The Root of the Teenage Drug Problem

WASHINGTON, DC – Controversial author of the Fire Within believes that the current drug problem in America is a strong statement of the age in which we live, where ignorance and sensations are esteemed, not knowledge and reason. In his latest article, “Today’s Education: A Prerequisite to Self-Destruction,” he places the blame on educators.

By denying the supremacy of reason with anti-conceptual, anti-intellectual nonsense, teachers are creating disordered minds that can't integrate information conceptually. David points to the volumes of information (devoid of intellectual content and cohesion) that students must swallow in order to get through school.

"Being 'educated'," the The Fire Within author claims, "is memorizing a lot of names, dates and events that aren't linked meaningfully and correctly to any large historical overview." The result is the modern teenager--the babbling idiot--who can't intellectually integrate the "knowledge" he "learns," and who deals with his ignorance (and his mental confusion) by wiping out reality with drugs.

David believes the solution is to hire teachers with subject knowledge and a commitment to teaching thinking skills. "A healthy mind," David said, "dedicated to the joys of learning in a truly intellectual sense, is not a mind that needs to obliterate reality with drugs."

Joe David, a former teacher and author of The Fire Within, Teacher of the Year, and four other books, has taught for 14 years in public and private schools.