I’m tired of my exchange student talking about how easy school is here and how dumb the American kids are.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Tell him US still kicks Germanys ass in current inventions - the iPhone, social media, AI, etc etc

The school he attends is not representative of all America obviously, where US leads again:

https://www.uniranks.com/ranking/top-country

Take that Germany

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Tell him US still kicks Germanys ass in current inventions - the iPhone, social media, AI, etc etc

The school he attends is not representative of all America obviously, where US leads again:

https://www.uniranks.com/ranking/top-country

Take that Germany

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:He’s from Germany. He 17 and has quite an ego. His English is formal, but excellent and he also speaks German and Spanish fluently.
He’s not taking any math or science classes while he’s here because he doesn’t like those subjects.
He comes home from school every day telling me how the Americans can’t read, don’t know geography, history etc. I’m really tired of hearing it.
Help me survive this until June!

He isn’t wrong:

https://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/1310758.page

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Tell him US still kicks Germanys ass in current inventions - the iPhone, social media, AI, etc etc

The school he attends is not representative of all America obviously, where US leads again:

https://www.uniranks.com/ranking/top-country

Take that Germany

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:He’s not wrong.

But he's also from a system where only 31% of 16-year-olds would continue with formal academic education, as opposed to 100% of students here. So of course the general high school population seems skewed to him. Two-thirds of the students he's in class with here would have dropped out of academia by this age in Germany.

While this is true, if you compare only the subset of kids who are college or university bound, the American system is showing a lot of problems right now, because kids are showing up to college here way more underprepared than they used to be.

This is confirmed that current college students are lacking math skills, it’s the COVID effect from trapping our kids at home for so long. Thank you teachers and democrats for the disservice you’ve done to a generation of kids

There is a factual basis supporting your conclusions:

https://www.forbes.com/sites/annaesakismith/2025/12/11/uc-san-diego-finds-one-in-eight-freshmen-lack-high-school-math-skills/

[Anonymous]

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:He’s not wrong.

But he's also from a system where only 31% of 16-year-olds would continue with formal academic education, as opposed to 100% of students here. So of course the general high school population seems skewed to him. Two-thirds of the students he's in class with here would have dropped out of academia by this age in Germany.

This.

Including kids who might have matured or received a diagnosis and gotten help, then gone on to be successful academically.

One of my brothers was depressed from age 11-16, but it was a really quiet depression. He looked unmotivated and apathetic. Medication turned everything around for him. Today, he has a four year degree and thriving career.

In Germany, he would have been shunted into trade school by 16.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:He's probably on the spectrum - smart, but socially inept. If you want to, you can address that with him, and say: "I can see you're intelligent and above average, even for a German high schooler. But socially, I'd like to remind you of the rules of etiquette. It's not done, here or in any other country, to repeatedly criticize people. You've already told me how American students are behind academically multiple times, so I don't need to hear this anymore. And going forward, applying rules of social etiquette will help you with your professional and private relationships."

Cast it in the form of "social rules" and in light of his future interests, and he will understand it better. I have close relatives on the spectrum - being direct but neutral helps them a lot.

FYI... I lived in the UK, France and Germany as a child, and went to high school in a private international school in Paris. The average American student IS behind the average continental European student!!! It's true But it doesn't mean it should be said.

My kids went to/still attend good public high schools, and they were or still are in all AP/advanced tracks, which puts them below my high school level in writing and the Humanities, but higher in STEM and math.

I agree with this. Another perspective you can share is that American schooling doesn't track kids as strictly as European countries do. And that pays off because some people who aren't intellectual in the classic sense still have massive innovation and street smart skills. And sometimes are late bloomers. We benefit by keeping those kids in "could go to college" track and even letting those kids go to college. When you track kids at an early age, some become discouraged and/or resentful because they know they have failed to clear an academic bar. Nobody wants to be the dumb kid.

Re: geography and foreign language knowledge, those are truly not very important for most Americans. I believe this. Our country is large, and English is so dominant that there's comparatively little opportunity to use such skills even while traveling. That doesn't make sense to Europeans because their worldview is different. I have a foreign language minor and my husband was a language major. These have been esoteric accomplishments purely for our enjoyment and growth. There are unlimited topics humans can study. And no higher value should be placed on geography and foreign language than numerous other domains.

If he gets truly unbearable, tell him that Americans can slack now because we won WW2. /s

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:He's probably on the spectrum - smart, but socially inept. If you want to, you can address that with him, and say: "I can see you're intelligent and above average, even for a German high schooler. But socially, I'd like to remind you of the rules of etiquette. It's not done, here or in any other country, to repeatedly criticize people. You've already told me how American students are behind academically multiple times, so I don't need to hear this anymore. And going forward, applying rules of social etiquette will help you with your professional and private relationships."

Cast it in the form of "social rules" and in light of his future interests, and he will understand it better. I have close relatives on the spectrum - being direct but neutral helps them a lot.

