If you’ve watched “The Tonight Show” with Jay Leno, you might know what a ‘jaywalker’ is. They’re individuals that literally don’t know anything–such as who the U.S. Secretary of Defense is, or the name of the mountain with the carvings of four U.S. Presidents, or for that matter the name of those four Presidents! For many, that’s the state of the educational field. Schools are flooded with true ‘jaywalkers.’ Be very afraid.
There was a time when students had to memorize like madness. And it was a pain in the butt. In addition, what did these students ever learn? Nothing. Once memorized, give or take a week and the student forgets what was memorized immediately. Can you remember some of the things you’ve studied for a test you took back in 8th grade? No, probably not.
There was a natural tendency to put aside some of the crazy memorization for the sake of applications, or simply an understanding of certain material. Tests were put aside in favor of term papers, for instance; because really a term paper is nothing more than a take-home test, right? Now that’s all fine and dandy, but what happened was now our students in schools don’t know anything!
There are even some college students who don’t even know basic geometry! What happens is that filters to everything else in life, particularly the professional aspects of work. If you don’t have a correct knowledge of history, how can you identify with some of the news you’d read or watch on television? How can you be an effective member of society? Should this lack of knowledge be something to be ashamed of? Ask Jay Leno. He’d probably have some fun with that.