"Do you know the vice president of The United States?" the teen journalist asks.
“The bald guy. He was gonna run and he – Clinton, right?” one student replies.
While I have to admit that while the video at first seemed pretty funny, it's actually kind of sad. It very well may be a honest depiction that some teenagers "don't know much about anything". While I may be elitist (yikes, let the hate mail begin), I know that my kids could answer most of these questions. Furthermore, I am pretty confident that many of the homeschool teens I know could answer most of the questions correctly too.
Even though this may be a huge blanket statement, I think homeschoolers actually pride themselves on what they do know. Somehow, they just don't seem to fall prey to the "dumbing down" that can happen in so many public schools. Whether this is a result of homeshool parents, or the child's own intrinsic sense of self, I have yet to meet a homeschooler who thinks it's hip to be dumb.
This past weekend, my family watched the movie Dolphin Tale. In the film, one of the main characters, Hazel, explains that she is homeschooled. Seeing as how her father is a Marine Biologist in charge of an underfunded rescue/rehab facility, you get the impression that Hazel is one of those self-taught homeschoolers. In contrast, the other main character, Sawyer, is skipping his summer school classes on a daily basis to help rehabilitate a wounded dolphin. I loved how the film treated Hazel being homeschooled as "no big deal". As a matter of fact, you almost feel that by not attending public school the girl has an edge. Hazel seems to have it all together, she's social, happy, and has great self-worth. On the other hand, Sawyer seems to be a complete mess - he's failing at school, depressed, and withdrawn.
When the two characters talk about school, Sawyer explains that he's never done very well in and fails at everything. Hazel remarks that, "Maybe you just haven't found something you really enjoy learning about yet?" What's awesome in film is that Sawyer's mom sees the value of what her son is learning outside of the non-traditional educational environment (i.e. summer school) and allows him to continue skipping school. She even talks to his teacher, in hopes that he too can recognize the worth in trading in English class for a first-hand lesson in Marine Biology. Unfortunately, the teacher doesn't agree. As the movie progresses, we witness that as Sawyer becomes more passionate about the saving this dolphin, he level of knowledge begins to sky rocket.
I have to wonder if what Sawyer experience with tradition school learning could be the same answer to what is ailing our public school teens? Perhaps the reason the teens don't know much about history or geography is because they are really not interested? So it's not that they are "dumb", perhaps it's just something they don't enjoy learning about? The big question is whether the apathy they feel towards these subjects is a result of how they have been taught?
My kids have been learning about history and geography for years. However, I must admit that I have taught them very little. Instead, they have learned all that they know by reading books (fiction and non-fiction), watching movies and television, and by visiting state parks, museums, etc. My kids read and/or listen to the news. They participate in family discussions at the dinner table regarding: politics, economics, and current events. They have acquired knowledge in these areas because learning about them has always been an interesting and natural part of their life.
When I say "thank goodness we homeschool", its not because I think my kids are smarter than the teens in the Lunch Scholar video. Instead, it's because I know my sons care about the questions that were being asked in the video. They would feel foolish to be "caught on camera" as seeming ignorant on these subjects. Somehow, my kids intrinsically know that this is information every average American should know.
For the teens that don't know the answers to these basic questions, you just have to sigh. If they care so little about these topics when they are young adults, how confident do we feel that they will ever take an interest when they are older adults? Of course, with books like Kenneth C. Davis' "Don't Know Much About Anything", maybe there is at least some hope that one day they might become like Hazel and learn the answers!
NOTE: The video, "High School Students Caught Off-Guard", was made by two Olympia High School juniors, Austin Oberbillig and Evan Ricks, in Olympia, WA. The boys said that the intent of the video was to just get a few laughs around school. However, when the video went viral, they didn't think it was so funny. "Once the whole country is looking at it, it's a little different,” Ricks said. “It can get a little scary.”
Source: Huffington Post 2/5/12
P.S. When I showed my kids the video and told them that I was posting it on my blog, they asked me to add in a comment: "If you plan to show your kids this video, ask them the same set of questions first".
Lunch ScholarsHigh School Students Caught Off-Guard
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