<p>So recently I have met many smart kids who don’t have any knowledge or ability outside of what they have learned in school. Why is this becoming so common?</p>
<p>I think that a lot of smart kids focus soo much on their school work that they don’t really try to experience the world. You don’t develop much common sense and world knowledge by going home every day and studying all night…</p>
<p>Because other than sleeping, most kids today spend all of their time in class, doing homework, participating in school sports, theater, band, orchestra, and other ECs, earning school service hours, studying for standardized tests, applying for and participating in summer school enrichment programs, etc. There is precious little exposure to anything that isn’t school related.</p>
<p>to add to the complexity, there is a difference between smart kids and high achieving kids, though it often overlaps. high achieving kids are the ones that work for and have all the ECs, grades, scores, etc. - those things which they know are necessary for academic success, correlative with future career achievement. on the other hand, there are plenty of smart people who do not follow this stereotype and have lesser academic brilliance, but include some of the most cognizant and knowledgeable people i know.</p>
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<p>No they don’t.</p>
<p>thats why i laughed at all the kids in high school who focused on school work and ECs 100% of their time. theyre all definetly smart but cant really carry on a conversation with anything thats not school/EC related. for example in 8th grade the girl who sat next to me (came to be the salutorian in HS) didnt know what the show friends was. and this was when friends was pretty much at the height of its fame.</p>
<p>all of my close friends from HS and i did our work, got involved, but still hung out together after school, and <em>god forbid</em> stayed out until 9/10pm hanging out on weeknights. weekends werent about doing work, they were about hanging out all day, drinking most nights (jr/sr year), and saving the work until sunday night. if i went through the list of where we all went its pretty impressive IMO. and one of the most common comments i got in HS was “i never knew you were smart” or “i thought cheerleaders were stupid”</p>
<p>so kids need to relax and have some fun. if you dont youre going to be LOST when you get to college. and i dont remember the studying from HS, i remember all of those good times with my best friends. so many that i cnat even count.</p>
<p>they’re autistic you jerk</p>
<p>I have a friend that is #1 in our class. If you give her something to study a week in advance she can master it, but she studies 24/7. When it comes to tests you can’t really study for (such as the ACT) or information that isn’t handed to her (such as most college classes) she freaks and does horrible (4.0 uw gpa, 19 on ACT is her HIGHEST score). She has ZERO common sense.</p>
<p>I think that the reason is because all she does is study. She knows the info but can’t apply it unless she is told exactly how to apply it. She is very sheltered and hardly ever gets out.</p>
<p>IMO, making your kid focus on only acedemics and have no social life and be very sheltered is one of the worst things a parent can do. The majority of those kids will have a very hard time living in the real world.</p>
<p>I think another thing that adds to the problem is, at my school at least, many of the top kids won’t even take music, art, or other classes that aren’t AP or Honors. They don’t want to bring down their weighted GPAs, so the only classes they take are the ones that involve studying all night.</p>
<p>My roommate graduated from MIT with a double major in Chemistry and Math.</p>
<p>He still doesn’t understand how to take the garbage out, clean the counter, clean up after his cat, and pretty much not make a mess of the entire apartment.</p>
<p>I’ve met way too many smart kids that had no sense whatsoever to make me feel bad about not being the smartest person around. I’ll take being second fiddle if it means I have a working sarcasm detector.</p>
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<p>I’d have to agree with Luminaire there. You’re probably one of those warped kids yourself if you perceive that “most people” only do those activities.</p>
<p>And I have just made a startling discovery related to this topic. According to [url=<a href=“http://www.blogthings.com/howmuchlifeexperiencedoyouhavequiz/]thisquiz[/url”>Luxury | Mansions, watches, yachts | Supercar Blondie]thisquiz[/url</a>], apparently I have experienced 64% of life, equivalent to someone in their 40s, and I’m less than half that age.</p>
<table width=“350” align=“center” border=“0” cellspacing=“0” cellpadding=“2”><tbody><tr><td bgcolor=“#EEEEEE” align=“center”>
<strong>You’ve Experienced 64% of Life</strong>
</td></tr>
<tr><td bgcolor=“#FFFFFF”>
<center><img src=“http://www.blogthingsimages.com/howmuchlifeexperiencedoyouhavequiz/life-4.jpg” height=“100” width=“100”></center>
You have all of the life experience that most adults will ever get.<br>
And unless you’re already in your 40s, you’re probably wise beyond your years.
</td></tr></tbody></table>
<div align=“center”><a href=“Luxury | Mansions, watches, yachts | Supercar Blondie”>How Much Life Experience Do You Have?</a></div>
<p>Of course, these quizzes are ******** so it doesn’t mean anything.</p>
<p>common sense isn’t common</p>
<p>i think that most kids/young adults don’t have common sense. the reason why it seems like smart and high achieving students lack common sense is because they’re expected to have common sense (since they’re smart/high achieving.).</p>
<p>common sense- knowing what to do if you don’t get a response for an email you sent</p>
<p>common sense- knowing that if it is really important, you need to follow through yourself</p>
<p>common sense- not wondering if you should prepare a resume just in case</p>
<p>common sense- figuring out what is important and what isn’t</p>
<p>so, yeah, to the OP, i agree with you!!!</p>
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lol</p>
<p>Anyway, I agree with most of what’s been said in this thread.
I’m a “smart/high achiever” and I’ve worked pretty hard to make sure I don’t become one of those people without any semblance of common sense or street smarts.</p>
<p>It annoys the hell out of me when I’m around “smart” or “high achieving” students that have no idea how to communicate with people or use a bit of common sense now. They have no idea how stupid they sound.</p>
<p>I agree with the above - but:
We always think that people who ask stupid questions (and yes, stupid questions exist) don’t have common sense. But what about the people who don’t ask questions and just assume?</p>
<p>i spent all of high school and the 1st 2 years of college being sheltered and studyinh almost 24/7. i often feel very insecure and embarrased when people talk about something i’m clueless about, such as drinking, music, etc. almost everyday, i think about how much i wish i could start my life all over again</p>
<p>You don’t have to start your life all over again…you are still young, get out there and find things you enjoy and start living it up</p>
<p>It’s too late for him.</p>
<p>I’m a self-professed geek and nerd, but I think I have as much common sense as anyone. Maybe I’m an anomaly, but most of my friends are the same way. Just because you spend a lot of time on schoolwork doesn’t mean your social skills suck or you lack street sense. Heck, I’ve earned respect from random thugs (who always seem to approach me in NYC and one of them asked me if I was in the Crips or Bloods haha).</p>
<p>Then again I’ve never been the type to spend 8 hours a day on homework, but it’s always been the top priority.</p>