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There are terms like geeks and nerds which students use in high schools usually to disgrace the person who works hard, study so that he can contribute towards the establishment and progress of his country. Anti-intellectualism exists only in America, and if we compare ourselves to other countries, a big difference can be seen that other countries promote intellectualism by promoting the kid who is called nerds in American society. Unlike other countries, American society believes that being an athlete is far more appealing than being an intellect. This is the reason that American kids prefer staying outside and playing with their friends rather than staying at home, doing homework and playing video games. This characteristic makes nerdy kids different from the others and being called abnormal. The problem arises when people show their typical reaction towards people with high intelligence. They believe that it is …show more content…
Usually, maturity comes with age. That is what happen to the people in high school as they tend to make fun of highly intellectual people more than any other student. Most of these students try to spend their lives according to the prescribed rules of being an outstanding person in the eyes of the others. They do not have enough sense to make their lives beautiful and peaceful by following what is in their mind instead of following their heart. That is the reason; they try to make fun of those who follow their heart and spend their time in doing maths and learning sciences.
Another reason behind this issue is that sport is always considered as a king in the American society. People tend to be more impressed by athletes than a scientist. This is the reason that athletes feel more appreciated than any intelligent person around. Students in sports are more popular in the whole school than any other person who spends his time at home playing video
Author and Harvard graduate, Leonid Fridman, in an excerpt of his article, America Needs Its Nerds, points out America’s anti-intellectualism. Fridman’s purpose is to inform the reader of the contempt held for the intellectually curious and call for a change in the country’s attitude. He adopts a condemning tone to make the reader aware of the issue and encourage them to change their mindset.
Amanda Ripley argues in The Atlantic in her article “The Case Against High School Sports”, that the United States place too much attention on sports rather than academics. Ripley argues that sports programs at schools should be reduced, maybe even cut out completely. She states that there are a lot of countries that outperform America on international tests, and it is because they put more of their emphasis on academics, where the United States puts more of an emphasis on athletics. Ripley says that high school sports negatively affects academics. (1). I disagree with Ripley on this topic; I think that sports are important for young kids because it teaches them very valuable life lessons and it keeps them out of trouble.
In Anti-Intellectusim: Why We Hate the Smart Kids by Grant Penrod he argues that intellectual kids are looked down on in today’s society and not respected. He makes a valid argument with good points, but he bases his opinions off of his high school experiences and the world is much different after high school. His idea of intellectual kids not being praised in society is false. This can be compared to the idea of social classes in society. The intellectual kids would be at the top of the social class ladder with the access to all the privileges.
Fridman employs a values based premise that states that America’s insignificance towards education creates degrading phrases for the intellectual through “There is something wrong with the system of values in a society that only has derogatory terms like nerd and geek for the intellectually curious and academically serious” (P.1). He expresses that American society’s values, which degrades education, results in demeaning terms to address intelligence which is wrong since intellectuals don’t deserve to be classified negatively for their efforts in studying. He expresses that educated people being offensively labeled due to American society’s values of minoring education is wrong, in order for readers of the New York Times to appreciate intellectuals since their success in studying is not worth being degraded due to it being in the field of education. Next, he utilizes a sociological base premise that conveys America's culture of supporting non education through “For America’s sake, the anti-intellectual values that pervade our society must be fought” (P.6.). This indicates the culture of America is wrong since promoting uneducated citizens regards America as a incompetent country that has unqualified leadership due to unscholarly decisions. Fridman states that American culture advocating unintelligence is wrong in order for readers of the New York Times to appreciate the intellectuals since they
The nerd trope is ubiquitous to American media and culture. Usually, it’s an academically ambitious kid who has beyond thick glasses, tucked pants, and acne: a target. Leonid Fridman takes on this stereotype in “America Needs Its Nerds.” Fridman condemns America’s neglect and contempt for intellect. He argues that America’s perspective is self-destructive through the use of definition, example, and patriotism.
