Through the Peephole of Education

In the last week, someone apparently stuck a camera up to the keyhole of a sportscaster named Erin Andrews and photographed her while she was nude, and posted it to the internet. This represents not only a gross violation of her privacy, but also shows how little we pay attention to more important matters. Decency and discretion are thrown to the wayside as people create a mob mentality to be appraised of the latest scandal. Ms. Andrews didn't ask to be photographed, but one can assume that she is quite attractive, otherwise, she wouldn't be the most searched term on the internet.

As we address a recession, high unemployment, a record national deficit, escalation of the war in Afghanistan, and national education reform, it is amazing that the nation's attention is focused on the body of Ms. Andrews. To the nations credit, the second leading search for a person using the internet is for Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. One would hope that since she is in the midst of talks with the Chinese, ther diplomatic efforts would focus searches for Secretary of State Clinton. However, many people seem to be riveted to Ms. Clinton because of her recent elbow injury. Though Ms. Andrews and Secretary of State Clinton were the first two "name" searches, one cannot even mention the next two items in polite company. Does this pre-occupation with trivia and smut overwhelm the important issues. In a country that is dedicated to the the idea of democracy and an educated electorate, can the country be sustained by people who seem more concerned with the latest "buzz" on the internet than substantive issues. Is the current and past education system responsible for creating a population that is primarily concerned with trivia?

A culture that is reduced to examining trivia will probably be, well trivial. We cannot sustain a Jeffersonian democracy with a Jerry Springer-type electorate base. Rather than teach to simplistic knowledge, we must create people in the society that actually think about problems in some detail. We live in a complex world, and what is needed to be knowledgable increases constantly. Our school systems have not kept up. In their current configuration, they are unable to improve enough to keep pace with society, must less outpace it.

The current education system needs reform The problem is that most of the fixes that have been proposed cost a lot and will do little in the long run. They cost a lot, and will do little.
In the book Improving the Odds: A basis for long-term change (Rowman and Littlefield), there are discussion and suggestions for a large-scale overhaul of the education system that will benefit all students who attend school.