Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!rutgers!cbmvax!uunet!pdn!reggie From: reggie@pdn.nm.paradyne.com (George W. Leach) Newsgroups: comp.edu Subject: Re: Are Americans Intellectually Inferior? Message-ID: <5478@pdn.nm.paradyne.com> Date: 31 Jan 89 11:31:12 GMT References: <1461@trantor.harris-atd.com> <19554@agate.BERKELEY.EDU> <27541@bu-cs.BU.EDU> <15993@joyce.istc.sri.com> <19671@agate.BERKELEY.EDU> Reply-To: reggie@pdn.nm.paradyne.com (George W. Leach) Distribution: usa Organization: Paradyne Corporation, Largo FL Lines: 25 In article <19671@agate.BERKELEY.EDU> matloff@iris.ucdavis.edu (Norm Matloff) writes: >What I feel very strongly should be done is for parents to create a >learning environment for their kids, in a POSITIVE way, e.g. by setting >a good example. If parents themselves enjoy reading for recreation, have >a good intellectual curiosity, etc., then the kids will follow quite >naturally. Yes! My parents would accept nothing short of straight A's out of me for all my years of schooling. Anything less was considered a failure to them. It seemed to me that I could never satisfy them. To this day I still have some trace of these feelings, that they feel I sold them short or something. It was not until I returned to graduate school after working in industry for a few years that I had a change of attitude towards grades and learning. Why? Because there was no pressure from the parents *and* I had adopted the proper attitude. I was there because *I* wanted to learn, not because it was my parents' wish that I attend college. Attitude is everything! -- George W. Leach Paradyne Corporation ..!uunet!pdn!reggie Mail stop LG-129 reggie@pdn.nm.paradyne.com P.O. Box 2826 Phone: (813) 530-2376 Largo, FL USA 34649-2826