Honey Boo Boo?

Is education in America that bad? To a certain degree, I would say no. However, for a country that is as developed as we are…then yes. We emphasize test-taking way too much as opposed to the actual concepts of the subject matter. Many people are very intelligent but do horribly when it comes to tests. I am one of those people in some respects. While I have passed many exams, I have just barely passed some of them when I know that I knew the subject matter. What is frustrating is the fact that many children will lose confidence and not want to go to school at all because of it. You saw what a disaster the “No Child Left Behind Act” was. There were teachers who were good at their jobs but made poor decisions. This is what happens when you leave a wound to fester for decades, come in, rip the scab off and expect it to heal with no antibiotics or long-term care plan.

We are very good at hiding our flaws in this country, especially when it comes to education. If you go by local news and political campaigns, you would think that we were doing great because all of the positives that are highlighted. However, thanks to the gift of reality television, some of them slip through the cracks and expose our failed system. While it is not the only indicator of where we are education-wise, it is a good snippet. I am not immune to the lure of reality programming. I do have a few that I watch (most shows are reality now anyway). Some of these shows like “Toddlers and Tiaras” show not only how uneducated some of our children are, but the parents as well. I watched this little girl Alana, also called Honey Boo Boo “perform” and show her “talent” while her mother just watched and collected the checks. This little girl acted really badly and it is a direct reflection of our educational system as well as her upbringing (obviously, the system has failed the mother as well).

We have to be more careful as to how we portray ourselves but more importantly, we have to have standards. Our education system has been lacking for quite some time and our children are caught in the crossfire. For little Ms. Honey Boo Boo and other children like her, I hope it will not be too late.