A rant about students

[VedaSloan 119179]

So as most of you know, I'm back in university and doing a second bachelor's degree. I'm in class with seventeen year olds. And they complain about the most ridiculous things and say some of the dumbest things I've ever heard.

 

Here's the best example. I'm in Women and Religion and we're discussing some passage from the Old Testament and the girl next to me raises her hand and says, "That's from Hammurabi's Code" and for a second, I think she might have something interesting to say, until she continues, "you know, back in Mesopotopia." Uhhh, it's Mesopotamia, and Hammurabi's Code is Babylonian, but I guess she tried. Seriously, MesopoTOPIA?

 

Here's a good one from a second year Greek religion course: "What's the Aegean Sea?" Uhhh, the body of water between Greece and Turkey?

 

Then, the other day I heard these girls in my intro to Women's Studies class complaining because our professor ONLY lectures, and doesn't use powerpoint, and you know, some people are visual learners and it's hard for her to know what to write down. Awww, poor thing, do you need the prof to hold your hand too?

 

Where do these people come from? I'm just aghast at some of the things they aren't aware of, don't know and the lack of respect some of them show in class. I can't even tell you how much I have to refrain from correcting someone when I glance at their notes and notice spelling mistakes. HOW DID YOU EVEN GET TO UNIVERSITY?

 

/end rant.

[Ava Foxx 1747]

So as most of you know, I'm back in university and doing a second bachelor's degree. I'm in class with seventeen year olds. And they complain about the most ridiculous things and say some of the dumbest things I've ever heard.

 

Here's the best example. I'm in Women and Religion and we're discussing some passage from the Old Testament and the girl next to me raises her hand and says, "That's from Hammurabi's Code" and for a second, I think she might have something interesting to say, until she continues, "you know, back in Mesopotopia." Uhhh, it's Mesopotamia, and Hammurabi's Code is Babylonian, but I guess she tried. Seriously, MesopoTOPIA?

 

Here's a good one from a second year Greek religion course: "What's the Aegean Sea?" Uhhh, the body of water between Greece and Turkey?

 

Then, the other day I heard these girls in my intro to Women's Studies class complaining because our professor ONLY lectures, and doesn't use powerpoint, and you know, some people are visual learners and it's hard for her to know what to write down. Awww, poor thing, do you need the prof to hold your hand too?

 

Where do these people come from? I'm just aghast at some of the things they aren't aware of, don't know and the lack of respect some of them show in class. I can't even tell you how much I have to refrain from correcting someone when I glance at their notes and notice spelling mistakes. HOW DID YOU EVEN GET TO UNIVERSITY?

 

/end rant.

 

I totally get your rant. Sadly, this is not exclusive to the students you share classes with. I often wonder how some people even got through ELEMENTARY SCHOOL! I wish I was exaggerating, but I'm not :-|.

[Kathryn Bardot 99339]

First year Politics class:

"Sir, if I don't buy the textbook, what kind of mark can I expect?"

[Annessa 22743]

Erin, when you say smart stuff it makes me want to do duos with you

 

i always thought when they talked about a "body of water" between Greece and Turkey they were talking about gel bras given out as gifts at Thanksgiving by hippie aunts (you laugh, but its happened!)....

 

KIDDING!...about the Thanksgiving gel bras part ;-)

 

seriously, you and me and many ladies are fortunate enough to have that wonderful thing called "life experience", "tact" and (cant think of the name of it but it goes something like...) "the ability to act with our brains instead of the spaces in our craniums filled with air and google searches for term- papers).

 

its something you learn to laugh about...no wait...AT!...eventually. But being 27 and working at a dumb retail store (La Senza) where my boss was three years younger than me and all my co-workers took sick-days because the day before their boyfriends broke up with them while whimpering about how their life was so hard and their rent cost $350 between 4 girls in the Carleton U area.....well you get my point

 

