Anonymous
Post 10/16/2023 18:26     Subject: How did generations with unlimited TV and no enrichment…
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:College is so much harder to enter than when you were a kid. It’s stupefying


This. I grew up on Sesame Street and did well on my sats and grades and got into a great college. My oldest takes way harder classes with better grades, got about the same on the SAT (1550 to my 1560) and she’ll be lucky to get into our state flagship.


And if you're in this area, your state flagship (UMD or UVA) now has a more accomplished student body and offers a higher quality education than whatever school you attended then. It's also a great college.


+1. Went to UMD day last week. The kids were seriously impressive.
Anonymous
Post 10/16/2023 18:25     Subject: How did generations with unlimited TV and no enrichment…
Anonymous wrote:
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?


Teacher here. Standards were lower. I went to kindergarten in 1980. It was easier then the pre-k is now at my public school. We learned to write our name, one letter each week, counting to 10. That’s pretty much it for academics. It was a half-day and that included a nap time. Now, students are expected to do so much more. I would’ve been far below grade level entering kindergarten if I started now.


+1. I didn’t learn to read until first grade, and I was one of the early ones.
Anonymous
Post 10/16/2023 18:25     Subject: How did generations with unlimited TV and no enrichment…
Wife is a teacher - she thinks combination of two parent household, closer knit communities (of similar ilk - egging on each other to succeed) and finally and most important: much higher quality of teacher. Back then no female CEOs- women could only aspire to be teacher, nurse, or bank teller.
Anonymous
Post 10/16/2023 18:24     Subject: How did generations with unlimited TV and no enrichment…
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?


Most of them didn’t succeed in life. Look around. Plenty of bums everywhere— in the city, in rural areas, even elected to Congress. All idiots. It’s why immigrants are in so many important positions in the US. The locals can’t handle the work that’s necessary.
Anonymous
Post 10/16/2023 18:22     Subject: How did generations with unlimited TV and no enrichment…
Kids were allowed in public spaces
Anonymous
Post 10/16/2023 18:17     Subject: How did generations with unlimited TV and no enrichment…
Anonymous wrote:PP, we weren’t allowed in the house let alone, watching TV all day. Even if we did, we didn’t have cable so 4 channels (and only 1 TV).


This was so our life. And the shows that were on were sooooo boring.
Anonymous
Post 10/16/2023 18:06     Subject: How did generations with unlimited TV and no enrichment…
My husband and his siblings did supplement at home in the 90s, engaged in competitive extracurriculars and had restricted access to tv and movies.

I do agree with the posters commenting on competition, but this type of parenting did exist then too.

Anonymous
Post 10/16/2023 18:00     Subject: How did generations with unlimited TV and no enrichment…
Anonymous wrote:College is so much harder to enter than when you were a kid. It’s stupefying


Maybe the top 50 schools are but the rest aren’t. Choose one of them and stop stressing your kids out.
Anonymous
Post 10/16/2023 17:59     Subject: How did generations with unlimited TV and no enrichment…
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?


Teacher here. Standards were lower. I went to kindergarten in 1980. It was easier then the pre-k is now at my public school. We learned to write our name, one letter each week, counting to 10. That’s pretty much it for academics. It was a half-day and that included a nap time. Now, students are expected to do so much more. I would’ve been far below grade level entering kindergarten if I started now.
Anonymous
Post 10/16/2023 17:59     Subject: Re:How did generations with unlimited TV and no enrichment…
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I think it's so weird that people on DCUM think that their MC childhood was the only version of normal, and that their UMC children's childhood is currently the only version of normal.

UMC kids in places like Upper Northwest and Bethesda and McLean had the same kind of lives your kids do now, with piano lessons, and soccer, and cub scouts, and tutoring and swim team. If you didn't have that as a child growing up, it's likely because you didn't grow up UMC.


False


Did you grow up UMC in this area?
Anonymous
Post 10/16/2023 17:58     Subject: How did generations with unlimited TV and no enrichment…
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:College is so much harder to enter than when you were a kid. It’s stupefying


This. I grew up on Sesame Street and did well on my sats and grades and got into a great college. My oldest takes way harder classes with better grades, got about the same on the SAT (1550 to my 1560) and she’ll be lucky to get into our state flagship.


And if you're in this area, your state flagship (UMD or UVA) now has a more accomplished student body and offers a higher quality education than whatever school you attended then. It's also a great college.
Anonymous
Post 10/16/2023 17:57     Subject: Re:How did generations with unlimited TV and no enrichment…
I think it's so weird that people on DCUM think that their MC childhood was the only version of normal, and that their UMC children's childhood is currently the only version of normal.

UMC kids in places like Upper Northwest and Bethesda and McLean had the same kind of lives your kids do now, with piano lessons, and soccer, and cub scouts, and tutoring and swim team. If you didn't have that as a child growing up, it's likely because you didn't grow up UMC.
Anonymous
Post 10/16/2023 17:55     Subject: How did generations with unlimited TV and no enrichment…
Anonymous wrote:College is so much harder to enter than when you were a kid. It’s stupefying


This. I grew up on Sesame Street and did well on my sats and grades and got into a great college. My oldest takes way harder classes with better grades, got about the same on the SAT (1550 to my 1560) and she’ll be lucky to get into our state flagship.
Anonymous
Post 10/16/2023 17:46     Subject: Re:How did generations with unlimited TV and no enrichment…
OP, where were you in the 80s and 90s? Weren't you in school like the rest of us? We were fine, we went to school, did our homework, read for school AND for fun, and watched a lot of TV. Many of us then went to college, and are living regular lives now. Your premise is strange.
Anonymous
Post 10/16/2023 17:46     Subject: How did generations with unlimited TV and no enrichment…
Anonymous wrote:College is so much harder to enter than when you were a kid. It’s stupefying


No it isn't. Top students are spread out among more schools than they were when you were a kid, and some specific schools have gotten harder to get into, but college as a whole is not harder, and the quality of education and the student body at many schools have improved so that a good student today is just as likely to find a good option as one 40 years ago. The only difference is the school name on the diploma.