Those Darn Kids!

"Kids are so much smarter these days than they used to be"

Really? That phrase sure is bandied about a lot, but statistics show that, if anything, today's generation of youth is the dumbest in modern history.

Statistics recently released by the Clark County School District showed massive failures in math tests performed by students in the district. I'm sure that if it were English, Geography, History, or Science, results would be the same. What does this say? Simple. Most kids are really dumb.

Now, rest assured, we'll get reasons for the failures. The District's resources are poor. Teachers don't make enough money. Parents need to get more involved. And blah, and blah and blah. Money has nothing to do with intelligence. I can hand you $100, and that won't improve your intellect one whit. Heck, odds are you'll do something dumb with that money. The impetus to learn lies squarely on the shoulders of those darn kids we always make excuses for.

You have to want to learn. There are plenty of subjects that I knew I would never use if I got a job in my chosen field, but I applied myself anyway and did fairly well. I wasn't the valedictorian, but I was in the top 25 percent of my class. I was more afraid of looking stupid to the other kids than anything else. I could do a mean frog dissection knowing full well that I'd never need to know what I was learning at the time.

Time to quit wringing our hands and wondering how we can stem the tide of low test scores. I saw a bumper sticker the other day that read, "My Rottweiler is Smarter Than Your Honor Student". I don't doubt that, considering how low the bar seems to be now.

I know I would be remiss if I didn't say that yes, there are plenty of good, hard working kids out there. There ya go. But for the most part, today's kids are as dumb as a toadstool and there's no sign of an uptick anytime soon. But if I want a recap of what happened on "American Idol" this week, I'm sure there'd be no shortage of young minds ready to give me the whole rundown.