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Back when I was a kid ...way back in "the Dark Ages." when the Internet wasn't even a dream, I don't think kids were as intelligent as they are today.

Maybe it's due in part to earlier schooling and computer access and / or for other reasons not readily apparent, including archetypal. But I see evidence all around me that kids today may be significantly more intelligent, and wiser, than we were when we were kids.

Just take a look at the ages listed, for example, of the top twenty or so leaders here on ********. A goodly number are in their teens.

And it also seems that kids are less afraid to question things they deem wrong, contrary to what their parents believe.

That also gives me hope that they won't allow a charlatan like Barack Obama to hoodwink them.

:)~

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39 Answers

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No, they just think they are!
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Sounds like she was a bonafide prodigy. Definitely non-representative. No one I know personally from back then was like that. I sure wasn't, and I tied for 1st place in an IQ test at my high school among my 537 student senior graduating class.
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Studies have shown that the average IQ has risen by more than 14 points since the 1950's.

This is probably linked the inclusion of iodine in people's everyday diets, something that wasn't so common back then.
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Can you provide us some data on the effects of iodine in diet?
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I have a book that has the results of the study in it but it's not with me right now, not sure when I'll get back to it. I'll try and look it up.

If you want to try and google it yourself look for Nicholas Kristof, Half the Sky, and iodine.
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Kids today have more access to information but they aren't any smarter.
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I disagree. From personal experience as well, I've seen toddlers less than a year old exhibiting amazing intelligence. Precocious little girls of both my wife's friend and her brother's kid "dancing" to music, in rhythm with it at the age of 7 to 8 months. And already saying "daddy" at 7 months. Walking at 9 months.

See this also:
http://www.********.com/enter...
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I can have a intelligent conversation with my girlfriends 3 year old. I agree with you 100%
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My first daughter walked at 7 months, said words before 6 months and stood holding herself on a coffee table at 6 weeks. Not bad for a baby born in the mid 60s. Today's ******** are exposed to more information, but have dropped far behind other countries in intelligence growth. In the 50s and 60s Americans were at the top of the same testing. With 50-60 years of chance to improve education skills, we have fallen behind. While overall IQs of Americans have improved, they have fallen way behind the improvements of other countries. If ******** of the 50s and 60s were given the same tools as today's ********, I find it **** to believe they would have fallen this far.
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I think kids are more informed, but that doesn't make them smarter. A ***** is like a computer, you can program it to say and think any way you want it to if you work at it. Obviously, this girl is well informed and if this is the way her parents want her to think, then more power to them. If equal time is given to the use of contraceptives and prevention of unwanted pregnancy, then it's a good thing. Anything less is just indoctrination!
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A FamilyPC online poll of 615 families conducted by Digital Research, an independent research firm, found that 68 percent of the parents who responded believe that computer usage has helped their ******** to become smarter.

Those parents think the computer has helped their ******** master motor skills and a wide range of tasks, including problem-solving, reading, math, language/communication, spelling, research, and vocabulary. And a substantial majority of the parents surveyed, 61 percent, say the computer has made their kids more creative.
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All kids are dumbasses,I know I was! But with age,we grow and "hopefully" learn a few things along the way.
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Kids today are more street wise. There's a difference. I'd rather have common sense than smarts.
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In the Technology side of it. But, do they have common sense though? My observations, "KIDS TODAY" they don't even know how to make their own beds, dishes and other pertinent simple chores...Not only that, they're glued to TV and other techy. gadgets...I can go on and on about this but, I digress...
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If that's what YOUR firsthand experience tells you, then, I hate to say it, but that reflects badly on YOU. For YOU are the one who is supposed to be motivating them to perform simple chores and accepting personal responsibility. Yet that is another subject, even though related to intelligence.
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If kids today cannot make their beds, wash dishes or do other chores than that says more about the failure of parents than the intelligence of the *****.
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I don' t think they are. They are not taught anything, they are indoctrinated, By the PC leftist terrorists in our education system. It seems she learned her script very well.....
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She crafted her own script. Don't wrongly presume based on how YOU and your peers were "back in the day." Even that girls' own parents initially opposed her topic. Also her teacher opposed it. Plus kids are barraged by left-wing lamestream media every day to wrongly believe that murder is an acceptable "choice." The girl came to her position against odds that she surmounted. She has my respect.
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I haven't taken any poles. All I know is what I see, and I base my statements on my experience. The fact that American kids score very low on international tests and rank low in math and science compared to other nations would seem to support my experience. I also know that students today, at least at my school, only need to obtain a 60 to pass a class. In my day you needed at least a 75 to pass. Couple that with the fact that the lowest grade a student can get is a 50 (no more zeros) and one can see that passing classes and obtaining diplomas doesn't really mean a whole lot. If parents think their kids are doing well based on their grades, it is possible they are fooling themselves. Don't get me wrong, there are some really smart kids at my school. My point is that the number of smart kids seems to be shrinking and the number of kids who barley getting by seems to be increasing. To test my theory, visit a local fast food restaurant where teenagers are working.
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You are exactly right, see above.
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well i feel even if they had internet back in th days they probably be dumb too so i say it the internet fault not gone lie i be on the internet about 4 to 5 hours a day that just when im n ot busy
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That is why our average SAT and ACT scores are going up in Kansas.
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35 years ago stupidity leaked out of the Carter Presidency and into ********* heads. ******** today have been saved by the Bush Jr. years.
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As a person with a little experience in this area, I have to say kids are probably as smart as ever but they lack an appreciation for things and take a great deal for granted. Something past generations of kids did not. Of course kids are kids and naturally take things for granted but kids today are much more demanding and parents are more giving of material goods which leads to the lack of appreciation. When it comes time for them to go out into the real world, they are finding it ****** to cope because so much had been just handed to them.
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Actually that was true also of the "Baby Boomer" generation even more so than today's kids.
For the WW II generation that grew up in the "Great Depression" era made the mistake of "giving my kid what I didn't have."

