Premium Essay

The Real Issue in America

In: English and Literature

Submitted By swimmer13
Words 769
Pages 4
Tyler Forster

Laurie Polhemus

English Composition & Research

September 15, 2014

The Real Issue in America:

So many countries around the world are known for their educational systems. The stereotype of the Asian community has to do with how hard their children are pushed academically. European countries are known for their relaxed environment in the classroom, and according to Sir Ken Robinson, “There are no standardized tests in Finland… It’s not what gets them up in the morning; it’s not what keeps them at their desks.” So then it is safe to say that if education in America is to improve, a new teaching system must emerge.

The problem with the education system in the United States lies within the method of teaching itself. Think about this: When children are forced to attend school for a consecutive eight hours a day from the time they are four years old until they are eighteen, there is limited time left for children to just be children. Especially at a young age it is easy to become restless and just down right bored. Ken Robinson said it best by stating, “Children are not suffering from a psychological condition they are suffering from childhood.” He goes on to explain how many adults are placing the blame of boredom on ADHD. If America wants to enhance their education, they must realize that what they are doing isn’t working and therefore implement changes.

Understandably, President Bush implemented the no child left behind policy as an attempt to lower the drop-out rate in this country. Ironically though, this policy didn’t fix a thing, in fact it had the opposite effect. Robinson talks about this policy by saying it “is based on conformity not diversity.” To support that idea, a video entitled Changing Paradigms mentions “the current education system was designed and conceived for a different age.” In today’s world

Similar Documents

Premium Essay

Countrywide Financial: the Subprime Meltdown

...COUNTRYWIDE FINANCIAL: THE SUBPRIME MELTDOWN I. Problem Statement After buying out Countrywide Financial and resolving the issues against former CFO David Sambol and former CEO Angelo Mozilo, what should be the next steps that Bank of America must take to salvage Countrywide Financial from onslaught of criticisms and lawsuits that already arose and would potentially arise against it? II. Analyzing Case Data In the mid-2000, season where real estate prices were booming and confidence levels were high, even clients who could have qualified for regular loans chose to take out subprime loans to finance their real estates. Just like most businesses, Countrywide did everything to expand their profitability. They gave false assurance to home buyers. So, even consumers with good credit rating get attracted to these mortgages without fully recognizing the possible consequences. The construction industry also used flipping to expand its profit. Speculators also bought existing homes with no intension of keeping them, waiting until the value increases, and selling them at a profit. High demand also caused an increase of the cost of materials. Realtors, on the other hand, were motivated to push sales through because of commissions they could earn, pushing them to take much riskier transactions. Even real estate appraisers began to inflate the value of homes to ensure that loans would go through. Without being foreseen by anyone, US economy began to slow down. People started working...

Words: 1367 - Pages: 6

Premium Essay

Policy Analysis I

...Policy Analysis I CJA 464 October 7th, 2013 Policy Analysis I The constant battle of illegal immigration is a major issue in the United States that has been a constant issue for many years. The issues of illegal immigration are described as the migration of foreign citizens into the United States of America. This is done through illegal routes, such as hiding on boats porting in the United States, crossing through miles of treacherous terrain illegally to jump the borders of Mexico, and violating the agreement of a tourist visa as well as illegally boarding planes bound for the United States. It is a known fact that the men and women who enter this country do not meet the legal requirements to enter the United States from foreign countries. The research conducted will describe the issues of illegal immigration, whether the current policy is a regulatory or legislative-initiated policy, and the issue with the policy. A review of the possible constitutional violations will be described as well as if this issue or policy will affect the community, the accused, and the victims of any crimes committed by the illegal immigrants. The Issue The policy makers of the American government typically will take multiple routes in taking care of these issues before needing to develop a policy that will assist in combatting the concerns of the government. The existing immigration policies have been active for many years and for that same amount of time the policies have been questioned...

