“Internet” is a catch-all term for “any device with consistent internet access,” with a special focus on phones and academic laptops.
Words that stuck.
“We only truly know what we teach ourselves.” – Unknown
There is a disconnect between the knowledge of an internet brain and the ability of an internet brain to find consistent productivity – especially in teen boys. Education has become an efficient market. An indicator of an efficient market is when both the producers and buyers have little extra utility. Underpaid teachers and frustrated students sound familiar?
Laptop convenience and a growing bureaucratic academic arm seem like they give more kids access to education and information. However, the laptop is just another screen in faces hurting sleep and teaching kids to ChatGPT rather than think. The bureaucrats probably mean well but prioritize “passing” over excelling.
The kids are figuring out that the current system is a means to an end but these students are missing out on the exact learning, researching, critical writing, personal presentation, and math skills that will get them to their preferred end goal.
The fix starts with genuine student engagement (something we’ve had incredible universal success with at Goat Academics) and an unbreakable internal discipline. These are traits that can, and must, be intentionally worked on. Otherwise, our kids are being bored into brain rot 8 hours a day, 200 days a year.
“Boys battle to bond, girls bond to battle.” – Karch Kiraly (volleyball coach)
A massive problem with the public school system is the homogeneity of lessons and course materials. Ballooning class sizes and a competitive academic environment are shoving more and more kids with different learning styles into the same space.
There is a huge difference in how boys and girls enjoy learning. On average, girls enjoy success and structure, while boys enjoy challenge and engagement.
Staffing and funding is a consistent issue for public schools, even in a high-revenue area such as Research Triangle Park, where I live. It’s probably not possible to perfectly teach the boys and girls. But, we can prioritize and understand methods of learning more and more.
“…laziness is the greatest passion of mankind…” – Carl Jung
I am constantly surprised at how young students are when they are exposed to modern vices. Of course a child is susceptible to marketing and advertising. They’ve barely seen or heard anything that wasn’t directly or subtly an advertisement. An efficient and unregulated market targets convenient and high-margin profits; the most efficient and easiest minds to target for quick profit are those of children. I’m not a monk – there is a time and place for all things in moderation.
“There will always be someone better looking than you or richer than you or smarter than you. You can be one, maybe two, but never all three.” – George Bruce (my Mathcounts coach and 6th grade math teacher).
Thank you Mr.Bruce. You’re one of the good ones.
“Resentment and complaint are appropriate neither for oneself nor others.” – Musashi Miyamoto
The lessons that stick with me from my parents, my teachers, my teammates, and the other kids, are those of humility, grace, and consistent work ethic. Traits that I, admittedly, lacked growing up despite my strong on-paper resume.
Inner and outward frustration is way easier and lazier than actually putting in the work. The pull of the internet makes this unbelievably difficult for developing minds. I was fortunate to find the right resources at age 25 to build my emotional discipline and maturity. I want to share these techniques with as many students as possible.
“When I was a boy of 14, my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have the old man around. But when I got to be 21, I was astonished at how much he had learned in seven years.” – Mark Twain
Progress is not linear but knowledge and access to knowledge mostly is. The internet kids are smarter than any other generation but there are institutional issues plaguing their potential.
“Specificity is credibility. No thesaurus words, just say what you need to say.” – Susan Cera (academic consultant)
I was a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad writer through high school. My English grades were fine because I was a willing and grammatically correct editor, and my history grades were excellent due to fervent rote memorization. This masked a huge problem: my speech and writing were truly just fluffy words. This infested not only my assignments, essays, college applications, family discussions, text messages, et al. but also my internal dialogue.
What fixed my writing was writing emails for a living and a Grammar 305 class I took at UNC-Chapel Hill.
It’s funny, the higher up on the corporate ladder the individual, the fewer words (and worse grammar) he or she tends to use during internal communications. My job as an analyst was to send crisp, concise, yet all-encompassing (??) emails to these same individuals with minimal prompting. Honestly – a tough, fun job, and a great learning experience.
“Losers find excuses, winners find a way.” – Rick Macci (tennis coach)
I acknowledge human goodness (not niceties) comes from understanding one’s own internal drive and respecting this same trait in others.
I heard this through Casper Ruud, who recently won his first tennis Masters level 1000 tournament in Madrid. Kindest guy on the ATP tour.
“Always do right. This will gratify some people and astonish the rest.” – Mark Twain
Oh snap, see above.
The best students know that shortcuts and cheats do work but choose not to utilize these things for a better reason: it’s probably just easier to get the work done and avoid the stress than it is to scrape by with “minimal” effort and maximum cortisol.
The internet kids are logical and want to succeed. They are quick to build this no-shortcut internal mindset once presented with consistent, genuine arguments. “I told you so” or “Because it’s good for you” just lands on deaf ears and rolled eyes.
“Your ability to go far in life is your ability to have tough conversations.” – A former boss of mine
Every tough conversation I’ve ever had left me feeling better about the situation. 100% success rate on this one.
Funnily enough, this was the one boss I didn’t like working for during my career. Maybe in another couple of years I’ll claim this quote as fully my own, ha!
“The only intelligent tactical response to life’s horror is to laugh defiantly at it.” – Kierkegaard
Soren K. dropping facts. Academics is important, but it’s not that serious.
Let’s get to work.
– Amit