Many Nations Passing U.S. in Education

I tend to agree with the statement in this article that U.S. children are over entertained and distracted.  In the U.S. we have an increasing number of families that are divided; the children live with one parent and have visitation rights with the other.  Generally, the two parents fight for their children's acceptance and want to be the "cool" parent so they buy their kids all of the "cool" electronics and gadgets.  They also allow their children to make use of their own time with gaming systems because they don't want to be the "bad parent" who tell them to do their homework instead.  In households that still have two parents, it is common to see both parents working outside of the home.  In this case, the kids may be at home by themselves and there is noone there to make sure they are finding educational things to occupy their time.  Instead, they sit in front of their gaming systems. We are focusing more of our attention on other things and have lost the true importance of our children's education. 

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/10/education/10educ.html