Studies show that American students still struggle in the areas of critical thinking and complex reasoning. Why is this? Because the lessons schools use to develop these skills are dreadfully boring. Consider a typical question like this:
“A train leaves Philadelphia, heading west at 60 mph. Another leaves Harrisburg at the same time, heading east at 80 mph. How long will it take for the two trains to pass each other?”
Who cares, that’s boring. Maybe we’d give a damn if they crashed into each other. Joe Biden likes trains, go ask him.
Fortunately, MTV has stepped in to fill this void with its new show Buckwild. The show will follow nine twenty-somethings from a small West Virginia town as they cavort, swear, and party.
Now we’re getting somewhere. Imagine the types of critical reasoning questions that could be presented to a class of students watching a rerun of Buckwild:
First Question: Bucky’s blood alcohol count is currently .06. It takes the human body one hour to rid itself of the alcohol contained in one 12 ounce beer. If Bucky consumes two forty-ouncers over the next three hours, will he still be able to drive his three-wheeler across the log bridge?
Next Question: Robbie’s jacked-up truck can go 40 mph at top speed. The current is currently carrying Bucky downstream at 20 mph. If Robbie spends the next ten minutes shooting bullets at a junker car, does he still have enough time to rescue Bucky at the next bridge, which is three miles downstream?
Final Question: Bucky’s right thigh is 2 feet long. His right shin is 1.5 feet long. Since Bucky’s thigh and shin now form a perfect right angle, what is the straight-line distance between his hip and his heel?
Yes, these reality shows are nasty, exploitive things whose days are numbered. But until the glorious day they disappear, they could be a great educational resource. We’ve just failed to realize this, until now. Onward!
Agreed, education is not taught properly at all, at all but if I was told that the Philadelphia train was carrying two members of Bon Jovi and the Harrisburg train was carrying the rest of Bon Jovi, I would teach myself how to remove the passengers from the trains, keep Bon Jovi on the trains and then crash the trains!
That’s the extra credit question, for the AP students.
We can always count on MTV to give our children that extra bit of education and class they sometimes lack. 🙂