Baby Boomers fueled the late 60's and early 70's "hippy movement" and draft-dodgers and begot PC. What a "legacy" to bestow. [sarcastically]. By comparison, today's kids aren't quite as bad as their "Baby Boomer" parents, who now hypocritically claim the moral high ground. Like Donald Trump, who was born with a silver spoon in his mouth, billions handed him by his WW II generation father, that Trump squandered away, then played the system by filing bankruptcy to get back on his feet. Now he flaunts himself as though he attained his wealth via great work ethics and business acumen.
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I stand corrected but still stand by what I stated. I've seen it. It was my work.
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Smarter book wise maybe - but smarter about real life, NO. And I do NOT appreciate the anti-abortion speech.
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And I do NOT "appreciate" the murder of innocent babies before birth. So I suppose we have something in common. :)~
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Just like the WW II generation did the "spoiled Baby Boomers."
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Yes, they are! They are SO Smart They are dumb and dont know it!
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I work in the public school system, and, no, kids are not smarter today. Not only have education standards been lowered (what used to be failing is now considered average), standardized tests have been dumbed down as well. I've had 10th grade kids ask me how to spell "tea" (is it t-e-a or t-a-e?). On a scrambled word work sheet another 10th grader (with the letters in front of him) asked his friend "How do you spell "robin"? His friend answered (with the letters in front of him) r-o-b-e-n. Yet again I was in another class where the 9th and 10th graders were doing a simple math work sheet. The kids asked the teacher for calculators. When I questioned the teacher about this she said "They have not learned how to do math without a calculator." I pointed out that you don't learn to "do" math with a calculator, you learn how to use a calculator (push the right ******* to get the answer you want). Just because you may have access to a lot more information today than in the past, it does not mean you are smarter.
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I have to disagree with your conclusion. I do agree with the facts that students today are exposed to more about the World through the 24/7 internet, 24/7 cable news, 24/7 talk radio, newspapers on-line, books on-line, and thousands of magazines to cover virtually every subject. But they use those sources to trivalize rather than to educate themselves. I work for the schools and I am around students from ages 5-23 for 7 hours a day 5 days a week. Most of these student have little awareness of what is happening in the world around them. Today's youth are concerned with Twilight, Justin Bieber, Miley Cyrus, Lyndsey Lohan, Paris Hilton, rap music and their I-pods; not what's happening in the World.

Students idolize Obama and would vote for him in a minute if able to vote. During the last election many of the schools held mock elections and in most cases Obama registered 80% and above of the votes. And I bet you don't believe the Socialist union propaganda is working in the schools?
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Kids are much more aware today then ever before. I can have a somewhat intelligent conversation with my girlfriends 3 year old. I have recently taught him how to play checkers, and around 5 we will move to chess.
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"Back Then" we could think. How many people do you know who can't do anything unless some machine/computer tells them to do it.
How many now get a HS Diploma and are lucky to be able to spell their name, let alone balance a checkbook etc.
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No, they just think they are!
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In general, kids are not smarter today, as evidenced by educational research. Also, U.S. educational standing against the educational achievement of other nations continues to decline at a steady pace. In the last ********** of our standing in science, we are now down to 27th. We used to be No. 1 We also fare poorly in math ability, and other categories.
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For the most part the ******** hqs been politicised. Morst of the education has been dumber down.
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Kids today have more access to information, but it is too easy for them, so they don't do research, they do superficial surfing and consider the first item that shows up on the search engine as their research. As a school principal, I can tell you that students do not have the common sense ability to make decisions based on research and logic, but are rather taught to use emotion to make decisions. Let's not forget, in the 1980's the strongest voting bloc for Ronald Reagan was the 18-21 and 21-25 voting blocs. In 2008 the same can be said for Obama.
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This girl is very smart, but that does not make all of today's ******** on her level.
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