Dr Boyce Education: Our Kids are Not Ready for the Future

I have some questions I'd like to ask all of us in an open and strictly rhetorical kind of way:


1) Is it normal for our kids to sit and watch TV for 10 hours a day on a Saturday?

2) How normal is it for a child to sit around and do almost nothing all summer long, when it wouldn't take much effort to pick up a book for a couple of hours a day?

3) Why are many of our kids willing to work at McDonald's for 8 hours a day, but not willing to study for 3 hours a day to build a financially rewarding future?

4) Why does it seem that we are more likely to get excited over a boy who plays basketball than one who can do Calculus?

We need to have that conversation.

In the video below, I discuss some facts that may alarm you. The laziness of our kids in America is not just something that affects African American youth, it is something that plagues our nation. The economic consequences are expected to be very real, as the education level of a nation's young workforce defines that nation's productivity and economic growth.

Not only are our young people less qualified than they should be, they are also fewer in number. The baby boomers changed our society, but they certainly did not boom out a lot of babies. In a nation where there were once 16 young people to support every senior citizen, there are now only 3.3 for every 1. Also, all indicators show that American children go to school for fewer days in the year, for fewer hours in the day and get less homework than children in Asian countries and other OECD nations. An aging population, mixed with a reduction in per capita productivity is a recipe for economic disaster.

It's time for a revolution in education. We need to make our kids get serious. You hear that BET?

In the conversation below, I speak with my buddy, Dr. Marc Lamont Hill. Marc is a professor at Columbia University and one of the leading educational experts in the world. We talk about our kids, our economy and America's future. Most importantly, we discuss ways in which your children can be sucked out of the intellectual gluttony which may end up undermining our nation's progress. Click below to listen!




Dr. Boyce Watkins is a Finance Professor at Syracuse University and author of "Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About College.