The Lake Woebegon Generation

Lake Woebegon where, in the words of Garrison Keillor, "all the women are strong, all the men are good looking, and all the children are above average." He meant it as a joke, but I think it has come to be the definition of America in the 21st century. We've seen it in parents hiring people to train their child to become a pro athlete. Other parents are so eager to have their kids end up on the right track that they spend a lot of money on the 'right' school; getting their kid into the right kindergarten requires the skills of a tutor for hire as does helping your kid get A's in high school. By and large we are willing to spend time and money on our kids to ensure that they are not 'average' and, in fact, they are above average. Of course, there is an assumption that if our kids are above average we must be. Or, if we have a lot of money, we must be above average in most things.

So, it should come as no surprise that a study of college freshmen finds them with an abundance of confidence. 60% of them think that they are above average intellectually. And why shouldn't they as 48% were A students in high school. Of course, some of these students also need to take remedial courses in college, at CUNY the 'some' were 75%. And on Monday New York state reported that only 37% of their high school graduates were ready for college, let alone being above average.