UT Arlington professors ponder why kids hate school

by PegNews wire

Ben Agger and Beth Anne Shelton, UT Arlington sociology professors, don’t believe that simply taking more math courses or standardized testing can remedy ineffective education in this country.

Agger and Shelton, co-authors of a book titled, I Hate School: Why American Kids are Turned Off Learning, contend that by the time American students are in junior high and high school, they hate school and cannot wait to finish an acceptable terminal level of education and establish careers and families, mimicking the suburban lifestyles of their parents.

“They are anti-intellectual,” Agger said. “Instead of reading, they are passive consumers of electronic entertainment. They don’t watch the news or follow politics. They are immersed in the instantaneity of now, experienced online.”

The book looks at why kids learn to hate school and turn their back on intellectual and cultural pursuits, making a strong case that it is not enough to blame television and other distractions.

“Our schools are failing because they are warehouses and work houses. They verge on penal colonies, where teachers are wardens and children are inmates. Children constitute a pre-labor force, tasked with producing homework instead of goods and services,” Shelton said.

The book is being published by Lexington, an imprint of Rowman & Littlefield, with the release date to be announced.

See the entire news release for more information.

Posted by Chad / info from UTA