BS News: American Kids Fail at Math
In a recent study it was found that many eighth grade students are complete idiots at math who are outdone by their eight year old peers.
The twenty-first century put on productive citizens the responsibility of learning and applying many different skills to a sufficient degree. These skills include driving cars, cooking food, brushing teeth and operating DVRs. But there also some critical levels of knowledge needed in the field of mathematics. We know that most people get by just fine, but only so after highschool or in some cases only after mandatory math courses in college. What is particularly worrying is that many kids are incapable of performing some basic arithmetic at the age of thirteen. Arithmetic is not something only mathematicians and stock brokers need - people doing their taxes should have some proficiency as well as anyone shopping for groceries. In other words many children are lagging behind on skills essential to modern life.
Solutions to this problem have been proposed, such as improving the levels of math taught in a given grade. While that idea may seem plausible, it does not remedy a common problem which averts kids from wanting to learn these things - fear and hatred of what one is not good at doing. The natural tendency to avoid doing things one isn’t good at will still act as a powerful deterrent to math-defficient children if a “solution” is ever put into motion. And that is bullshit.
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