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The modern world is a place of ever increasing complexity, yet our culture is shifting toward a more ignorant population, less prepared for the challenges of tomorrow. The scientific, technological, economic and political arenas today are significantly more complex than in our past. Furthermore, these areas are developing more quickly than ever before. The challenges presented by ever-evolving technology, and the need to sustain an ever-increasing population with limited resources will become exponentially more difficult as time passes. Even on an individual level, challenges such as saving and investing wisely, managing credit successfully, balancing a household budget, landing and maintaining a good job, and navigating healthcare systems, etc. require a more savvy individual than similar tasks 50 years ago. Yet American children are taught fewer basic skills than previous generations.

Several factors contribute to American children's lack of preparation. One important factor is the decline in the quality of elementary education in public schools. Achievement tests consistently show that our children do not master basic skills such as reading and writing as well as previous generations of Americans, and they are more ignorant of basic subjects like history, geography, and science. This is partly because elementary school teachers are underpaid and undervalued, but also because education in general is undervalued in our society. As a culture we have become distracted by a media obsessed with the sensational and the shocking, and we have become desensitized to violence and crudity. In short, we are less civilized than our parent's generation, and our values reflect this decline. It has become necessary for most families to have two working parents, so children receive less attention and supervision than in earlier generations. The combined effect is to create a generation of kids who cannot balance a checkbook, much less cope with complex modern problems.

Learn more about this author, Alexia Schulz.
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