Did everyone seem stupid as you were growing up?
I don't think it's an intelligence issue. I think it's a priority from parents issue.
I graduated high school in 1997. Even then, I remember when I saw my final report card with the amount of people graduating and I clearly remember that only half of my class from 1997 graduated. It kind of ruined my day cause I found out prior to graduating and remember wondering who the half of the 700 person senior class wasn't going to graduate. No one gave any indication but I do remember a shit ton of people missing from the cap and gown ceremony.
Anyway, these problems start when they're in grade school and compound throughout their school career. By the time they reach 12th grade, they're embarrassed and rarely show up cause they know they won't graduate. We also have alot of people that drop out before 12th grade. When things were better here in Vegas, people didn't care so much about school because they know they could work at the casinos and make a decent living without a high school diploma. But when the recession happened the people that were getting hired into any job worth something was people with alot of experience, and people with degrees. Trying to find work with a diploma or even GED gets you fry cook or corner store worker, or if you're lucky, working in a casino doing some level job...As it should.
We have a very high transit population in Vegas so that certainly contributes to it. In addition, you really can't understand it but living in Vegas is obviously very different from living in other places in the states. Because of this and it being a 24 hour town, the children suffer.
During the recession we made the top of alot of undesirable list. Las Vegas was the #1 city of suicides, divorce, housing foreclosure, high school drop outs, teen pregnancy, unemployment, and were near the top for murders per capita (#3) this year, drug use, and illegal prostitution. Lets not forget the gambling problems alot of the schmucks have and machines are everywhere here.
This place sets you up to fail. It can and will eat you up before you know it. BUT it is my birthplace, and a significant number of family and all my childhood and high school friends are here.
When the parents aren't doing well with all the distractions I told you about, the kids don't and won't most of the time.
