Our Evolving Situation....
http://news.yahoo.com/s/time/20081107/us_time/shouldkidsbeabletograduateafter10thgrade
When I was a kid, I had a lot of European pen pals, their letters arriving scrawled on almost weightless translucent paper to save postal costs, mine to them on 3 ring notebook paper. We discussed many subjects, as kids curious about each others country and lifestyles and viewpoints are wont to do.
Even then, they all graduated at 16, some going to tech schools afterwards, some on the University, others into trades and apprenticeships. The deciding factor was a much feared, much prepared for aptitude test at age 12 that determined your career path and curriculum at school for the next 4 years.
Along with this came an earlier expectation by their families of assumption of greater responsibility and behavior earlier than was the custom here in The States. And most stepped up to that expectation, and those people received various intangible social and personal rewards that they spoke of in their letters.
So, from that perspective, I’m fascinated that the US seems to be adopting more and more characteristics that I had deemed “European”, like this starting trend towards earlier graduation, an apparent leaning towards a more generic and affordable Medicare/Medicaid program, a leaning towards a more universal system of the same, and most surprising, the first tentative steps towards partial, yet temporary, government ownership in insurance and banking firms.
Maybe it’s a sign of the times in an ever shrinking world, or a symptom of accommodation with the limitations of a mature and somewhat settling empire, or maybe just the American contingency reaction to a crisis just starting to break in our society (and how often have we done that successfully in our past?).
Still, it’s interesting to see happening here, so many years after my pen pals remarked on the differences between European and American outlooks and cultures! I just try to keep an open mind and keep perspective!