Anonymous wrote:…succeed in life? Not being snarky, I’m just trying to understand. When I was young, children just watched TV and had no academic “enrichment” outside of perhaps an instrument and a sport. Certainly no Kumon or academic acceleration. They went on to have successful careers and great lives. Were standards lower? Are children going to be a lot smarter because of screen time limits?

We had this amazing thing in addition to TV. It was called "go outside." We learned how to get along with others abd style our own arguments.

I grew up lower middle class. SAHM. I got into HSYP and did well there. The kids who got into schools like that back then were all self-starters, naturally talented academically, and had tremendous self-discipline. You couldn't game the system like you can today, especially with GPAs. These were truly the elite kids. It's not like that today.

In addition, your typical directional state school today is academically on par with a mid-level high school in the 1980s. Everyone there now is getting Bs and As, which isn't how it worked back in the day. A college degree isn't what it used to be.

Anonymous wrote:We all learned how to read from Sesame Street and we learned practical life lessons from Mr. Rogers and Captain Kangaroo. We had a better start with kids and their falling fruit Coco Melon crap.

This

Anonymous wrote:When I was a kid in the 80s, every child that attended our public elementary had a very good chance of emerging a strong reader and speller with a command of math facts. If you were precocious you were tracked into a gifted program that achieved much more.

Now it’s hard to guarantee *anything* even at privates. Parents have to be involved to ensure a decent outcome.

I think back then kids listen to teachers and parents and would focus in learning at school now it is the reverse so they lack guidance.

We had unlimited access to TV but there wasn’t much worth watching. We did binge watch on Saturday am cartoons, and later I would binge watch daytime game shows and soaps during the summer days, but in general there was a healthy desire to leave the screen to go outside and play.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:When I was a kid in the 80s, every child that attended our public elementary had a very good chance of emerging a strong reader and speller with a command of math facts. If you were precocious you were tracked into a gifted program that achieved much more.

Now it’s hard to guarantee *anything* even at privates. Parents have to be involved to ensure a decent outcome.

I agree. And there were no gifted programs in my state. The future Ivy League students were with everyone else until AP classes.

Same with me. Not gifted programs or testing. High school separated students according to ability and the ones with the ability, focus and drive made it to top schools. Same as it still is in a lot of areas.

Not as much tutoring for a sport either. The talented ones showed potential early on. They spent their free time amongst themselves playing their sports with no adult interference.

I grew up in the 80s and we didnt own a television. My parents thought they made you dumb. We didnt have formal enrichment programs but spent a lot of time at the library. Also spent lots of time at the neighborhood park and riding bikes. Our time was much more unscheduled and free than today but it wasn't spent watching tv.

My kids have a much more structured lifestyle because that is life in DC. There arent as many opportunities for free play. We do still spend a lot of time at libraries and rarely watch tv tho.

We all learned how to read from Sesame Street and we learned practical life lessons from Mr. Rogers and Captain Kangaroo. We had a better start with kids and their falling fruit Coco Melon crap.

Schools/curriculums were better back then. But also learning disabled kids were not in mainstream classrooms, so teachers didn't have to deal with IEPs/504s and there was less differentiation required. Teachers were allowed to discipline kids, so trouble makers were removed from the classroom after just one infraction and not allowed to come back for the rest of the day. Equity was not a thing. Also, there were far more pull outs and far more parents volunteering in the school - my mom was a SAHM and she tutored kids in the cafeteria during the school day, for example.

Anonymous wrote:College is so much harder to enter than when you were a kid. It’s stupefying

No it is not. Maybe to the top ones, but it is just as easy as ever in general.

Anonymous wrote:Standards were lower for some groups. You just needed to be white, male, and not obviously gay or a religious minority. Everyone else (women and people of color) was busting their butt to prove they were better than the assistant manager’s neighbor’s nephew who was graduating the same week.

What?

(I'm a woman POC and this is nonsensically offensive)

We watched a ton of tv as kids. No one helped us study or made sure we completed our homework and, often, we didn’t. We did no academic enrichment at all. We took regular classes instead of honors at our private school, which basically admitted anyone who applied as long as their parents could pay the tuition (not the case today!). Miraculously, I managed to complete law school and have a successful career. My sister got her graduate degree before becoming a SAHM.

Anonymous wrote:…succeed in life? Not being snarky, I’m just trying to understand. When I was young, children just watched TV and had no academic “enrichment” outside of perhaps an instrument and a sport. Certainly no Kumon or academic acceleration. They went on to have successful careers and great lives. Were standards lower? Are children going to be a lot smarter because of screen time limits?

We didn’t have kumon or tutoring but my mom bought educational books. I actually enjoyed doing workbooks in summertime or in weekends.

I liked educational tv. PBS. Jeopardy. Etc.

I liked school. I had educational computer games. Starting with fun math games in ES, Carmen San Diego, creative games, and one that taught me 100+ bone (their common name and scientific name), had geography tests for all countries in a continent.