I had a day-dream where i wrangled this really annoying ginger girl's neck who I worked with at LaSenza while saying "my rent is $950, you 22 year old flake....oh and BTW.. your boyfriend is 23......stop dissecting every muffin your boyfriend brings you at lunch before you eat the mashed-up crumbs, thinking that it could potentially contain a hidden engagement ring!! (coz seriously, he worked at staples and was a giant player.....and was *drum roll...*.....23!!!!!)).....at the end of the dream I think I envisioned stabbing her with her kitten stilettos (which was her excuse to go home crying in once because she didn't plan her foot-wear accordingly [it was the same night as a concert she had tickets to...coincidentally].....strangely, she wore the same shoes the next day....? Bright or dumb, I couldn't decide, lol), stealing the store-keys from her in the reverie (stupid "key-holders" who make 20-cents more per hour...validate me!...no wait....use me! haha) and closing up the store with her dead corpise strategically holding a spoon to her wrist......SOMEONE had to make it look like she put SOME effort into something for once! (*chuckle*)

"

and yes I've been drinking and ranting.....but kids in college and uni who thrive of of mummy and daddy's tuition coverage or get what they think are "real life jobs" (*cough*at rideaucentre* cough*) yet still withhold a highschool mentality need to be shipped to a third-word country with ONLY one outfit....or stripped of their parent-paid CCs and easy-going lifestyles and moved to a cardboard box in an alley in East-side Vancouver to get things in perspective.

 

seriously Erin, the flakes that are commenting in lectures (and by the way....I'm always up for going to one of these "lectures" which ends up being a burn at the stakes of the flakes.....call me) are riding on mummy and daddy's tuition offerings and raising their hands for what they think are "brownie points"...but are definitely the opposite (they dont realize it tho....so its funny.....seriously, call me the next time you have a lecture....*evil laugh*)...anyone who actually wanted to be there and had worked long and hard and paid their own tuition rater than choosing the program that woukd best prove themselves to their parents wouldn't have made a claim similar to the ditz who said that rice-ism existed (racism). was running rampant in our society grocery stores...and that it only meant the favoritism over brown or white rice

 

mind you, even that would be creative

 

"end rant"

[caboguy1974 100]

So as most of you know, I'm back in university and doing a second bachelor's degree. I'm in class with seventeen year olds. And they complain about the most ridiculous things and say some of the dumbest things I've ever heard.

 

Here's the best example. I'm in Women and Religion and we're discussing some passage from the Old Testament and the girl next to me raises her hand and says, "That's from Hammurabi's Code" and for a second, I think she might have something interesting to say, until she continues, "you know, back in Mesopotopia." Uhhh, it's Mesopotamia, and Hammurabi's Code is Babylonian, but I guess she tried. Seriously, MesopoTOPIA?

 

 

 

Sorry I noticed this and had to do it.

 

Babylonia was a civilization in Lower Mesopotamia (central and southern Iraq), with Babylon as its capital. Babylonia emerged when Hammurabi (fl. ca. 1696 ? 1654 BC, short chronology) created an empire out of the territories of the former kingdoms of Sumer and Akkad.

 

I do agree with your rant and complaint though. I'm aghast at the quality of the educational system that allows people to graduate high school without having basic skills like spelling, grammer, or a rudimentary knowledge of, what I believe to be important, social sciences. I.E. The date of Canadian Confederation, or the capital of France etc...

[cordsboy 184]

Erin I agree that the younger generation is a little messed up I'm sure my parents said the same about me when I was that age. I do recall being the smartest kid in grade 6 math because I was the 1st to get a "watch calculator".

 

On another note does anyone ever remember really understanding was was being read by the class in the history textbook or were you more preoccupied counting the number of people in front of you and then trying to figure out which paragraph you would read? :butt:

[voltio8836 100]

um, if you want to be around smart people, maybe you should check out the Engineering faculty or the Science faculty instead of the Art department...

 

and OP seriously? You are ranting just because you happened to have more knowledge than them in a program that doesn't require a whole lot for admission to begin with. lol.

 

Let me ask you, how do you feel when students in Physics or chemistry say things like, "yeah, I took an elective in greek mythology, all those kids who major in that are complete morons."

[caboguy1974 100]

I admit to having an un-natural preoccupation with history and geography as well as most of the social sciences. But I suspect you are correct that most people, my friends included, could care less. Although I could go on at length, giving any number of valid resons why history and a knowledge of it is important.

 

But I'll spare everyone that...

[alberta 222]

um, if you want to be around smart people, maybe you should check out the Engineering faculty or the Science faculty instead of the Art department...

