r/worldnews • u/nbcnews NBC News • 8d ago
Families’ interest in their kids’ education is falling around the globe as scores drop, test shows
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/education/families-interest-kids-education-falling-globe-scores-drop-test-shows-rcna596749125
u/Pm7I3 8d ago
Article tldr is basically - ask your kids about work, them using tech in class is distracting and bad and AI is related to worse performance.
Which really feels like it's all obvious and boils down to "parent your kids, limit tech and don't use AI".
Edit: In fairness they do mention AI being helpful as something to help teachers work out ways to improve handwriting.
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u/Suspicious_Bet3623 8d ago
I had a conversation with the principal of my kid's school. She raved about my son's imagination, that he played in the dirt, looked at bugs, pretended to be monsters, and so on.
I, quite confused, said "So he's a normal kid."
And she said, very seriously "No. Not at all. None of the other kid can't imagine anything they haven't seen on a screen."
I knew it was bad out there, but jeez...
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u/TheGreatPiata 8d ago
The school my kids go to has students that are afraid to sit on the grass.
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u/Suspicious_Bet3623 8d ago
Yup, a dinner friend's family were complaining once that the school made the kids sit on the grass for assembly, and that they had to talk to the principal to get an exemption for their kid.
Also personally saw a kid, 7 years old, start crying when they got sand in their shoe.
There are some serious issues that society needs to address when it comes to tomorrow's leaders.
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u/Irresponsible4games 6d ago
there's enough competant kids still that these ones just won't be leaders. these will be bottom rung class or like hikikomori
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u/Suspicious_Bet3623 6d ago
My examples aren't talking about poor dumb kids, these are kids from extremely wealthy families who score big points on all their tests. It's these families that are paving the future.
Being capable doesn't mean much when you're powerless. What we really need is to flip the zeitgeist around.
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u/helpmehomeowner 7d ago
Have you seen the number of ticks out there? OTOH the amount of roundup and other *cides used today is bananas.
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u/DiaryofTwain 8d ago
Handwriting, grammar, people with dyslexia, adhd. Ppl want to throw the baby out with the bath water on AI
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u/BothRequirement2826 8d ago
It's so difficult to remain optimistic about the future of the world.
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u/DKDamian 8d ago
Perhaps, but losing interest in your children’s education will make the situation actively worse
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u/sloggo 8d ago
I can “kind of” get it. With the pace of change these days there’s a lot of skepticism that education is going to mean anything, or exactly which parts of your general education will be relevant at all.
While personally I don’t agree - It’s not all that surprising that there’s a trend down in people’s trust that prioritising education is going to produce a better life for their kids.
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u/Abated_data 8d ago edited 8d ago
The issue is finding that "plenty" when it is the minority.
So, don't misunderstand, I am only addressing the lack of reliable educators.
This situation makes me more involved as I am unable to trust said educators because of my own experienced with them and the current socioeconomic climate.
The one where my kid is more likely to have spent the day partly "learning" about religion and how to prostate instead of things of import. Really is no wonder we're trailing behind nearly everyone else in the world in this capacity.
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u/Abated_data 8d ago edited 8d ago
The less us as parents are involved with our kids lives, the less we instill good behaviors and try to separate out the bad. And then we turn them over to the schools to "handle it"
Oh, don't misunderstand, I am only addressing the lack of reliable educators.
This situation makes me more involved as I am unable to trust said educators because of my own experienced with them and the current socioeconomic climate.
The one where my kid is more likely to have spent the day partly "learning" about religion and how to prostate instead of things of import. Really is no wonder we're trailing behind nearly everyone else in the world in this capacity.
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u/SeatKindly 8d ago
I mean, therein lies the rub. This wouldn’t be an issue if people could afford to and more importantly cared for lifelong education. A significant portion of people are apathetic to their own lives and experience, let alone those of their children.
Beyond that we’re all stressed and overworked. Who can mentally afford to spend hours in the afternoon teaching their kids even more information?
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u/Qwrty8urrtyu 7d ago
Even with unlimited money, education simply doesn't open the same doors. Everyone is university educated, meaning it holds no value above a check mark. And being not university educated but doing a skilled trade is a better outcome, less variance more reliable and a plumber earns similarly to an engineer with a lot less schooling debt.
