Are Children Dumber Today Than a Century Ago?

By Selwyn Duke

Seeing high-school student Rachel Jeantel — who can’t read cursive or speak proper English but boasts a B average — testify at the recent George Zimmerman trial certainly could make one wonder what passes for education in 2013 America. And now this question has been brought into even sharper focus by the publication of a 1912 Bullitt County, Kentucky, test required for eighth-grade graduation — a test that most of today’s college graduates couldn’t pass.

The exam, published at Lew Rockwell, asks questions such as “Adjectives have how many Degrees of Comparison?” “Through what waters would a vessel pass in going from England through the Suez Canal to Manila?” “Define Cerebrum; Cerebellum” and “Name three rights given Congress by the Constitution and two rights denied Congress.” And such apparent academic rigor has prompted many to ask, as a Daily Mail headline on the topic puts it, “Were children smarter a century ago? Test for eighth graders in Kentucky dated 1912 ignites debate over kids' intelligence today.”

Read the rest here.

Comments

[Ike]

I doubt that children are much dumber than they were a century ago, but I strongly suspect that adults are much less sensible, wise and knowledgeable.

[Cristina]

Yes, they are dumber now.
It’s irrelevant to the answer if this is the result of bad educational methods or of nebulous IQ measurements. The fact is they are less intelligent today. They don’t have the mental tool indispensables for “learning, reasoning, understanding, aptitude in grasping truths, relationships, facts, etc.” called intelligence.
Ask a high school student to define for you the concept of "critical thinking" and see the answer. He will be unable to explain it. He will almost surely use the word feeling(s) several times in his rambling. He will not use the word thinking in his recitation of platitudes not even once, though.

[Robert Berger]

Just memorizing facts nd being able to parrot them back is not a true measure of intelligence at all . Kids in school should not be left lacking necessary knopwledge, but rote memorization in and of itself does not really show how bright,talented, imaginative you are or how much potential you have to be an outstnding person in adulthood .

[Robert Berger]

Just because Obama mispronounced word does not prove anything negative about him or prove that he is in any way stupid or ignorant .Anyone can make a mistake like that.
George W. Bush ,who would not have stood snowball's chnce in hell of getting into Harvard or Yale if he had not come from the wealthy and powerful Bush family and being the son of an alumnus ,is a man of at best,mediocre intelect unlike Obama . He was elected merely because he was a republicn and the son of a president .
He was an ignorant oafish fool in office and behaved in a foolish, undignified manner in public , yet the republicns always supported this clown. He's not an evil man, just a pathetic fool who should never have been elected president .

[Cristina]

"Just memorizing facts nd being able to parrot them back is not a true measure of intelligence at all”
Yes, but the much despised memorization reveals respect, discipline, commitment and the will to learn. That is without mentioning the apprehension of facts about the real world, assuming the student is taught real facts instead of political posturing. If this memorization is paired with the practice of free thinking, questioning the concepts and principles taught to him in a safe environment, then the outcome will be a much knowledgeable young. Sure, the student formed this way will be much more resistant to indoctrination too.
“but rote memorization in and of itself does not really show how bright,talented, imaginative you are or how much potential you have to be an outstnding person in adulthood”
What a great truth! You just prove it with your second comment, Robert.

[sticks n stones]

99% of the time he makes you wonder what color the sky is where he is at because he cannot see that he is exactly as he accuses.

Gadzooks!

Keep the Aspidistra Flying, Mr. Duke!