Beauty Is Fleeting, Dumb Is Forever

It's cool to be cute. It's cool to be dumb. It's not cool to be smart. And that's sad. Over the last couple of decades it has not been "cool" to get good grades. In fact, those students who do try to get the A's and B's are often put down by their peers. The "Cult of Stupidity" has grown and can be found in every school across the nation. And it's not limited to high schools where girls don't want to seem to be smarter than the boys around them. We can find it even in elementary schools.

Over the last couple of decades I have watched as incredibly bright young women dumbed down in order to fit in. Instead of trying to get the best grades they can, girls have been careful not to get grades better than their boyfriends and other girls. The attitude that a D is good enough has gained hold. And I am angry. Being smart should not be a social curse.

Wearing the right clothes and belonging to the right crowd is far more important to your kids than what they are learning in the classroom. For many of our children the day at school is not a place to learn, it is a place to socialize. Now, having friends and hanging out with friends is great. But that is not the main goal of the schools. The main goal is to provide your child with the skills necessary to cope with our modern world.

Yeah, I know. School, especially high school, has been a social event for decades. But it is also where our daughters prepare for their lives after high school. Doing all the girly things is expected. But when it comes time when the smartest girl in the class, the one with an IQ that approaches genius, barely passes her classes because she is ashamed to be smart, it is a crime. Lenny and Squiggy will always be with us. Dumb and Dumber should be held up to ridicule and not be cult heroes. Geeks have always been the brunt of jokes, but let's get real...these are the guys your daughters will be working for and, we hope, marrying.

Being young and cute and beautiful are fleeting. They last only a short time in our lives. By the time we are in our 20's we are worrying about getting old. In our 30's we are remembering the glory days. In our 40's we fight the effects of nature. By 60 we just give in and live with what we have. But, if we have been dumb in our teens, we will be pathetic in our 60's. Dumb is forever. Smart will be with us always.