[Ducati] what's in a word (very NDC...Kevin's on a jag)

[the_lammster at comcast.net]

I'm glad we have now changed focus!

Kevin, you are equating public speaking ability of a person in a very excited state with absolute intelligence.  Many highly trained and educated people in this country, and around the world are horrible public speakers who sound like babbling idiots unless you can talk to the them one-on-one.

Had it not been for a former job that forced me to make public speeches to literally hundreds of people and respond to their questions about public policy, I could easily sound the same (I THINK I don't sound like a babbling idiot most of the time).  It took me a while to figure out how to not be nervous when there is a microphone in my face and I never had to face a camera.

My point, our nation's literacy rate, our nation's premier motorcyclists ability to speak properly, and the state of childhood education about other natiion's governments in this country are not all to be lain at the feet of the educators.  The former may be a direct result of the educators giving up on a child or it may be there is a mental deficiency in too many people, or it may be that there was no home support for the child to learn (and I have learned that the home is the single most important factor here).  

Nicky's ability to speak above a 5th or 6th grade level may be dependent upon the topic and the audience.  That is personality driven, or poor education.  The latter is always being foisted off on the schools when it takes a good home environment where learning is cherished, a good set of instruction and teachers, and a willing student.  Any of those 3 failing and the education level will be diminished.

I am not a teacher.  I have never been directly associated with an education institution, nor any political agency to manage or direct education in this country.  I have been a policy person in the US DOT.  And I used to be married to an elementary school guidance counselor.  It was the latter that allowed me to see directly what happens to a child's learning ability when there is a defective or disrupted home environment.  We visited many families in dirt poor situations.  The children's school results were directly correlated to the parents attitude towards their child learning.  That doesn't imply that there are those that overcome adversity on their own; just that I have never seen it in an elementary school child.

How many of our 11 year-olds could speak intelligently about foreign governments?  Not many.  How many U.S. states require an 11 year old to learn about foreign governments?  Do any?  That means that the politicians in charge of our schools have decided that foreign governments are not important for our children's and our society's welfare by the time the children are 11.  Does that mean our system has failed us?  Nope, it means that we have different priorities from the cited French society.  Why?  The U.S. is effectively bordered by 2 nations (Canada and Mexico for the geographically challenged).  

Canada uses the British parliamentary system of government.  Mexico uses a unicameral, presidential system (I think but will be gladly corrected).  Regardless, when a U.S. citizen goes to Canada, we don't see a big difference in lifestyle and politically, the Canadians are generally in alignment with us.  Mexico has been a good neighbor for many years, but of little financial interest to the U.S. until recently (post-NAFTA).  What is it about these two nations that are important for little Jimmy and Suzie to know?  Some Canadians speak French and all Mexicans speak Spanish.  In our society, I can see no reason for our children to learn anything else before age 11.  Fifth and sixth grade is where understanding where the U.S. fits into the world as a whole should begin.  I would like to think that given all things being equal, our children will have been presented the knowledge of other nations' governmental systems, and possibly their current political issues (which is no doubt why 
the French child knew about U.S politics).  Learning what is presented is up to the child.

Why my rant response?  I am tired of the education system and our teachers taking the brunt of the blame for what is not, generally, their fault.  The first thing to change is to remove jingoistic politicians that don't see that the U.S. is part of a globe and that we all need to find a better way to move forward.  That might change the educational priorities.  Take the money bound to build the idiotic and useless fence and give it to our schools.

Better still fiind a way to use that money to make sure our children are provided with an environment in which education is truly cherished and worshipped as much as the almighty dollar.  Bad homes equal bad students in the majority of instances.  In the end, it is really tough to overcome who you are and where you come from.

Ken Lamm
-------------- Original message -------------- 
From: kevink38 at comcast.net 

> I took some time to listen to Nicky's and Valentino's after race speeches. The 
> highest level word that Nicky used was either "dedicated" or "fortunate,"both of 
> which are somewhere around a 5th or 6th grade level vocabulary. Valentino's 
> highest word was "polemic," which probably comes in somewhere around 11th or 
> 12th grade. 
> Now, this is not a commentary on Nicky's relative intelligence or wisdom or 
> greatness as a rider. It's a commentary on how we, the richest and most powerful 
> country in the world, can't manage to educate our children past a 5th grade 
> vocabulary (think this doesn't affect their ability to reason and analyze? think 
> again!). "We speak plain," is substituted for "we're semi-literate." 
> There's a lot more to it than this. Rossi and Hayden are different people, with 
> different backgrounds and opportunities. So, I present another piece of 
> evidence. My friend had an intelligent and informed conversation in Paris a few 
> months ago, with an 11 year old, about the United States governmentl. How many 
> 11 year olds in the United States could carry on any sort of conversation about 
> the government of any other country in the world? 
> I like Nicky, and I love to listen to various U.S. accents, which are often 
> confused for illiteracy or stupidity (among my favorite accents are Florida and 
> Baltimore), but I wish someone in his childhood had placed a little more value 
> on education. 
> EOR (end of rant) 
> -- 
> Kevin Kachadourian 
> 96 900 SP 
> 85 650 Alazzurra (old dog still bites) 
> 
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