Sorry Volt but I have met grads. from both engineering, and sciences who were knobs. They are everywhere.

[voltio8836 100]

Sorry Volt but I have met grads. from both engineering, and sciences who were knobs. They are everywhere.

 

Ok, but what is your point? In any class there will be kids who are less intelligent than you and there will be kids who are more intelligent than you.

 

If you are going to pick on the kids who are less intelligent than you, then I assume you would accept it when a smarter student starts mocking your intelligence?

[Kathryn Bardot 99339]

Volti, idiots are idiots, no matter what field of study they're enrolled in. Engineering students are also notorious for drinking away their brain cells.

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[buggernot 588]

Hate to break it to you ladies but...you're officially getting old! I recall starting university as a mature student when I was 24 - I could not believe the gap between myself and the other students who were for the most part just out of high school. And holy fuck, there were some of them that were absolutely clueless. I'm not talking naive, but plain old dumb as shit. But that's the thing, there's a huge difference between 18 and 21 so even the ones that are pretty bright can sometimes be immature. The dumb ones though...unfortunately they'll get older and end up being your boss 10 years from now ;)

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[m**k 153]

um, if you want to be around smart people, maybe you should check out the Engineering faculty or the Science faculty instead of the Art department...

 

and OP seriously? You are ranting just because you happened to have more knowledge than them in a program that doesn't require a whole lot for admission to begin with. lol.

 

Let me ask you, how do you feel when students in Physics or chemistry say things like, "yeah, I took an elective in greek mythology, all those kids who major in that are complete morons."

 

There are smart people in all walks of life and most of them are not in Academia or have even ever stepped foot in a university. Intelligence Quotient (IQ) is only one dimension of what we can call "intelligence" but being able to recall historical events or mathematical equations has nothing to do with being smart or intelligent. I always like to look at a person in many dimensions such as their emotional maturity, respect for others, honesty, empathy, altruism ...little stuff that make for meaningful human interaction. It's fun to complain about others once in a while and to joke about it, that is what makes us human ... vulnerable with a bit of jealousy and insecurity about ourselves, but nevertheless, human beings.

 

my 2 cents

[alberta 222]

Ok, but what is your point? In any class there will be kids who are less intelligent than you and there will be kids who are more intelligent than you.

 

If you are going to pick on the kids who are less intelligent than you, then I assume you would accept it when a smarter student starts mocking your intelligence?

Exactly Volt, thats my point, an engineering or science grad is not necessarily more intelligent than an arts grad

[voltio8836 100]

Exactly Volt, thats my point, an engineering or science grad is not necessarily more intelligent than an arts grad

 

rofl exactly my point. I used that example to illustrate that OP needs to get off her high horse thinking she is better than than those "morons" when there are kids in that same class (or in another class) who are probably much more intelligent.

 

Is OP going to just take it in the face then when a smarter student comes along and points out her stupidity?

[heatwave2000 369]

OMG, don't get me started on this topic. I have too many stories to contribute about things students have said and written on assignments.

 

Although I have lots of funnier stories, there is one that always sticks in my mind as indicative of today's youth.

 

At the end of the first day of Political Science seminar I taught, a student came up to me and asked "So, it seems like this course covers a lot of stuff from before 1980, is that true"? Umm, yes, because a lot of important political "stuff" happened before 1980", I replied. He then said he was going to immediately drop the course because he found anything from the past boring.

 

Right then and there I became convinced that humanity is doomed.

[E*****s**r 210]

Hate it or love it, Volt raises the correct issue. Lack of knowledge does not automatically give anyone the right to alienate ANYONE.

I know absolutely NOTHING about any of the question-examples you gave...

 

Blanket statements are the worst kind of defence, and offence, you can use to emphasis your points. Trying to counter with "well these kinds of people don't do that", while the point gets across, people will use the exceptions to shoot you down. The same goes for the OP's claims. Spelling mistakes in their notes? Are you trying to copy from them? Why does it matter to you how fail they are you are there for you not them..

 

The school system doesn't care about how educated you are, they just want to push student through and get them out into society asap. The teachers have been complaining about this for years now; they can't do anything about it because the system backs the student 100%.

