OSA
Bible
The Streets
Press Releases
Newsletters
Articles
Legal
Links
Home

Our Purpose
Our Director
Support Us
Contact Us

email OSA
Web problems or suggestions?
Are We Smarter than a Fifth Grader?


Are we smarter than a fifth grader?
by
Bryan Kemper

Last night I was sitting on the couch with my two-year-old son after we came home from the gym.  I was looking down at him and he looked up and said, "Daddy, I like apples."  It's funny how such a simple little statement can melt your heart as a parent.  It was nothing profound, just a smile as he told me he liked apples. 

I looked up at the television and saw what triggered that statement.  It was a new game show called, Are You Smarter than a Fifth Grader?   They use apples on the set, and that is what Jaemison saw that made him tell me that he likes apples. 

Now the premise of the show is that most adults can't answer simple questions that fifth graders can answer.  If you can answer eleven first-to-fifth grade test questions you win a million dollars.  It's hilarious to see college graduates not able to do simple math or answer English questions.

Now I know how real this is because I see it every day - adults not knowing simple truths that are obvious to children.  I can take a set of fetal models or pictures of babies in the womb to any first or fifth grade class room in this country. I can ask the kids to identify what is in the picture, and they will tell me that it is a baby.  I see it all summer as parents bring their kids to the booth and, when they see the fetal models, they say, "Baby, baby," as they try to reach down to pick one up.

Now you take these same models and pictures to a group of adults and you will get the most ridiculous answers to the same question:  "a blob of tissues," "a potential life," "just a fetus." I have even heard them call the baby "a parasite" many times.  It is sad that adults have to cloud a simple truth to justify a horrific action like abortion. 

When it comes to something so simple as looking at a baby and knowing that it is a baby, we as a nation are obviously not smarter than a fifth grader.  In fact we have killed over 1/3 of the fifth graders before they ever got a chance to go to school.