Words: 1991 - Pages: 8

Free Essay

The Boondocks -vs- Consumerism

...is Hot,” is about how a heat wave comes to the town of Woodcrest in the middle of the winter. A neighborhood girl named Jazmin starts a lemonade stand, which is bought by a businessman, Mr. Wuncler. Meanwhile, 10-year old political activist, Huey, stands on a soap box and talks about violations of human rights issues. Through these features, one can see how consumerism plays a role in this television show. Because this episode has the distinctive features most animated television shows have, of addressing real issues by exaggerating them, having recurring characters that the audience is familiar with and having a conflict or problem that is usually solved by the end of the episode, it demonstrates how consumerism isn’t just associated with our economy or large corporations. In, “The Block is Hot,” Aaron McGruder displays a distinctive feature that most animated television shows express when he addresses a real issue that is going on in our society today, by exaggerating it. McGruder addresses the real issues of consumerism, which shows how this distinctive feature supports this episode’s argument of how they're exploitation and corruption with consumer culture in America. The episode starts off with Jazmin who on this hot day in Woodcrest, decides to open a lemonade...

Words: 2015 - Pages: 9

Premium Essay

Propaganda and Lies in American News Outlets

...happens through media since it’s the most common place where individuals pay attention to and it normally end up influencing the opinions of so many people. A very good example is how the news outlets in America spread lies and propaganda based on some of the most crucial situations with the aim of protecting specific famous individuals (Fawcett 2007). This paper will show and analyze presence of propaganda in some of the major news outlets in America, the reasons they do this as well as what the opinion of the public. For so many years almost all the news outlets in America have been on the fore front spreading lies and propaganda. Some of the executives, senior producers and the executive producers know what the media is doing and it is under their consent that such this happens. They are involved in all the activities of the news outlets and because they tend to be biased, they use the media to spread lies and propaganda in the American news outlets. (endthelie.com) This has led to so many Americans questioning the integrity and reliability of these news outlets as much as they expected accurate daily local and international news from these news outlets in America. There are so many reasons why so many Americans have started losing trust in most of the news outlets in America. The major thing that makes them have seconds thought is the fact that these news outlets come up with their own news especially when there is nothing happening around the world. Such...

Words: 2709 - Pages: 11

Premium Essay

Ir Theory

...On September 6th 2007, President Bush met with Hu Jinto, China’s president to discuss such issues as tainted food, Iran, climate change, and individual freedom in China. This is an interesting deliemma of sorts between International relations theory, and shows some underlying motivators behind America’s talks with China. While the idea of having talks with another country, instead of simply going to war with them, is a liberalist idea, the notion of defending investments and protecting domestic ideals is a realist one. One of President Bush’s main points in his talk with President Hu was that of the faulty Chineese products, but this only masked what were perhaps Bush’s real intentions for the meeting. Human rights and freedoms for the Chinese people was the real adgenda. America has always taken the position that the kinds of lives we lead and the freedoms we enjoy could work for everybody. But it is almost the very opposite. In a liberalist world (that is one dominated by liberalist policies and consequently “the west”) Samuel Huntingdon points out in his Essay The Clash of Civilizations, that conflict will arise because of culture clashes. It has been evident throughout history that China has had a turbulent past with many rebellions and has had a need for a strong government. Having a strong government wracked with past revoloutions leads to a cutback of civil rights and personal freedoms, promoting realist ideals. Enter president Bush, leader of one of the most powerful...

Words: 466 - Pages: 2

Free Essay

Business Ethics and Economic Collapse

... Why did a house that used to cost $200,000.00 just sell for $40,000.00? Why are foreclosures at the highest rate in US history? Maybe the question to ask is what has caused all of this? There are so many questions to be answered when it comes to the economic conditions in the United States. How did it get into the current condition? What were the signs of slipping into the crisis (economic indicators)? Whose actions were responsible? Was the responsible party also guilty of unethical behavior (big issue) or was it accidental. How long will it take for the economy to get back to being productive? In the past, America has been a very productive, successful country. There have been other recessions and a depression that have affected the U.S. but for some reason this current crisis was started by a completely different chain of events. What was the chain of events that triggered this current catastrophe? There are so many questions that need to be answered for the people of America and this student is now on a mission to give the United States and the world an explanation about the crisis and possible solutions to getting out of the crises. After this catastrophe started in the United States, the rest of the countries in the world suffered the same fate. This is because the...

Words: 3312 - Pages: 14

Premium Essay

Socio-Economic Indicators Of United States Of America

...Socio –Economic Indicators of United States of America Almost all the indicators of United States of America are deflecting the real picture of a developed nation. The indicators describe the supremacy of United States of America in every field (social and economic). Social and economic condition of United States of America is pretty good and life standards of its citizen is very high. As it’s a developed nation so its indicators are much different from other developing world. But it’s lacking in health related issues because of poor health facilities and high infant mortality rate. Some of its socio economic indicators are as follow Enrollment in schools at Primary Level Enrollment at primary level is 98% irrespective of gender Gross National...

