I actually believe people are getting more intelligent, and with teaching methods evolving, its making it better for children to learn as theyre more involved.

When I first started secondary school, everyone had to do a test to determine how best they learn, and what level theyre working at. I was seen to be a kinetic learner, so having to just write whatever the teacher says or copying from the board just doesnt work for me. But get me involved with something and I work really well, I think this is why Im less academic and more creative.

But then when my parents were at school, you just did what the teacher said, it wasnt so interactive.

But then apparently 15 and 16 year olds arent allowed to be getting smarter, it must be that the exam boards are being more lenient with their marking.
If thats the case then I must be a retard.

I have a problem with the kids these days who cant read properly being called dyslexic. Just because theyre illiterate doesnt automatically make them dyslexic, and while you cant really call them thick, I have my suspicions that its because of the culture of "blame everything and everyone but oneself"

I myself am dyslexic, but in a kind of strange way. I have no problem with reading or spelling, my problem is getting information into my brain. My writing is kinda nasty but thats not a biggie. I went on a dyslexia test recently to see if I was. (they wouldnt count my previous 2 tests which confirmed I was.) Anyway they sat me down in front of a computer and because I could read and spell the computer said I wasnt dyslexic.

Anyway, Im sure there are genuinely kids out there who DO have a problem and are dyslexic, but there are kids out there being diagnosed as dyslexic when the problem seems to me to be something much easier to address; laziness. Theyre lazy, with their text speak and sh*t like that no wonder they cant f**king read properly. Its something that really winds me up. And the result will be that when theyre grown up if theyre presented with a challenge, theyll just say "I cant do that, Im dyslexic and youre persecuting me for it." although I doubt theyll use the word persecuting.

[read retorts]

Yes, were screwed...  

I agree with you, I went to a school which also had students with learning and physical disabilities, so I knew quite a few people in my year who were dyslexic/dyspraxic. And then there were the ones who just couldnt be bothered.
Because of some of the students in our school, we had a lot of Learning Support Assistants, and loads of people would just fake being stupid because it was their way of getting the LSA to basically do the work for them, so the people that actually needed help werent getting it (majority of the actual teachers in our school were useless).

But at the same time I always hated being treated like an idiot. I dont think of myself as dumb, but when I was in year 10, after spending 3 years in the higher group for science, I got put in the middle group. I couldnt understand why and spent the whole year trying to get them to put me back up, because for that whole year the teacher spoke to that class as if we were 5 year olds.
Thankfully, when I got to year 11 I got put back up again, and got to be confused by physics again.

Its weird. When I was maybe 8-10 (sometime around then) I did some test and was told I had a memory sequencing issue/form of dyslexia, but we never did anything about it. Ive never ticked the boxes on education or employment applications which ask if you have dyslexia or other disabilities, and have never really used it as an excuse. But in the last 6 months or so I remembered about it when someone was saying they were dyslexic and thats why they couldnt spell, and I pointed out so was I. Since then I think Ive mentioned it once a fortnight or so...its just so convenient it seems.

I hate myself a little more each time I use it though. All it is is basically I can remember things, but struggle to remember which is which. So I often get confused on the roads when I cant remember if its the left or right turning, or learning new species I often get similar ones muddled up, and things like cations and anions I can remember what they are, but never which one is positive and which negative etc.

Quote from: EddCould it be that only the dumb people get press?

Nailed it. W celebrate the mundane in people.


std issue pop idol bird #4, wins pop idol and its front page news for days: OMG this person can sing after practicing for years and getting guidance and help from experts in the field. Woooo!!

WAG bonks some footballer - international news.

Rooney shags some whore - 14 page colour supplements.

The CERN guys contain antimatter - nothing.

A potentially life-friendly planet in the neighbourhood - nothing.

Were living a Jeremy Kyle show.



Then we got technology.

1900s - blokes mess around with mechanical computers and early flying machines.

1960-1970s - we get the space race, we get the blackbird, we get computers taking up whole buildings, we get nuclear fusion in the next decade! We got people in the pubs, down at community centres talking about sh*t.

2010- - we got AMD eCPUs, we got £100B windmills, we got broadband running 1/100 the speed it could be if we werent spending millions on dog rehabilitation centres in hungary or 250mph rail links that will never break even. We got Facebook and omg Neil has a wonky toenail...

2050 - Idiocracy.

Quote from: matt5cottWhats even worse is theres a huge chunk who will sit and moan about foreigners coming into the country and taking their jobs, from the comfort of a wetherspoons chair on a Tuesday afternoon.

Yep. People bitch and whine all day long about this. Those damn foreigners, we got people coming here who are prepared to wash our cars in sub zero temperatures for 6quid. People who are happy to clean our houses for £30 a week, people who are prepared to go to uni and not see it as a 3 year drink and drug binge. Sods. Gimme a hardworking German or Nigerian or whatever dentist or car valet or chef over some lazy, entitled english git any day.


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Kids these days  

Problem with kids these days is they have absolutely zero independence. I got 2 trainees at the moment and Ive had a bunch on work experience and its constantly what do i do with this W7 install disk? and pete, can you hold my hand while I install this memory upgrade?. I get kids in, I give them something simple, something as technical as running a virus scan. They all seem to expect me to spend 10 minutes going through it with them, even though weve gone through it a dozen times already. Fine. I do that cos theyre new.

Then they go find another engineer to ask questions to but its not stuff like  should I be running combofix? or is malware malbytes going to fix this or is there something better?

No. They go to engineer no.2 and say i got this problem. What do I do now?

Engineer no.2 says the same as me and they come back to me. Pete, E2 says i should do that exact thing you said I should do a few minutes ago. What do I do?

....
 

I realised a few months back that I dont teach kids how to fix stuff anymore, Im trying my damnest to get them thinking on their own feet -

*This is the Problem*
*These are your resources*
*Find the solution*

Getting them to reach a conclusion on their own. Getting them through the thought process: This PC has a Virus. NOD32 didnt pick it up. We need to run malware malbytes while we Google for a solid fix.
Impossible. They got no independence.

Quote from: Pete2050 - Idiocracy.

Or a well-functioning, fit, healthy, prosperous society under a benevolent, national socialist government.  It neednt be all jack-boots and secret police, you silly, paranoid people.  National Socialism.  Analyse those words.

Quote from: Eagle

Quote from: Pete2050 - Idiocracy.

Or a well-functioning, fit, healthy, prosperous society under a benevolent, national socialist government.  It neednt be all jack-boots and secret police, you silly, paranoid people.  National Socialism.  Analyse those words.

National Socialism. Read a history book.

Sure...

Quote from: EagleOr a well-functioning, fit, healthy, prosperous society under a benevolent, national socialist government.  It neednt be all jack-boots and secret police, you silly, paranoid people.  National Socialism.  Analyse those words.

Will the trains run on time?

I think to be fair, national socialism did work for Germany at that time.........until he went on holiday to poland.....

Germany was undeniably efficient because of NS, thats why we struggled so hard against them and their rapid growth.

Quote from: EddI think to be fair, national socialism did work for Germany at that time.........until he went on holiday to poland.....

Yes, the expansionist aspect was the main reason it failed.  However, National Socialism didnt fail itself, per se - as a political system.  It worked wonders for getting the people fit, healthy, motivated and contributing to society.  It follows that a tempered NS could work very well here.  It would certainly counter and redress the rot thats set in.

After all, nothing else is working...

its not the kids... is bad parenting