A recent survey conducted through the
Intel Corporation
found that parents are more comfortable talking with their kids about drugs
than about science and math.
Of course
this may be due more to their own ignorance or fear of science and math than to
a desire to keep their kids ignorant. Indeed, the data suggest this is part of
the problem. According to the survey, 53% of parents admit that they have
trouble helping their children with math and science homework. 23% said their
lack of knowledge of these subjects was a barrier to helping their children and
26% said they would be more involved if there was a clearing house or similar
resource for refreshing their memory on the subjects.
Yet parents
are often ignorant and scared of drugs and that does not keep them from talking
to their kids about this subject, sometimes with disastrous results. According
to Wired Magazine, which covered the story, parents find
it easier to talk about drugs because it is “vague” and you can get the message
across quickly with a few choice examples of burn outs and bums who’ve ruined
their lives with drugs.
In reality,
parents who talk to their kids about drugs like this are simply attempting to
beat them into submission with scare tactics, much like the federal government
has done with the war on terror. (e.g., If you don’t do drugs, you won’t end up
living under the freeway, and if you let us monitor your internet activity you
won’t end up bombed by Al Qaida).
To really
understand the risks involved with drugs and alcohol, it is helpful to know a
little about how drugs act pharmacologically, which requires at least a basic
level of secondary school science. Telling kids to “Just Say No” is as vapid
and useless as telling them to remain chaste because it’s God’s will. It also
obscures the fact that there are many drugs out there with legitimate uses and
others that are legal, but that still have abuse potential. Indeed, the number
one and two preventable causes of death are tobacco and alcohol, both of which
are legal drugs for those of the appropriate age. And while caffeine has a much
lower risk of injury or death associated with it, it is still a drug and one
that can lead to social or physical problems if abused.
Parents and
children do not need to have a degree in biochemistry to understand enough of
the chemistry and pharmacology to make informed decisions and engage in
intelligent discussions. It is something I teach my high school students as a
“hook” for learning about the nervous system and molecular biology. It is
something that parents can pick up by reading their children’s textbooks or by
going to the library or even from the internet, if they are savvy enough to
bypass the moralistic fear mongering that is out there.
The same is
true of science and math, in general. If their teenagers are old enough to read
the text books, and if they themselves learned it once before, then what is so
hard about looking over their children’s textbooks and relearning it? This is
the one-stop clearinghouse for refreshing parents’ knowledge of science and
math.
Wired
correctly identifies a more challenging problem for parents who wish to help
their children in math and science: they often do not know how to relate what
they do understand in a way their children can understand. This should not be
surprising considering that few of them have been trained as teachers. They do
not know the content standards. They do not know how to develop lesson plans or
how to sequence a unit. They do not have the benefit of having seen hundreds of
kids make the same mistake or get caught up in the same misunderstanding of a
concept. They do not necessarily know what prerequisite knowledge is required
to understand the material or how to deliver it in a way their children can
grasp.
Yet there
are many other ways parents can help their children. For example, when a child
is struggling with a math problem, a parent can read the appropriate section of
the text with the child, both to gain an understanding for himself and to help
his child understand it better. They can do some of the problems together and
the parent can watch to make sure the child is following the necessary steps to
do the problem correctly.
Even without
helping children directly with math and science problems, parents can do much
to support their children, like ensuring there is a quiet place to study and a
regular routine and time period for doing homework. They can help their
children organize their binders and backpacks and update and maintain daily planners
or smart phone calendars. As a teacher, I find that the majority of my students
who do not do well in my classes also have disorganized binders and backpacks.
This makes it harder for them to find assignments when it is time to turn them
in, resulting in unnecessary zeros. It also makes it harder to study, as they
cannot find lecture notes, handouts or worksheets that could help them prepare
for an exam.
Unfortunately,
one of the biggest challenges parents face is lack of time. The survey’s
finding that they needed a one-stop shopping center for updating their math and
science skills could be interpreted as a desire for an easy, quick route to
competency, something that cannot be achieved for an entire subject area.
Providing more resources to parents still requires that they read, think and
take time out of their busy schedules. This may be the real reason why they are
more comfortable talking about drugs than science. With drugs, they can simply
preach “don’t do them, they’re bad for you,” whereas with science and math they
must actually think and help their children understand.
Ultimately,
support from Intel will do little to make parents better able to relate to
their teens or give them the time necessary to read and understand the content
their children are expected to learn. But it might encourage them to buy more
software “solutions” for their struggling students.