Words: 358 - Pages: 2

Free Essay

Analysis of the Term “American Exceptionalism” in the Current U.S. Culture

...Current U.S. Culture A Reflections Paper Analysis of the Term “American Exceptionalism” in the Current U.S. Culture American Exceptionalism refers to the idea that the United States is significantly different from other countries. The concept has origins in the writings of French scholar Alexis de Toqueville who made observations during his visit to America in the nineteenth century (Mansfield, 2011). Also, Puritan John Winthrop's 1630 sermon "A Model of Christian Charity" led to the widespread belief in American folklore that the United States of America is God's country because it would become a "city upon a hill", watched by the world (John Winthrop: "A Modell of Christian Charity", 2007). Although the term does not necessarily imply superiority, many political leaders and writers have coined its use in that sense. Naturally, others hold the position that America is not really exceptional at all. In fact, after taking a cursory glance at some of the issues that our leaders are charged to correct, we can easily peel off the loftier label and replace it with a more humbling phrase. To begin, America’s hunger issue is a strong reason to reduce our loftier standing. It is not impressive that in a country without drought or famine and with enough food and money to feed the world twice over 1-in-8 of our own people struggle to put food on its table (Berg, 2009). Also, in 2010, 4.8 percent of all U.S. households (5.6 million households) accessed emergency food from a food...

Words: 799 - Pages: 4

Premium Essay

Ray Williams Anti-Intellectualism And The Dumbing Down

...Martin Luther King, Jr. once said, "Nothing in all the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity." Ray Williams wrote the article “Anti-Intellectualism and the ‘Dumbing Down’ of America,” Williams argues that people are anti-intellectuals who dismiss the art of science, and humanities and replaced by entertainment, ignorance, and gullibility. These individuals believe they know and understand everything when in reality, all we are aware of happens to be replaced by ignorance. American culture is easily entertained and almost always uninformed however society doesn’t stop and questions what going on. American people accept media foolery such as what’s trending and the latest gossip without hesitation because...

Words: 599 - Pages: 3

Premium Essay

Summary Of Class In America By Gregory Mantsios

...In the article “Class in America-2006”, sociologist Gregory Mantsios addresses the huge divide between poverty stricken Americans and upper class citizens. Mantsios makes strong points on this issue by providing facts and evidence. Mantsios makes the bold point that most Americans tend to ignore class, and he’s right as classist ideas influence many Americans to stay silent on class differences. Most Americans choose to ignore class and that. According to Mantsios, includes Americans who are of lower class. Mantsios says, “There are few among the poor who speak of themselves as lower class; instead, they refer to their race, ethnic group, or geographic location”(Mantsios 148). Many Americans don’t want to associate themselves with a negative...

Words: 612 - Pages: 3

Premium Essay

Religions of the World

...Illegal Immigration COM 220 Illegal Immigration According to Penalver (2006), “ “During the half of The Nineteenth Century the government of the United States hoped to use its vast Western territories to pay the national debt by auctioning the lands to the highest bidders normally Northeastern settlers.” These settlers used to disappear for a while to proclaimed, trespassed the land to farm it illegally and take the soil back once the federal troops were gone until the situation became tiring and the soil was ultimately sold for ridiculous prices. Later, “on December 12, 1815, President James Madison issued a proclamation warning: uninformed or evil disposed persons, who have unlawfully taken possession of or made any settlement on the public lands forthwith to remove the reform" or face ejection by the army and criminal prosecution. But that didn't stop the settlers. In 1838, Henry Clay, expressing a widely shared sentiment, dismissed the squatters as a "lawless rabble." The 1862 Homestead Act granted free title to settlers who met the statute's five-year-residency and improvement requirements. In one of the great ironies of American history, the lawless squatters underwent a dramatic image makeover to become, in the gauzy romanticism of our collective memory, heroic settlers” Illegal immigration is an act that should be penalized by federal laws since every body should follow the standard regulations of the law. The ironic part here is that some of those people...