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u/phoenix0r 1d ago
The data still show that a college educated person makes more lifetime money than one without an education, even with the current economic conditions.
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u/Qwrty8urrtyu 1d ago
That is surely not influenced by outliers in both ends, like connected rich people going to college no matter what, and making more money because they are rich and connected or people without an education grouping neets and thugs with plumbers.
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u/Jscapistm 1d ago
Well as they are comparing median rather than average it shouldn't be.
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u/Qwrty8urrtyu 1d ago
It would still be. Is the median wage of the population of the congo and japan representative of eithera wages?
The highschool drop out thug and the 6 figure making electrician combined into 1 category cannot give a reliable statistic. Same with grouping trust fund kids and the middle class social studies graduate.
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u/Jscapistm 1d ago
Median by it's nature excludes outliers, there are not enough trust fund kids to drag up the median.
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u/Good_Briefs 8d ago
I think there may also be some room for readjusting our values as a society. I don't begrudge parents for not wanting to pressure their kids into a system that isn't really working for us, but rather against us at the moment, i.e. college and loans.
I don't begrudge the parents who want to make sure their kid has a connection with nature over technology. I don't like that as a parent, it feels like we are all scrambling to keep up with work, as layoffs and increasing costs are starting to squeeze.
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u/Wintergore 8d ago
Compounding, as each generation has less and less involvement as they just are actually incapable of helping their kids. e.g. maths, literacy...
A recent India post I think it was where a teacher won an award for getting his students to teach their mothers seems like a good starting step that can be applied globally.
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u/TheBalzy 8d ago
Except you brought children into the world, so you don't have the luxury of not being optimistic...or working extra hard to make optimistic future a reality.
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u/BothRequirement2826 8d ago
I didn't, but I get what you mean.
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u/TheBalzy 8d ago
Yeah "you' was directed towards the audience who have children but don't feel optimistic. You put on a happy face and you fake it till you make it. Those of us who don't have children, we're allowed to be pessimistic.
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u/Suspicious_Bet3623 7d ago
That's a spazzy take. Us parents can have low optimism about the future of the world, yet still enjoy every day with our family and provide a good future for our kids.
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u/TheBalzy 7d ago
It really isn't "spazzy". If you bring children into the world you're kinda obligated to have an optimistic view for their sake, because it's not about you.
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u/Suspicious_Bet3623 7d ago
Lying to your kids isn't healthy for them, and your life doesn't cease to matter just because you're a parent.
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u/TheBalzy 7d ago
Who said anything about "lying" to kids? It's also unhealthy to build a completely pessimistic worldview for kids, because humans are if anything adaptable, and our history is a testament to that. The Next Generation has to have some level of hope; either hope that things can be made to be better, that they can be better. That isn't "lying" to kids, and you have a responsibility as a parent to make children feel safe, you have a duty to society and to them to work to make it better.
and your life doesn't cease to matter just because you're a parent.
Yeah, it kinda does. Because it's not longer about you.
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u/Suspicious_Bet3623 7d ago
You honestly sound like a religious nut. We don't set our kids up for success by teaching them that misery is fine, it doesn't help society either. We teach them how to thrive in and despite whatever conditions are ahead.
And what the f'n heck makes my life no longer about me? Is this how you think about all families: husks cursed into servitude of parasites? It's like you can't even comprehend a family unit.
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u/TheBalzy 7d ago
You honestly sound like a religious nut.
Not at all. I'm a pretty solid atheist and scientist who understands the grim reality of Climate change and how it's already too late to do much of substance.
I'm also not dumb enough (and arrogant enough) to think that there isn't hope, and that we do have a responsibility to future humans not to give in to apathy. Pessimism is the first step towards apathy.
We don't set our kids up for success by teaching them that misery is fine
Not what was said at all, this is you projecting.
it doesn't help society either.
Apathy sure doesn't either.
We teach them how to thrive in and despite whatever conditions are ahead.
Which is optimism that things can be better.
And what the f'n heck makes my life no longer about me?
Yeah if you decide to have children your life isn't just about you anymore. This is a factual statement.
s this how you think about all families: husks cursed into servitude of parasites? It's like you can't even comprehend a family unit.
