You're absolutely right. It's not that they're unintelligent, just so unmotivated. Somehow they've internalized a message which, from my experience starts taking root around fourth grade, that school is an unserious business and doesn't matter. Why? People will go into all these deep reasons like capitalism's decaying effect on society or what not, and maybe, on the periphery, it's one reason. But from what I can tell and based on my experiences, two immediate and recent events have occurred in the last twenty years when things began to unravel: the recession in 2008 (yes, caused by unbridled capitalism) and the explosion of tech devices and social media. Between angry, distracted parents being fed a diet of lies on social media about the economy and government, and depressed, neglected kids being fed innane stupidity on social media, life is becoming seemingly more absurd by the day. All this makes school and its promises of a good life seem untrustworthy if not ridiculous. What do you think?