‘Society’ to blame for knowledge decline; readers weigh in on state of American education | READER COMMENTARIES

U.S. education system leaving young people unprepared for life

Armstrong Williams’ column, “The decay of education,” (April 28) is so correct. The U.S. has big problems — AI, the national debt, pathetic politicians, China. The education system from K through college is right there as a big issue. Way too many kids get out of high school without basic math, English, history or civics knowledge. And, in my experience, way too many college graduates graduate with minimum specific knowledge of anything (other than those that major in marketable majors like engineering, accounting, etc). There is too much concern over cultural and social issues, and not enough about acquiring useful knowledge to be productive in life.

— Lyle Rescott, Marriottsville

Generation Z claims ‘broad, unsubstantiated’

In his recent piece, Armstrong Williams has once again ascended his proverbial soapbox to lament the state of modern society, casting aspersions on today’s younger generation with broad, unsubstantiated claims. Without offering a shred of evidence, he paints millennials and Generation Z as uninformed, inarticulate and poorly educated.

Such rhetoric is not just unproductive; it is an age-old tactic — demoralizing young people by labeling them as the decline of cultural and intellectual standards. History shows us that these accusations are as cyclic as they are baseless. The vibrant, critical minds of today’s youth are, in fact, no less capable than their predecessors.

As a baby boomer, it saddens me to see such sweeping generalizations diminish the vibrant potential of these younger generations. My own children, along with my nieces and nephews, range in age from 24 to 40, and they are far from the lackluster caricatures often portrayed. They are intelligent, diligent and productive individuals contributing positively to society — regardless of their familiarity with The Federalist Papers.

Let us not undermine our future by disparaging our youth. Instead, we should uplift and encourage them. Celebrating their achievements and potential is the only way to foster further greatness. They deserve our support, not scorn.

— Paul Winston, Baltimore

We need a ‘renaissance in education’

I enjoyed Armstrong Williams’ column on “the decay of education.” He captured my attention immediately with the mention of a “rosy fingered-dawn.” I sent the column to family members who are educators. I taught for 35years and fought with students to make them realize the importance of proper declension, conjugation, sentence diagrams and so on. Few really appreciated the literary honor roll you mentioned that I loved to share.

There needs to be a renaissance in education or we are destined to fail miserably.

— Jack Andrulewicz, Upperco

Column needs context to explain state of education

Here we go again: The Sun’s part owner, Armstrong Williams, opines a “conservative” viewpoint so shallow it does not mention, in a putdown of education and young people, the book bans in Maryland or bans of critical racial discussions or the fact that segregated public schools existed. Where has this writer been living? “Conservatives” come across as whiners never offering positive solutions.

— David Eberhardt, Baltimore 

Education column a home run

As a “moderate Democrat” (whatever that means these days!) I was quite apprehensive about the new ownership of The Sun, although I love that it is again locally owned.

While we may disagree on some issues, I find your columns a good basis for rethinking my previous views. That, I think, is the basis of reading, to look at both sides of an issue. The “decay of education” column was a home run. I could not agree more.

As a 50-year print subscriber to The Sun, I wish the best of success to you and the new ownership team! Thank you for saving our newspaper.

— Steve Sprecher, Columbia

Decay in knowledge is a societal and cultural issue

Armstrong Williams has written some good essays — on plastic bag pollution and the overreach of national surveillance, for example. But with respect to education today, as a former English instructor myself, I must note that the curriculum he advocates is so removed from reality as to be impossible, even in the most elite of private academies, particularly in today’s post COVID-learning-loss world.

Williams would have today’s graduates be masters of constitutional law, the political insights of The Federalist Papers, the timeline of 19th century American history, and at least 21 literary classics from ancient Greece and Rome (not in Greek and Latin, I trust) as well as from British and American authors. Topping it off, he would have the scholars give “at  least eight hours per day to reading and writing.” (This must be based on a 36-hour day!)  Oddly enough, he says not a word on the higher maths and sciences, which surely are necessary if we’re to face “the alarming national security threat” he calls attention to in his opening sentence.

Were world religions. a major emphasis of Williams’ schooling? He seems to bemoan the fact that today’s students “have not mastered the Bible, the Holy Koran, Buddhism, Hinduism, Confucius, Seneca or Epicurus.” The social studies or history courses in years past gave brief overviews of world religions, but in public secondary schools, we certainly did not “master” the Bible or any others.

The writer seems to enjoy showing off his wide reading by quoting, at length, a tedious passage from President George Washington’s first State of the Union Address — an excerpt so dense that academic scholars probably had to read it several times to comprehend it. Today’s students would skip it.

Williams does include excellent advice for parents — those, that is, who have the time to oversee their child’s education: Read with the students at least one hour nightly, monitor their study habits, and visit their teachers monthly. But many of today’s parents and guardians have their hands full just keeping their home and putting meals on the table. Others get caught up in the same diversions that distract their students from schoolwork, and that’s sad.

Which leads to my chief criticism of the essay. The “decay” Williams decries is less an educational one than societal/cultural. As a tenth-grader in 1959, I had only television vying for my out-of-school time, along with occasional pick-up softball games in the street. Students now are bombarded with distractions unheard of then: TV, yes, but more so social media, video games, music, celebrity worship, and more sinister temptations, like drugs.

Added to these is the anxiety associated with the classrooms, halls, and schoolyards. After so many school shootings over the last 25 years, many students and their parents harbor an understandable fear of what can happen in school, a place where teachers and administrators are supposed to keep the kids safe. My neighbor, a middle school teacher, tells me he gets no backup from the administration in dealing with unruly students. Undisciplined, they get away with doing pretty much whatever they want, and students who want to learn get cheated out of another class period. Naturally, morale can and does plummet when teachers dread dealing with certain classes.

The fear and dread many have associated with being in school are products of society’s anxiety about the pervasiveness of crime and firearms in not only their schools but their neighborhoods, anywhere, some previously exempt from these dangers. These concerns may well contribute to many students’ conclusion that what they are asked to read and study is irrelevant to their life and their very survival.

Instead of further detailing an impossible curriculum for today’s students, Armstrong Williams might devote a later essay to how we as a society, in a world fraught with wars, tribalism, climate change, and other dangers to mankind, can educate ourselves outside of the classroom — as he suggests — toward peace, harmony, and tolerance at least within our own nation.

— Bruce Knauff, Towson   

Armstrong Williams’ commentary on point

I have been reading The Sun and Washington Post for 60 years. Armstrong Williams’ column on “the decay of education” is excellent beyond words. I cannot remember a piece that has been so much to the point. I greatly enjoyed his writting.

— Dave Bambrick, Cambridge

Opposition to DEI linked to decay in education

The two pieces in Sunday’s Sun, one by Armstrong Williams (“The decay of education”)  and one by Wonder Drake (“‘DEI enemies must abandon irrational fear’“), respectively, are two of the most important and substantive opinion pieces you’ve published in a long time. While several of the specific recommendations made by Williams are arguable, the two primary points he makes are undeniable; ie, “the survival of the United States is more and more a race between education and ignorance” and “parents should be complaining about what’s not in libraries and classrooms instead of what is there.” Drake’s thesis that opposition to and fear of DEI is both irrational and based on incorrect assumptions is also well expressed and well supported, as is her conclusion that “the mental darkness attacking DEI leads, ultimately, to self-destruction.”

— Harris Factor, Columbia

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