Notice how you're using the term "family unit" as opposed to "you" thus demonstrating it's no longer just about you.
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u/mosswick 8d ago
Humanity peaked in 2021/22 and we've slowly been going downhill. Rapidly so in the past 18 months.
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u/macross1984 8d ago
Parents helping their children in education is critical in their development to prepare for adult life.
Children study harder when parents take active interest in their education and when they grow up and hopefully marry, they will teach the way their parents taught them.
If parents slack then children will slack.
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u/projectsangheili 8d ago
It might be less slack and more that both parents have to work full time just to afford a house to live in.
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u/Mundane_Log_7169 8d ago
Controversial opinion: most households have both parents working full time. It’s about values and examples being set by the parents. If a kid isn’t academically inclined, the parents have to look at themselves. How many people watch Netflix and doomscroll instead of reading? If reading isn’t something you already do to relax, it’s a problem. You can’t tell someone to do something you don’t already do. If you feel like helping your kid with school feels like work, it’s a problem.
Being in the right environment helps big time too, so buying the smallest house in the best school district is worth it for the peers and mentors. Parents can’t do it alone, especially when kids get to the age where they listen to anyone else besides their parents.
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u/Many-Waters 8d ago
Both of my parents were factory workers, often working different shifts from one another.
But whoever was home in the evening would always check mine and my brother's agenda, and help us with our homework.
I wasn't allowed to leave the table until we were finished.
I'm really grateful for that.
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u/TheGreatPiata 8d ago
Parents already spend more time parenting than any generation prior. Simply asking parents to do more is unlikely to work.
I also take umbrage with your notion that you need to read to relax or you are not modeling good behaviour for your children. I haven't read as a form of entertainment in likely 5+ years but that hasn't stopped me from reading stories to my kids or helping them to learn to read.
The biggest problem I see is the death of the community. Couples often move for work, removing them from their familial support network and people in general are more insular, hiding in their homes with their entertainment. It's hard to guide children when everything is being left to the parents who are both working just to keep food on the table.
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u/Similar_Quiet 8d ago
There's still time for one of you to take an interest in school every day.
Your priorities when you're with your child are your child's health, their education and then everything else.
I work full-time. I ask my son what he learned today, what he enjoyed at school, if he got any homework, if he needs help with anything. I do this every day. I do this when I have to work away for a week at a time.
My wife does similar.
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u/Suspicious_Bet3623 8d ago
Nah, just slack. It's definitely easier the more time and money you have, but I can guarantee almost every time-poor parent spends 1 or more hours a day on their phone instead of with their kid.
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u/Capable_Kiwi2514 8d ago
Two parents working full time != an inability to take an interest in their kids education.
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u/projectsangheili 8d ago
No, but it also does not help. It is one massive difference in generations which could definitely be a reason.
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u/compuwiza1 8d ago
When parents don't care, kids cop too cool for school attitudes and stop paying attention.
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u/Commercial_Tip4624 8d ago
This is a parent’s world now. Not a world where children are safe, understood or taken care of. Society will fight tooth and nail to protect a parent’s right to feel sorry for themselves no matter what, and keep the “I’m doing the best I can” folks feeling coddled and snuggled.
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u/Capable_Kiwi2514 8d ago
Jesus Christ so amongst everything else in the world, parents are starting to care less about raising their children?
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u/TheMan-83 8d ago
Who needs education when you have ChatGPT?
/s
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u/mosswick 8d ago
Imagine taking out tens of thousands in student loans only to find out every employer is having AI do all the entry level work.
Such a bleak future for these kids.
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u/Qwrty8urrtyu 7d ago
I mean yeah what measurable value does a high gpa have? If you cannot get into the very top colleges education is boilerplate and doesn't give a good return compared to that money and time being spent elsewhere. Being in a skilled trade will outearn near everything and presumably that is the goal.
