What is with parents these days?

[wendybeth]

Since when has the main mission of education been only the three R's? If you look back at typical education criteria from different eras, you'd find that there was so much more emphasis on the arts, history, philosophy, etc. We are incredibly difficient in these areas today; just about any exposure to what one might call a classical education is only done in some prep/private schools and in the home. I've looked at curriculum from the late 1800's to now, and we seem so far behind in so many areas. The average kid would probably flunk out of his/her grade level if we used the same tests and criteria that educators did back then, especially in the history/language/arts departments.