Anonymous
Post 01/31/2026 10:44     Subject: I’m tired of my exchange student talking about how easy school is here and how dumb the American kids are.
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
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 is right 1/3 of this country is stupid it is called the cult of MAGA stupids.

How do you not understand this?

We have a country of idiots singing confederacy songs still and NAZI criminals running the government.



He is right, but you truly have TDS, pp. Our family hosted a German student decades ago. Was very smart then (though did not make those kinds of comments, but then again, lots of smart and motivated students in our area and HS) and is very successful today. Our families and a next generation remain friends today.


This just labeled you as a fool at best
Anonymous
Post 01/30/2026 19:49     Subject: Re:I’m tired of my exchange student talking about how easy school is here and how dumb the American kids are.
It is true, and yet, all the great inventions and innovations of our modern age came from here or were greatly improved here. Maybe it is because kids here have more room to pursue other interests besides only rigorous academics?

Anyway, point that out to him.
Anonymous
Post 01/30/2026 18:05     Subject: I’m tired of my exchange student talking about how easy school is here and how dumb the American kids are.
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
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!


Truth hurts but he is not wrong.


+1

Also: Germans like to complain. It’s the national past-time.


Plus, good in bed but mechanical.
Anonymous
Post 01/30/2026 18:02     Subject: I’m tired of my exchange student talking about how easy school is here and how dumb the American kids are.
Anonymous wrote:
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!


Truth hurts but he is not wrong.


+1

Also: Germans like to complain. It’s the national past-time.
Anonymous
Post 01/30/2026 17:56     Subject: I’m tired of my exchange student talking about how easy school is here and how dumb the American kids are.
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!


Truth hurts but he is not wrong.
Anonymous
Post 01/30/2026 17:55     Subject: I’m tired of my exchange student talking about how easy school is here and how dumb the American kids are.
I would be really tempted to respond “gee, and where did this supposed German superiority get us 65 years ago?”
Or “boy, for being a bunch of dummies, kind of even more amazing that America has totally kicked your butt both militarily and economically for the past century, huh?”

But maybe better just to say that it’s rude to always be criticizing his host country.
Anonymous
Post 01/30/2026 17:19     Subject: I’m tired of my exchange student talking about how easy school is here and how dumb the American kids are.
Anonymous wrote:
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.


I miss some tracking (I was "gifted" as a kid but many schools don't track anymore) and it might be effective. However, "better" can still disadvantage some people. I've read testimonies by people in tracked systems whose lives were made less fulfilling mainly because of stumbles in the preteen years. There's also discussion in another thread of why top students from Asia like to come to the US for college. Partly because their lives at home may be dramatically altered by just one college entrance exam.

I value the part of the American system that lets people have more access to higher education.

I also think we expect a lot from underpaid, overworked, disrespected K-12 teachers.

I have no objection to more vocational education. But the problems we have in our schools now are not primarily because we lack middle and high school tracking. America has a serious childhood poverty problem that school can't fix. And poverty is aligned with parenting issues. Fix poverty and fix parenting issues and our schools would have much better results.
Anonymous
Post 01/30/2026 16:47     Subject: Re:I’m tired of my exchange student talking about how easy school is here and how dumb the American kids are.
Anonymous wrote:He’s actually correct. An American high school diploma won’t even get you admitted into a German university. I know this because I am German. In fact I’m currently in Germany—OT though.

Anyway, he shouldn’t be an a$$ about it though. It’s possible that he doesn’t know he’s annoying you and is just making conversation. So tell him. Germans are also very direct and frank, and it’s really not considered insulting if it’s true. So maybe help him out and let him know that Americans take a much softer approach to everything in person.

You’re the adult, lead and/or parent. Or call his parents and ask them to talk to him.


Would it be correct to assume that American high school graduate with an IB diploma may be accepted?

I agree with the poster that said the kid is probably shocked. The students he's meeting are at a different place in their education, and it's going to take a while to wrap his mind around the paradigm shift. Some high schoolers are receiving an education similar to what he has experienced, while most are not.

People have posted lots of good reasons, but overall it is a shock to the system to see such a big difference.
Anonymous
Post 01/30/2026 16:26     Subject: I’m tired of my exchange student talking about how easy school is here and how dumb the American kids are.
American schools are majority poor students. They are basically child care, food, mental health services, etc.
Anonymous
Post 01/30/2026 16:25     Subject: I’m tired of my exchange student talking about how easy school is here and how dumb the American kids are.
Anonymous wrote:
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 is right 1/3 of this country is stupid it is called the cult of MAGA stupids.

How do you not understand this?

We have a country of idiots singing confederacy songs still and NAZI criminals running the government.



He is right, but you truly have TDS, pp. Our family hosted a German student decades ago. Was very smart then (though did not make those kinds of comments, but then again, lots of smart and motivated students in our area and HS) and is very successful today. Our families and a next generation remain friends today.
Anonymous
Post 01/30/2026 16:23     Subject: I’m tired of my exchange student talking about how easy school is here and how dumb the American kids are.
I mean he's right but you can tell him you're sick of hearing this broken record.
Anonymous
Post 01/30/2026 16:21     Subject: I’m tired of my exchange student talking about how easy school is here and how dumb the American kids are.
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
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 is right 1/3 of this country is stupid it is called the cult of MAGA stupids.

How do you not understand this?

We have a country of idiots singing confederacy songs still and NAZI criminals running the government.




Uh. Where did you get this? you're projecting again. The dumbing down of America is due to liberal policies like DEI and woke, affirmative action and other failed liberal educational policies. Google "failed liberal educational policies" and start reading


The biggest DEI are Trumpers

Have you seen them? Losers, all of them
Anonymous
Post 01/30/2026 16:18     Subject: I’m tired of my exchange student talking about how easy school is here and how dumb the American kids are.
Anonymous wrote:
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 is right 1/3 of this country is stupid it is called the cult of MAGA stupids.

How do you not understand this?

We have a country of idiots singing confederacy songs still and NAZI criminals running the government.




Uh. Where did you get this? you're projecting again. The dumbing down of America is due to liberal policies like DEI and woke, affirmative action and other failed liberal educational policies. Google "failed liberal educational policies" and start reading
Anonymous
Post 01/30/2026 16:15     Subject: Re:I’m tired of my exchange student talking about how easy school is here and how dumb the American kids are.
Use your words and shut them down.
Anonymous
Post 01/30/2026 16:08     Subject: I’m tired of my exchange student talking about how easy school is here and how dumb the American kids are.
Anonymous wrote:
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!


I’d point out that STEM is the primary focus and classical liberal arts is fading away. If you are in the DMV, point out that there is a split in education with the higher stat kids tracking toward the Asian model of highly competitive, high stats and acceleration while the humanities are being pushed down to the more vocational level. Offer to sign him up for multi variable and honors chem at a local community college if he needs more challenge.

Schools don’t teach history and geography anymore.


Wow. Verification right here that the DMV students are not being educated properly. And how would anyone consider the humanities a vocation level?

Training for a vocation, or specific job, requires being educated with the relevant classes needed. Engineering is a vocation that needs certain skills, architect, builder, there are many options. But humanities are definitely not in the vocation departments.

I hope you’re wrong about history and geography not being taught in the DMV schools.