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Summary Of Why We Hate The Smart Kids By Grant Penrod

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In Grant Penrod 's essay, Anti-Intellectualism: Why We Hate the Smart Kids, Penrod argues that intellectualism is declining in America, not because of poor education or electronics, but because of the current public perception of intellectuals (Penrod 762).

Penrod first supports his argument with the example of an Arizona high school football team who receives praise and attention from their peers for winning the championship, while the debate team, science team, and the decathletes, who achieved the same feat, were barely recognized:

The football team from Mountain View High School won the Arizona state championship last year. Again. Unbeknownst to the vast majority of the school 's student body, so did the Science Bowl Team, the Speech and Debate Team, and the Academic Decathlon Team. The football players enjoyed the attentions of an enthralled school, complete with banners, assemblies, and even video announcements in their honor, a virtual barrage of praise and downright deification. As for the three championship academic teams, they received a combined total of ten minutes of recognition, tacked onto the beginning of a sports assembly. (759, emphasis added)

Penrod makes a strong point with this first piece of evidence. This evidence shows that not only are the academic champions given little to no attention, but that little attention is degraded by being the opener for a "sports assembly" (759). Using this, he makes the point that "intellectuals constantly see their

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