar Jr. Public Charter School for the Performing Arts in Northeast Washington.

OK, but how many adults who get a holiday from work really care that much about why they’re getting the day off?

I remember being in high school and being assured on a regular basis by the media that we were the fucking dumbest generation - EVER! We were simply hopeless. Funny though, things seemed to have worked out OK. We got degrees, got jobs, became community leaders, blah, blah, blah.

So...Hey, pollster, leave those kids alone.