Article Brief Use this format for preparing the Article Brief for Conversations

Class: EDS 810.88

Student Name: Dr, Gary D. Lemmons

Reference Citation:

Fetto, J. (2003). When I was young. American Demographics, 25 (3), 8-9.

Briefly summarize the article:

Responding to an inquiry from Rick DeGraw, a reader of American Demographics, Fetto examines the issue of whether schools were better in the past than they are today. Looking at data from a number of sources, Fetto finds that students seem to be doing better in the areas of enrollment, student/teacher ration, graduation and completion rates, and earning power. Clearly, post-secondary education has made advances. While the teen pregnancy rate has been reduced the issue is still one of concern. The drug abuse issue is still in question. Frighteningly, the teen suicide rate is increasing!

What information or ideas discussed in the article were new to your body of knowledge? If there were no new information or ideas, how did the article enhance what you already knew about the subject?

The notion that schools were better in the past is not supported by the data reported in this article.

The issue of teen suicide is disturbing and must be confronted, especially the rate of suicide among white males.

________________________________________________________________________

List any examples of bias or faulty reasoning that you may have found in the article.

I did not find any blatant examples of bias or faulty reasoning.

As to matter of enrollment, I questioned whether or not 5 year olds were taken into account in the 1949-1950 numbers.

As to matters of drugs, I question the validity of the numbers.

________________________________________________________________________

Other comments:

John Fetto is a writer for American Demographics. His area of expertise is statistics. He has written about issues ranging from education to fashion with an objective of addressing the nature of American culture and the societal behavior of Americans.