Pentagon says 75% of American teens to fat, dumb and sick to serve

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   TimTurnerposted 14 years ago

   This study says that 35% of American youth from 17 to 24 cannot serve because of physical and medical issues:  http://content.usatoday.com/communities … to-serve/1
   
   The rest are too dumb or used too many drugs to qualify.
   
   The report that says with all factors 75% of American youth between the ages of 17 to 24 would not qualify to serve in the military.
   
   How sad is that.  This is the generation that will lead our country next.  But they can't get off the couch and quit playing video games.
   
   This goes back to my forum post about how I'm sick and tired of seeing overweight college students taking the elevator ONE or TWO flights of stairs.
   
   Get a clue.  You're overweight for a reason!

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      prettydarkhorseposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      the youth can only learn from their home and the educational insitution they are into, maybe it is time to take health and physical education as a subject in elementary education, as for the households, less consumption on foods rich in sugar and fats!

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   Jawa Lunkposted 14 years ago

   The weight issue is just a symptom of a greater illness...
   
   We have become an aimless, pointless, faithless, thankless, ungrateful, shameless, blame full,finger pointing, selfish, self gratifying, self-centered society who is only concerned for number 1.
   
   This is not everyone of course, but what used to be the minority, is now becoming the majority.
   
   Where is the country who got their pride from escaping tyranny, and freeing millions from bondage?
   
   Thank you for your post...I just hope someone who fits into this category reads this and decides to be different than the rest.

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      TimTurnerposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      Yeah, it's pretty scary.  And maybe that's why everyone wants healthcare reform because most people know they can't pay for their bad health habits in the near future.
      
      Everyone is too fat, lazy and unmotivated in the U.S.  It's pretty sad and our military is going to have to suffer for it.
      
      And what about fireman and police officers?  I'm sure their pool of qualified people is shrinking fast.
      
      Oh but I'm sure these people are GREAT at shoot'em up video games

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         Flightkeeperposted 14 years agoin reply to this

         Bingo!

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   kseniastoneposted 14 years ago

   It seems as though America motivates us to aim for nothing. All that we watch on the television is revolved around the negative side of things- i.e: our overwhelming obesity problem, fast food taking over, drug busts, prisons overflowing ect. And then we turn around and wonder... why is our population so inept in almost every way possible? I'm thinking it's possibly because the standards we have set are so low.
   I just went to the doctor who confirmed that 130 is on the low side for a female who is 5'7. Uh, really.. because last time I checked that's NORMAL, not "low". Even in that situation, our standards have been so lowered by the crazy number of overweights in our society that we think medium weight is the new skinny.
   75% is an insane number, and I can only imagine what those 75%'s children are going to be like. .... Oh dear.

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   R.Edwardsposted 14 years ago

   As a former soldier, I can agree on your findings first hand by witnessing "newer" soldiers come in through the years.
   
   Collectively, I served for 10 years, from '98 to '06 (two years after of reserve) and I saw the different generations from the "Be All You Can Be (in the Aarrr-my)" era, to the "Army of One" generation. Too many differnces to note, but I can say that the work ethic was far greater in the 'all you can be' era.
   
   Nowadays, the drill sargeants can't even cuss at the recruits, can't touch 'em...bunch of pansies. Everything is political and the outlook on "druggies" needs to desperately change. I was top notch in my company when it came to P.T.-Pysical Training (well among the top 5 or so in P.T. scores)and I was, and still am an avid marijuana user. In my opinion it has nothing to do with your ability to soldier, or be soldiered. So that cuts that debate at least.
   
   The "haircut" issue...the military won't break it's aged old grip on placing emphasis of the 'neat' look...fully understandable, but in this generation's defense...it's a time change. All accross the country, teenagers are more rebelious and not willing to conform to those standards, you've got to focus on what's important in today's society if you want your recruitment numbers to go up. Promises of better jobs when you return home (cause Lord knows this country doesn't give a shit about us [Veterans]), better living conditions, incentives, better pay...today's youth couldn't give a sheeeeet about fighting for a country that won't even pay them over poverty wages...because it's true, in your first few years in the services you MIGHT break the 25k/yr mark.
   
   All the focus today is on being an entertainer or athlete, if the military wants to put emphasis on serving in our forces, adhere to the youth...it's a no win situation. These aren't the olden days, not many of our youth is patriotic enough (especially when many of them have fathers, mothers etc. who are Veterans and are homeless and struggling) to give two craps about the military.
   
   You want today's youth? Appeal to them, speak to them. And maybe they'll get their arses off the couch and run around the block for a change and gear up to serve their nation.
   
   It's not a lost generation...oh contrare, just a generation looking for a better road than it's previous ones had. Raise the pay in the military, continue with the inspirational movies (We were soldiers, classic!)...just a couple of starters.
   
   As far as the 'remedial P.T.ers', well....go on a diet!

