An apology to the whole world for this episode, brought to you by the US education system

I got this from The Crescat…  o{]:¬)  (I am not sure if she visits here, but I link to her on the sidebar too … you should check out that funny blog!). 

This sad little video… well… sorry about this, World!

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lj3iNxZ8Dww]

Pretty girl, no? 

 

 

About Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Fr. Z is the guy who runs this blog. o{]:¬)
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18 Comments

  1. Derik Castillo says:

    You cannot serve to masters, vanity and God

  2. michigancatholic says:

    She probably couldn’t find Canada with a globe, an atlas, a compass and an assistant. Sad. She probably got great grades too.

    I did my stint as a teacher. There is a lot of pressure not to teach “too well.” It makes people (read peers) look bad and “causes” bad grades. The amount of grade inflation is truly mind-boggling. I left to work in industry after 7 years. It’s not only the kids either, it’s the other teachers, the administrators and most powerfully the parents who stand in the way. Heaven forbid, someone gets bad grades, no matter what. Everybody wants to look good, and be liked. It’s really the most important thing, no matter what people say. Meanwhile we give American kids a grade school education spread out over 13 years……

    They often find they can’t compete in college. Those who get through college have to compete with foreign students. In math, engineering and science, it’s tough.

    In industry, when we get high school grads, we reeducate them anyway–math with MS Excel, public speaking in presentations, geography on the fly. Many American college grads, especially of the technical type, are ignorant of literature and the humanities. More artistically oriented types can often barely add. Holes in background like those can make people look like insensitive/irrational dolts, and it can make them fail in odd ways, but most bumble along. Sometime the holes get fixed; sometimes not and they go through life in those conditions.

    Learning enough to do the job is business critical. Businesses have to make money. Mommy’s not there to protect them from their boss so most finally learn enough to get by. The better ones learn a lot the first years of employment.

  3. Jim says:

    Poor girl

  4. ALL: Let this be a warning to any of you readers who have children of school age. And for any of you young ladies reading, remember… she is going to lose that look pretty soon. What will she be left with? Groom especially all that by which you can be beautiful all your lives and in the life to come.

  5. Ana says:

    As a southern female born and raised in South Carolina, I find this situation especially appalling, but I am not surprised. Yes, this is a prime example of why beauty is not everything, but it is also evidence of a serious problem within our school systems. For children coming from poor families, the problems are detrimental.

  6. nick says:

    LOL.
    Dont forget to look at the host with the microphone at the end of the clip, he was about to burst into tears laughing!

  7. In her defense, she got back on national television a few days later specifically to laugh at herself. Apparently she only heard a few words of the question. She gives a better answer in the later clip.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fQKNvPn3V-8

    Not, of course, that she’s a particularly bright or well-educated individual. Just that she’s not quite as dumb as all that.

  8. Dominic says:

    She’s so pretty I don’t like to criticise her :-)

  9. Mark Pilon says:

    C’mon folks have a heart! It’s quite obvious from this video alone that this young woman was stressed out – in spite of the smile on her face! Let’s not even jump to the conclusion that she is not “a particularly bright or well-educated individual”.

  10. michigancatholic says:

    Ana,

    It’s detrimental to everyone, including kids from well-off families. Besides, I don’t recall hearing that this girl was from an impoverished family or anything of the like. She’s quite typical of the well-off middle class.

    We have been in a race to the bottom for 30-40 years now in education. There is still an advantage but it’s highly limited now to:
    a) those who are so wealthy and influential that they can place their kids in private exclusive schools and hand-picked jobs.
    b) those who are able to homeschool their kids and are able to do it well enough. (Even they can have troubles if their schooling isn’t recognized well enough and they don’t attend college and do well.)

    The talent of the young in any society is the wealth of the society. We are basically squandering ours, from start to finish.

  11. Rob in Maine says:

    When people find out I have a Bachelor’s in Canadian History (don’t laugh Canadians!) they often ask what could I do with that degree. My stock answer has always been: “I can read the newspaper and not need a map.”

  12. At least she’s got a bright future ahead of her in TV journalism. :-)

  13. Beau says:

    Hey, I think she gave as graceful of an answer as she could have! If it had been me on stage, I would probably have said something like, “I dunno…I guess they’re just stupid…drugs maybe?”

    Give the girl credit for tact :)

  14. S says:

    Fr. Z, This is the LAST place I expected to see this clip! However, I am encouraged that you are up on all things silly. So much for Traditionalists being stodgy!

  15. RBrown says:

    It’s a beauty pageant. B-E-A-U-T-Y.

    I’m sure Henry Edwards would do well in a math pageant, but who would want him parading around in a Speedo?
    Comment by RBrown — 4 September 2007

  16. The Black Friar says:

    I once saw a TV clip where a reporter asked various people in an US street what should be done about the North Korean nuclear threat. A not-infrequent response was “Nuke them first”, so the reporter got out a map and asked people to point to North Korea. One fellow had the nukes raining down on Sydney. I’m glad he’s not at the controls …

  17. The Black Friar says:

    I once saw a TV clip where a reporter asked various people in an US street what should be done about the North Korean nuclear threat. A not-infrequent response was “Nuke them first”, so the reporter got out a map and asked people to point to North Korea. One fellow had the nukes raining down on Sydney. I’m glad he’s not at the controls …

  18. Derik Castillo says:

    So, according to the video clip on ‘defense’ of this unfortunate incident,
    I am excused I am excused of not understanding the question and saying nonsense
    on mass media, because it happens every day to the ‘pros’. All I have to do is
    laugh at myself and say ‘sorry!’. This is one of the reasons I don’t watch TV.

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