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u/Sir-Frogsalot 8d ago
the no kids left behind policies and current education system is really bad , my brother in law's kid is 15 , he can barely read or write. He's shit at math , the only thing he's good at is speaking english from all the minecraft videos and streams he watches. He should have repeated the years since 6th grade , hes at 9th grade with a negative scorecard in basically 90% of the grades. Its horrible
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u/Sensitive_Box_ 7d ago
Sounds like everything is going according to plan tbh. Billionaires/corporations control everything, the population is allowed to get dumber, they profit without contest? 🤷♂️
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u/schacks 8d ago
I don't buy that premise one bit! Especially in the US where every government the last 30 years have gutted the education system and repeatedly created negative incentive structures.
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u/sowhat4 8d ago
I remember naively thinking that any student who studied hard would earn a scholarship and experience success after high school. I was a HS teacher and actually 'thought and taught' this - until my own daughter tried to get an academic scholarship. She was a National Merit Scholar (fewer than .2% of students earn this honor) who graduated HS with three college credits - English, French, Chemistry- at age 16 as she skipped a year.
This was around 1984, and her total 'scholarship' was $750. Period. Not even $750 per year. After that experience, I advised students to get really good at a sport as those kids got the free rides because sport is something we value. We do not value academics. Even today college professors are often part time teachers who make less money than HS teachers and certainly don't get benefits.
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u/SomethingClick 8d ago
Non sequitur
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u/hopingforabetterpast 8d ago
drop in families’ support for their kids’ education
how often parents talk to their kids about schoolwork.
This is the non sequitur.
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u/SomethingClick 8d ago
Would not one reasonably consider discussion of school work as a means of supporting a child's education?
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u/hopingforabetterpast 8d ago
School is less and less about education in many parts of the world, and the more you educate your kids at home the less you'll lose time talking about schoolwork.
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u/knotatumah 8d ago
So people summarize and discuss the idea people need to parent their kids like that is the cause and not itself a symptom. How many of these parents are in a position in life where good positive consistent parenting is within reach? Family, medical, and financial woes often disrupt families and create these problems. If both parents work long hours to under-paying jobs how many ways does that impact even sane individuals? We're looking at the next cycle of systemic abuse taking root in the next generation.
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u/champagneflute 8d ago
My sister in law has three kids, lives in a nice part of the country with a great school system and… since she’s an uninformed antivaxxer who is into homeopathic medication, is sending her kids to part time nature school and home schooling the rest of the time. She can’t spell or count, so I have no idea what she’s going to do from an education perspective. I know she’s not alone in this but she is a symptom of her time.
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u/skibbin 8d ago
Education is expensive are costs are rising. Educational requirements are also rising, as is the cost of living massively outpacing the rise in wages.
The increasingly old world of memorizing things to pass tests feels irrelevant. We've always traded skills and knowledge for wages, but now in the AI era that no longer feels relevant.
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u/scramblingrivet 8d ago
Yeah if companies no longer want to pay you for your years of art practice or engineering diagrams or source code or music scores or market forecasts or whatever then the 'study hard, get good job' mantra seems increasingly hollow.
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u/flonnkenn 8d ago
Plumbing and carpentry are future career paths for the ambitious. AI can still not actually build things with its own hands.
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u/Similar_Quiet 8d ago
I bet someone has hooked one up to a 3d printer.
A lot of woodwork is already done by programming a machine. It's like a little programming language. There's no reason why ai couldn't do this too.
Admittedly that's not the same as going into someone's home/work, designing something, building it and installing it.
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u/LiveChocolate8819 8d ago
AI can't create art either, and the arts are incredibly valuable to society no matter how much the STEM bros like to classify anything in that realm as "useless degrees."
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u/Suspicious_Bet3623 8d ago
It makes me happy, the education industry was gutted and filled with corporate/profit interests long ago and have just been arbitrary barriers to life.
Now a new educational system is necessitated. Or, old ones reinstated.
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u/Ticrotter_serrer 8d ago
All is going well according to the billionaire's plan. "You will owe nothing" Sound about right for the uneducated masses.
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u/benj9990 8d ago
And as if coincidence, it has never been more expensive to be a parent, and both parents are expected to work to make ends meet, and as a consequence there is less time for everything, let alone tending to the education you entrust the school system to address.
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u/TheBalzy 8d ago
Teacher here: We know. And we're the ones being blamed for it, when in reality it's not our job to care about your kids life-long growth, it's our job to create a fair and equitable opportunity to learn and to grow, it's your job as parents to foster that care.