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      sneakorocksolidposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      How about better parenting? Better yet, How about a mom and a dad?

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   Beth Solomonposted 14 years ago

   It's not just "kids" that join the Army, there's a serious problem with younger kids too.  When I took my kids to swimming lessons this summer, I was surprised how many of the other kids were overweight.  And there were many who were seriously overweight.
   
   The health and wellness of a child are the responsibility of the parents.  Why aren't parents kicking kids off the couch and proving healthy snacks and foods?

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   gramon1posted 14 years ago

   This problem is very complex, and it is heading in a worse direction. There are several Hughe problems that need to be solved before things can improve.
   First, our education system is a complete failure. Many college students test at second to sixth grade level. Remedial programs have become a necessity. This tells us that the problem must start in elementary school.
   The problems with which I am familiar regarding elementary education are as follows:
   Teachers tend to be lazy. They have so many days off that they can barely cover a curriculum for the best students. So, the majority of students are left not understanding a subject before the next subject starts. After a while, the students don't understand what is going on, so they just day dream, chat, or play in class, and are passed just because the schools do not want to hold them. A failure hidden is one less problem to deal with. As i said, most teachers are lazy. But how do they become lazy?
   In addition, Teachers keep insisting on having the parents get involved in the education of the children. But most parents work the whole day, barely make ends meet, are overstressed, and have an insufficient education to help their children.
   Children need to do all their studying in school, under teacher and tutor supervision. This is happening in some schools recently. But it is taking a long time to spread. Why?  because teachers don't want the extra work. I guess working 160 to 180 days per year until 3 or 4 in the afternoon is being overworked.
   So, the question about how they become lazy still stands. Well, I'll answer it.
   When I was working on my Ph. D. in psychology, there were some times that a class I needed was not offered in the department of psychology. As a rule, if another department offered an equivalent class, we could take that class. The department of education often had equivalent classes to the ones offered by the department of psychology.
   In most psychology classes at the Ph. D. level, you must read between 200 and 400 pages per week. This trains you to work hard on a regular basis. But in the department of education, we had to study between 200 and 400 pages per semester. This trained teachers not to work too hard and still get good grades. With such training, how can we expect them to teach anyone to work hard.  The results are clear.
   As for the fat, it can all be traced to Ronald Reagan. The day he declared Ketchup a vegetable was the day he doomed future generations to be fat and undernourished. Before that, Schools had been obligated to serve vegetables in the school cafeteria. But after that, as long as there was ketchup on the table, the children were getting a "balanced meal". Therefore, as things stand, hot dogs, pizza, and hamburgers are balanced meals with vegetables. But why did ketchup became a vegetable? Because Republicans wanted to reduce food costs in schools. They needed that money for corporate welfare and war.

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      Beth Solomonposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      Wow.  A lot of statements I don't agree with here.  Just to summarize my thoughts:
      
      1. I know several teachers, and they are by no means lazy, and spend a LOT of time outside of the classroom preparing curriculum, expanding their own skills, and working with students.
      
      2.  Education (and nutrition, back to the original subject) are the responsibility of the parents.  It is the responsibility of the parent to ensure that the child is learning.  If that means extra work outside of school, being an advocate for their student, changing schools, or home schooling, so be it.

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         gramon1posted 14 years agoin reply to this

         Regarding your disagreements, I worked with HRS before it became the Department of Children and Families. I agree that some teachers are not lazy. But my experience was that too many were lazy, most were clickish and ostresized the hard working ones. They blamed most of their failures on the students, and so forth.
         With respect to the parental responsibility, I totally disagree. Children are every one's responsibility. We all pay or are rewarded by the outcome of the schools. When the school fosters criminality, we end up with a few years of high crime. When the schools fail to educate the children, we end up with masses of untrained people, contributing to the decline of the United States.
         You are probably thinking that most parents are people like you. But too many parents are not capable of helping their children even with arithmetic, spelling, or any of the basics.
         I am not willing to leave the future of my country to the parents that can't or won't help. The results can be seen. We have to change this or pay for it in the future.
         Who do you think will be supporting the older generation of retired people when you retire? It will be today's children.Do you want to take a chance leaving the education to the chidren's parents? It is your future we are talking about!

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   TimTurnerposted 14 years ago

   What I have noticed is that if the parents are overweight or obese, it seems their kids are exactly the same body type, no matter the age group.
   
   Now, some people may say it's "genetics" but I tend to believe their environment plays a stronger role.  In most genetic traits, the environment triggers a lot of genetic traits.
   
   It's rare to see a overweight kid with a skinny family or vice versa.
   
   It is definitely the parents influence and they should be to blame.

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      gramon1posted 14 years agoin reply to this

      You are right. But the problem is that the 40 year old parents were much thinner when they were 12. Their 12 year old children look now like the parents at 40, not like the parents looked at 12.

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