Words: 3068 - Pages: 13

Premium Essay

Latin

...economic development which is the terms of immigration. And there are not many of economically developed countries, which pulls high number of immigrants and takes actual high percentages in immigrant statistics. In present time, this immigration experience assumes as the constant affairs of American life. Because the views of people from other countries are America as the land of full opportunities for their better life no matter that they are coming in America legally or illegally. Juan Gonzales the author of the book titled, Harvest of Empire, criticized and analyzed this view by focusing on the Latino population of immigration and how the America’s foreign policies influences toward it. In his work, Juan Gonzales tries to overviewing how the Latino immigrants started to move in American historically and he also provides an analysis of the current events that showing the effects and frictions on Latino population thereby America’s politics and diplomacy. During reading Harvest of Empire by Juan Gonzales, I thought a lot of time that this book is for all people who want to know about the history of Latino immigration in America in detail. Because Gonzalez delivers Latino’s historical processes of movement and settlement through all over the time periods from past to present day and divides his book into three parts as “Roots”, “Branches” and “Harvest” to give more information in details and help the reader for better understanding. The first part of the book “Roots” tells us...

Words: 1486 - Pages: 6

Premium Essay

Hairy Ape Essay

...Eugene O’Neill wrote a play called the Hairy Ape that focuses on the time period in America during the industrial revolution. The play follows a man, Yank, searching for how he fits into the world. The themes of the play revolve around how the United States was changing during this crucial moment in America’s history. New ideas, technologies and cultures were emerging, and O’Neill saw this. He wanted to express his views and opinions of how America was changing through his plays. His plays became influential and powerful because it focused on real-life issues and problems that were occurring during that time, even though the plays were fictional stories. The Hairy Ape is no exception and is one of many of his fantastic plays that delved into the dark reality that was occurring in post WWI America. O’Neill opens his play with a scene showing some firemen working in the engine room of a ship talking amongst each other. This scene is important because it already shows a major topic that O’Neill is tackling: the transformation of humans into “machines” by industrialization. The firemen work in a harsh and monotonous environment; they repeat the same task over and over without putting any thought into it. They are also shown as uneducated, primitive and uncivilized people. O’Neill portrays these people this way to show how degrading humans into tools are making them less intellectual and less “human.” Humans have the capability to think, create and be innovative, but O’Neill sees...

Words: 2083 - Pages: 9

Premium Essay

Immigration in the Us

...One of today’s biggest issues in America is immigration. We are receiving more immigrants than any other time in history. Immigration affects every aspect of life in America. Many illegal immigrants are migrating to the U.S every year and raising our population. Immigration has an impact on education, health care, government budgets, employment, the environment, and crime. Some migrate for better life and opportunities in America. Many of these immigrants come undocumented. New Mexico has the highest percent of immigrants that migrate. In 2004, 175,364 people migrated to the United States illegally. This is a sign of how open our borders are. There are not enough people securing it. When immigrants are caught, they’re held in jail until they can be deported by to their country of birth. New Mexico’s border security is a big national security problem. New Mexico shares a border with 4 states- Arizona, Colorado, Oklahoma, and Texas. Most of your constituents are from New Mexico. According to President Obama, there is not enough staff to secure the borders and limited supplies to help protect it. This plays a big role in illegal immigration. To reduce the amount of illegal immigrants that migrate to America, companies that employ undocumented immigrants should be punished. This means in order for an immigrant to be employed, they must be documented. You would know if the immigrant was legal or not by matching the info provided on the paperwork to the person...

Words: 934 - Pages: 4

Free Essay

Undersea Train

...Real-world event A recent real-world event story in the Washington post gives an insight on the proposed undersea train from Beijing to the United States. This construction project is aimed at TOPICS IN MANAGEMENT OF INFORMATION SYSTEMS creating high-speed railway networks between China, Russia, Canada and America to provide fast delivery of bulk goods and promote steady business among those countries. (Washington post, May 9, 2014) The challenges the telecommunications and system engineering teams in China will face and how they are going to convince the Chinese government to fund this project is an example of how technology is now used to solve problems in the business world in terms of speed and the challenges they succumb to in the innovation process. Sustainable infrastructure is another issue that has been looked into by the countries involved. The construction of the rail road below sea level is very demanding in terms of funds and labor force. Those issues have already been tabled and as per a report in the state-run China Daily insists “The country does have the technology and means to complete a construction project of this scale, including another tunnel that would link the Chinese province of Fujian with nearby Taiwan”. (China Daily May 8, 2014). The idea is also being analyzed and scrutinized so that a proper decision is made to ensure the undersea train project facilitates business growth. This is an indication that wise decisions are made in computer...

Words: 368 - Pages: 2