Back when Dave Barry was still writing a syndicated column, we used to get it in the Branson paper, and it was always fun to read. One of my favorites – years ago – was entitled “Young People:  Point Your Caps Forward and Study Your Math”.  You just kinda grin already don’t you?
It was a good, fun, light-hearted piece that had me laughing out loud several times.  I particularly enjoyed one section about kids wearing their ball caps backward, since it seemed I was reading about our own son, who was 16 at the time and deliberately wore his cap askew all the time.
To make a long (and funny) story shorter for us, Dave noted that a recent survey shows that three of every four (“almost 50 percent!” he says) high school students leave school without an understanding of math.  So, his premise was this:  “Study your math kids.  It’s important.  And, by the way, turn those ball caps around the way they’re supposed to be.”
Let’s start with the ball caps and work our way into the math. As mentioned, our son, then 16, never wore his cap ‘correctly’ – usually it was sideways!  He clearly knew it was non-functional that way, so I gave up suggesting he looked silly (even if he had been listening!).
I think it was a small statement of sorts – an individuality thing – much like his insistence that his socks not match.  Since those (with a minor exception here and there) were mostly his biggest rebellious ‘statements’, we were mostly ecstatic.  The point here is that suggesting that a ball cap is ‘supposed’ to be worn aother way was an exercise in futility, so we quickly abandoned the suggesting.
So, what’s the link to math and education?  It seems to me that suggesting to students that they study their math (or other subjects) because it’s important or because it’s ‘supposed’ to help is about as productive  as telling them to move their ball caps around, or take their cod liver oil.  (If you’re under 55, ask your (grand)parents.)
Now, I’m not suggesting that our kids don’t always do well in math because they’re rebelling.  That would be too easy.  But, I think that for the most part, our students often give up on math because it seems boring, sterile, capricious, and certainly unconnected to reality.  And that’s our (mostly teachers, but also parents’) fault.
I used to shudder when I heard someone say “I took algebra in high school and have never used it since.”  Then it dawned on me that from their perspective, they were right:  They left high school and never factored another trinomial after that.  We (my fellow math teachers and I) didn’t make it clear to them that algebra is much more (and more powerful/beautiful) than factoring trinomials and solving pool-draining problems.  We stressed skills, but not the big picture. Math’s important foundations are in fact used every day in almost every job.  When we can show students that, algebra and other forms of math begin to approach actually being fun.
So, students – wear those caps however you feel you must.  And don’t just ‘study your math’ like you’d ‘take your vitamins’.  Ask your math teacher to let you in on the adventure.  It can be as much fun as wearing your cap backwards.