FYI... I lived in the UK, France and Germany as a child, and went to high school in a private international school in Paris. The average American student IS behind the average continental European student!!! It's true But it doesn't mean it should be said.

My kids went to/still attend good public high schools, and they were or still are in all AP/advanced tracks, which puts them below my high school level in writing and the Humanities, but higher in STEM and math.

I agree with this. Another perspective you can share is that American schooling doesn't track kids as strictly as European countries do. And that pays off because some people who aren't intellectual in the classic sense still have massive innovation and street smart skills. And sometimes are late bloomers. We benefit by keeping those kids in "could go to college" track and even letting those kids go to college. When you track kids at an early age, some become discouraged and/or resentful because they know they have failed to clear an academic bar. Nobody wants to be the dumb kid.

Re: geography and foreign language knowledge, those are truly not very important for most Americans. I believe this. Our country is large, and English is so dominant that there's comparatively little opportunity to use such skills even while traveling. That doesn't make sense to Europeans because their worldview is different. I have a foreign language minor and my husband was a language major. These have been esoteric accomplishments purely for our enjoyment and growth. There are unlimited topics humans can study. And no higher value should be placed on geography and foreign language than numerous other domains.

If he gets truly unbearable, tell him that Americans can slack now because we won WW2. /s

NP.

Tracking is a better, more effective, and smarter way to approach public education.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:He’s not wrong.

But he's also from a system where only 31% of 16-year-olds would continue with formal academic education, as opposed to 100% of students here. So of course the general high school population seems skewed to him. Two-thirds of the students he's in class with here would have dropped out of academia by this age in Germany.

While this is true, if you compare only the subset of kids who are college or university bound, the American system is showing a lot of problems right now, because kids are showing up to college here way more underprepared than they used to be.

This is confirmed that current college students are lacking math skills, it’s the COVID effect from trapping our kids at home for so long. Thank you teachers and democrats for the disservice you’ve done to a generation of kids

There is a factual basis supporting your conclusions:

https://www.forbes.com/sites/annaesakismith/2025/12/11/uc-san-diego-finds-one-in-eight-freshmen-lack-high-school-math-skills/

Or, thank you parents for allowing your tweens and teens to have unfettered access to a device that reduces your attention span and reduces quality of sleep, which reduces your brain’s ability to retain information! Keep blaming Covid, but that was 1 and 1/3 school year and we have had 4 in school years since then—it’s not Covid, it’s TikTok etc that’s pulling them down.

[Anonymous]

You are under no obligation to stand there and have him talk to you. No obligation to listen. Excuse yourself and not be available. You don't owe him your presence.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You just say "you know, I'm glad you're finding school to be easy for you but it's starting to really irritate me that you come home every day and insult your peers. Can we keep our conversations about school a little more positive, or at least focused on problems we need to solve?"

IMO this is part of your job in loco parentis.

+1. He needs to learn manners. Please do your job.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:- School is laughably easy
- Curriculum is substandard,
- School year is very short
- Instruction is substandard,
- No real testing,
- No textbooks,
- Massive grade inflation,
- Incompetent and burnt out teachers / stupid, checked-out and uneducated parents
- STEM and Foreign Languages are very poorly taught by incompetent teachers
- Students are disruptive and there is poor discipline in the classroom
- Students are not differentiated
- No one fails. It is a conveyor belt system, which is producing illiterate students. School is childcare.
- The only kids who are actually learning and thriving are being supplemented at home.

- Immigrant mom.

Hopefully you are homeschooling, immigrant mom! Otherwise you should go back to the old country because clearly you are doing your kids a disservice.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Public school lit and history leaves a lot to be desired unless it's AP classes. How can he not take any math or science. And why did he come? Geography education is non existent here that's true.

It should be very relevant where you are, it is in some parts of the country. That’s one subject where Americans embarrass themselves. The majority of Americans would fail a basic geography test.

It’s only going to get worse because Trump is bankrupting the country with his narcissistic obsessions. Unlimited funds for “Department of War”. Unlimited funds for ICE. Tech billionaires like Bezo and Zuckerberg and many others have given Trump money to gain serious access to the White House. Their motives are not better education.

This is just random but American TV or YouTube producers interview young Europeans and ask them questions about how many languages they speak, where they’re from and what they think of the US. Their English is perfect and they all have no interest in visiting America. They know more about current events and world leaders than young Americans.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Who cares? Plus who even knows if what he’s saying is true—we had a French kid (16) stay with us for a few weeks last fall who acted like his schooling was superior and was blah blah blahing about how he was planning to go to MIT. When we drilled down he was taking geometry and a general survey science class meanwhile my 16yo was in multi variable calc and ap chem.

It’s true, how do you not know that the US continues to slide down to the bottom of the democratic countries. As an American in a global economy this should be common knowledge.

He’s probably in shock at how bad the school is. And the excuses some of you are coming out with. Math and science is not hard for everyone and it’s only a portion of education with all portions being equal.