(Gets on soapbox):

Actually, I believe the problem is more fundamental. Children are deluded. They have every right to be, as they're pushed and told that they can become the next model, singer, basketball or whatever star. They can make millions just by playing a game or singing a song, and they can succeed at whatever they try at. They may even not even have to do that much, just be picked randomly off the street for a reality TV show and become famous. So, instead of focusing on becoming an engineer, they dream of being a rock star. Add in defunct and outdated teaching materials, teachers who don't have the drive they once did, and a society that focus' on celebrities, religious extreme acts, and on their right to not be held responsible what can you really expect? Then have them inundated with media and games that drive their attention span down and force them to sit in a chair and learn something they don't think is important to their lives? Big surprise when they turn into lazy bums who want things handed to them and complain when it isn't. Now, I'm not saying everyone should be forbidden from focusing on "fun" dreams like being a rock star, or a talent, just that there's way too much of a focus on it. Ask someone on the street who Paris Hilton is. Ask them who the President of the United States is. Ask them who won the Oscar for best picture last year. Ask them who won any of the Nobel Prizes last year. Guess which question you'll probably be unable to find anyone on the street can answer?