For example, Fridman compares athletes to nerds in his quote, “Nerds are ostracized while athletes are idolized.” Fridman is explaining how kids who prefer to do academic activities compared to playing sports, later become social outcasts. He also compares other countries views of their nerds to how America views our nerds. For instance, Fridman explains to the reader how in other nations, “.... A kid who studies hard is lauded and held up an an example to other students.” While in America, athletics are held above academics on any given day. Also, Fridman uses elite professions in other countries to elite professions in America. In other countries, jobs such as being a professor in a university are one of the most rewarding jobs one can have. But in America, Fridman states, “Average professional ball players are much more respected and better paid than faculty members of the best universities.” Overall, Fridman is saying that anti-intellectualism in America is a problem and it needs to
School is a frightening place. It is broken down into multiple social ranks, and many children find themselves at the bottom. With children trying to work their way to the top of the food chain, the actual learning portion is either set aside or forgotten altogether. In Grant Penrod’s essay, Anti-Intellectualism: Why We Hate the Smart Kids, he explains how modern children are growing to dislike intellectual children. The varying social ranks teach children to ignore low grades and try to be popular in school. Anti-Intellectualism is a trend which is becoming increasingly popular throughout the world. People who only strive to be popular tend to tease intellectuals, but this is not half of the story. If the only goal children have in school
Athletics in American schools have always been controversial for many reasons. Some of these reasons include health concerns, safety precautions, and academic significance. Daniel H. Bowen and Colin Hitt wrote an article titled, “High-School Sports Aren’t Killing Academics” to present the factors of positive correlation between success in athletics and academics. I believe that athletics in high schools not only benefit students socially, but also academically.
American culture has evolved, and Society tends to ostracize people for their intelligence, and our culture has been giving these intellectuals derogatory names like nerd and geek. Leonid Fridman believes that these anti- intellectual values that pervade our society must be fought and should stop for the sake of America. The author supports this position in the passage “America Needs It’s Nerds” through the use of rhetoric by giving definitions of terms such as geek, offering comparisons through juxtaposition, adding a tone shift, and posing rhetorical questions to the reader.
It receives much more attention than academics. Football players are often treated like celebrities, yielding confidence, and at the same time creating pressure. High school sports are approached with clashing opinions. Some of these opinions are positive, and supportive of athletics. “Athleticism, among many activities, offers teens a physical outlet to express their troubles, anger, emotions, and other feelings” (Chen 1).
The realm of education tends to shine a negative light on younger generations labeling them as menace to society and ultimately excluding them without fair opportunity. Every child is different; some may require more attention from teachers than others. Schools tend to forget this unique characteristic of human life once standardized testing and grading comes into the equation.
Why street smart students are considered anti intellectual in academic area? In the article “Hidden Intellectualism” by Gerald Graff, he accounts the idea that street smart students are way more smarted than book smarts. He explains that street smart student will be able to solve an issue much faster than book smart because of his/her previous experience. According to author, the problems with considering street smarts as anti intellectual are they are actually much smarter that book smart students, they don’t equal opportunity , and schools along with colleges never challenge their mind get them to succeed in academic work.
Maturity is not something that happens overnight. Maturity comes through trial and error; it’s a process which has to be perfected. Life throws curveballs and there are always multiple ways to deal with the situations. Being mature is making the right choices and knowing right from wrong.
A teacher gives a student the gift of knowledge, teaching them day by day helping the student almost all the time. Giving the student the choice to do something great with their life. Whether or not the student decides to do something with this chance is up to them. On the other hand more sports player have little or no interaction with their fans. The most interaction some sports players have with their younger fans is through charity events, or by being paid to sign autographs. So why are sports players so much more glorified than teachers.
Now, with that being said, academics does need to be significantly more prominent than athletics is. It’s like doing homework; if all of a student’s time after school is spent relaxing, then no homework will get done and their grade may suffer, whereas if they spend all of their time doing homework and never take a break, they’ll most