> I visited Beverly
> Hills High school when my daughter was school age and the kids there seemed about
> as disinterested in learning as you describe in your email.
>
Well, my fellow high school students back in Spain did not seem to be any more interested than Yank students in learning. There was one big difference, though: if we didn't force some interest upon themselves periodically, teachers had no qualms about flunking our sorry asses. Memorable massacres would take place, with up to 95% of grades being Fs in some classes.
It's hard to tell whether this resulted in increased interest in learning, but it definitely made it hard to escape high school without absorbing some basic knowledge.
Enrique