Let's define "stupid" before we begin to answer the question, "Are Americans really stupid versus the rest of the World?". Webster defines "stupid" as being "slow of mind; given to unintelligent decisions or acts; lacking intelligence or reason", etc.

Well, that clears that up.

Are Americans slow of mind? Some are; some aren't.

Are Americans given to unintelligent decisions or acts? Sometimes.

Are Americans lacking in intelligence or reason? Some are.

Are all Americans stupid? No. Are Americans the only Nationality that are slow of mind at times, make unintelligent decisions every once in awhile, or may be lacking in intelligence or reason? No.

I think that the topic may have been better worded to ask, "Why do American Students appear to be lagging behind students in other part of the World?". I have an answer for that one - it's because we try to educate EVERYONE in our country and we try to fund our efforts with an antiquated tax system that is unfair and does not provide the funds necessary to properly operate our educational system.

Our government has their thumb in our educational pie. Educators are told what to teach, what students can eat, what games they can play, what schools they can attend, and what they can or cannot wear to school (sometimes). State and Local Education Agencies are charged with carrying out the wishes of our Federal Government and then are not given the funds to carry out those desires. It is easy to set guidelines and impose rules and regulations, it is quite a different story when it comes to paying for the supplies and materials needed to follow those guidelines.

Too much Federal involvement at the local level combined with students who don't want to go to school but are forced to attend any way, combined with a lack of parental involvement, has created a situation that makes it look as though our students are falling behind in academics but who, in reality, are not.

It is difficult to get a clear picture of just how well our students are doing when we try to educate and test everyone and their dog. I have been involved in some schools where a particular student my be in the 7th grade and yet is functioning at a kindergarten level (due to brain injury or other handicapping condition)and that child is "tested" at the same time that her grade-mates are tested. Granted, she is tested on a lower level, but she is tested and her results are tallied in with everyone else's and there is a great possibility that her score will skew the overall results.

I'm not even going to try and guess how many different languages our tests are printed in. In America we try to accommodate rather than educate. Instead of using an immersion process to have students learn English we try to teach them a little bit of English and educate them in their native language. Not many other countries do that.

So, are Americans really stupid versus the rest of the World? No, we just try to please everybody all of the time and we all know that is not possible. But we keep on trying anyway, now isn't THAT stupid?

Learn more about this author, James Dreyer.
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