 

I hear this kind of talk ALL the time from senior high school students and freshman college students on busses and in stores: his younger sister is a total "vag dealer" or "slut" and how they live to get "juiced" and "kick peoples ass's" can't wait for the next party. Why? Because there are no conscequences for missing 3/4 of your school year and getting a 35% final grade..oh well give them a make up test and pass them...

 

Today's youth aren't as well rounded or intellegent as they were when I was going through high school...Hell I over heard a group of young ladies talking about how their french project was totally bogus because they couldn't find all the info they needed on the internet, so how were they suppose to finish their project.. If only there was a building where they housed vast amounts of printed knowledge accumulated over a long period of time, Libraries? do they still exist? (for now anyways)

 

Children are just lazy. Most are also spoiled (as Annessa mention ever so subtly :P) I know a 28 year old with x kids under 12...crying because she wont buy them motor bikes AND computers for chirstmas; only one or the other.. boo freakin hoo! I was lucky to get a ride to school if I missed the school bus; and then got to eat dinner for missing school.

[m**k 153]

Come on folks, do you seriously believe that youth today are any different than when you were young...no. I recall correcting exams and term papers 20 years ago and they didn't know how to write or express their toughts then as they do now. If anything, today's youth are probably more technically savvy than we will ever be. They are growing up in a different time but there is no empirical evidence that they are not as intelligent, resourceful or likely to become productive members of society. Actually, there is much hope for humanity.

[etasman2000 15994]

1. Howard Gardner's Multiple Intelligences

 

2. Maturity is strongly correlated to experience, experience is strongly correlated to time/age.

 

3. Some animals eat their young....there is a reason for this.

[Guest W***ledi*Time]

To criticize 17-year-olds for being immature is the equivalent of saying that they shouldn't be 17 years old. Maturity comes with age and life experience. By the same token, certain things that might tend to upset 26-year-olds and send them off on rants ... will be much more likely to be taken in stride by more mature 35-year-olds. And so on.

 

(Of course, individual results will vary -- for example, I reached my peak of maturity at aged 13, and I've been regressing ever since).

[cordsboy 184]

Today's youth aren't as well rounded or intellegent as they were when I was going through high school...

 

Try and remember the meat-heads and shop-class kids when we were in high school: I'm sure our parents thought the same of us and we turned out fine. While some would think the world is doomed due to our future being ruled by a generation of incompetence we've managed for millenia and I'm sure we will continue to survive.

 

There are smart and dumb people in all walks of life: school, work, gym even your local Tim Horton. It's an assumption people attending university are smart, the reality is university attracts people that can afford it first while the few who can be admitted on their intelligence alone are few and far between in Canada.

[Ragnaglar 440]

The wine of youth does not always clear with advancing years; sometimes it grows turbid.

 

Carl Jung

[buggernot 588]

I'm more accepting these days of stupid people....but they still bug me and I will continue to make fun of them until I die. And I think Erin is simply saying the same thing.

 

It's not easy being smart in a stupid world ;)

[survived70s 582]

There are sooo many things to say about this thread...

for the record, I prefer YELLOW rice, although I do not get it very often 8-)

I agree that many people are limited by their own experience, some open minded people can learn from the experience of others. What bothers me is how some people with little or no knowledge or life experience can be judgemental - "a little knowledge is a bad thing may apply"

My daughter is in second year, she has travelled a lot and has even seen the stone tablets containing Hammurabi's Code, she actually pointed them out to me, knowing how profound they are. I studied Computer Science, but really enjoyed Wichcraft, mostly the people in the class, including the Prof !

I remember when I first saw "The Starry Night" painting, to me it was so profound to finally be in the presence of the great art work, I was taking it in, when my life partner walked up to me and said "that would look great behind the couch", to me that was ignorant. Maybe she really didn't appreciate what it meant to me !

Didn't Pete Townsend say "Don't tust anyone over 30" during the 60s/70s ? Ignorance is not unique to this generation. Sometimes it seems that "Youth is wasted on the young".

[Guest W***ledi*Time]

... Seriously, MesopoTOPIA? ...

 

ha ha ... as Art Linkletter knows, kids say the darndest things ...

 

(Of course, geographically speaking, Babylon was in Mesopotamia, which, technically, would make Hammurabi's Code at least somewhat Mesopotopic ... sorry, I do love bad puns.)

 

Cheers, Wrinkled