This idea of American exceptionalism can even be even seen in america’s modern education system. America is lagging behind in education, but it still seems that some Americans still hold on to their country's “exceptional” values even today, this has led some Americans to become apathetic towards education, hence America’s new found position on the education list. There is also the fact that some Americans seem to have become frustrated with how poor students are doing in school, perhaps the students are not the only ones at fault, perhaps we have come to believe that since we are so great, that we should just be naturally good and educated with no effort on the part of the education. There is one major flaw with our education system, and that is that teachers are underpaid, but it is also due to again, student apathy. There could be a number of sources of this apathy one of them could be americans having more money in general, which in turn allows people to send their kids to school. This causes some, but not all kids to take school for granted, and therefore view it as a curse, than a blessing. Kids might also think that they are too good for school and therefore slack off, which might be another source of this apathy. There is a overall sense of entitlement that has invaded our modern American society, this has particularly affected some of our teenagers. Some of them come to believe that they are invincible and don’t need an education, or don’t see its benefits in the long run. Some might also be tempted to take the easy way out and rely on our government and healthcare to pay their way through life.
However, it is not merely the fault of the students as to the cause of our educational downfall, there are several other factors to blame for this educational crisis, including teachers, not because they perform poorly per say, but because of their low wages. The average salary of an American public school teacher is approximately $51,704 annually (salary.com). These poor wages mean that school cant always afford to higher highly trained and motivated teachers. This in turn affects how well educated the students are by the teachers, and how much they actually care about it as a teacher's attitude can have great influence over how much the student actually cares. There are also the parents. Parents play a huge role in a child's life as they too can have a profound and important impacts on that child's life, including their educational performance.
In conclusion, American students are falling behind, whether these student's individual reasoning can be traced back to American exceptionalism should no longer be a priority, the priority should now be turned to how to re-engage students in education, so hopefully we can wise up, humble ourselves, while giving credit where credit is due to each of our student's individual talents and abilities and together, improve our nation's education.
Awesome job!
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