So often in life we are forced to learn things without really understanding why. It's the classic "wax on, wax off" mantra from The Karate Kid; you spend some amount of time learning or doing something that doesn't seem to have any relevance, and then one day your teacher shows you how important it is.

Now, in some ways I kind of like this philosophy. It instills a sense of discipline, especially in younger students, that teaches them to enjoy the process of learning rather than just the end result.

But, in many cases, I don't think it is executed properly. Too often students act just like Daniel from The Karate Kid and get discouraged by their "pointless" endeavors. They give up on their training because they don't see how their struggles relate to the end goal.

This is most common in grade school mathematics. Math is probably the most likely subject for a young boy or girl to get frustrated with and give up entirely once they have the freedom to do so. They don't see the importance of knowing how to solve the quadratic formula or how to find the unknown length of one side of a triangle. To them it is just lines, numbers and letters on a paper, with no meaning. They think this because that's all math has ever been to them: an array of problems of unknown origin that they must solve in order to get an A. Sure, sometimes they work word problems into math textbooks, but usually kids still don't see the need for solving these problems.

Take, in contrast, something like learning to pilot an airplane. If you ever want to learn to fly a plane, you do not sit in a classroom for weeks learning dry material that means nothing to you. Usually, your instructor will sit down with you and maybe talk for an hour about the basics of piloting a plane, and then...you fly. The instructor puts you in the left seat, tells you to take the controls, and you fly the plane.

Let me reiterate: you sit in the cockpit, the plane takes off, and you are given complete control over a flying metal gas tank...on your first lesson.

"Don't worry, it's just like riding a bike...a bike that can turn into a twisted array of burning metal if something goes wrong."
Photo Credit: Bill Larkins

And you know what, this works. After that first flight and all your subsequent flights, you study all those "dry" subjects like aerodynamics, weather, navigation, and emergency procedures with a new found vigor. You've seen why all these things are important, because you experienced it firsthand.

Take another example from my life: stretching. I'm a guy, so naturally I don't really like stretching. It won't make my biceps bigger, so why bother? That was a philosophy I've had for most of my life, until I recently started doing weightlifting exercises such as squats and deadlifts, two lifts I avoided like the plague up to this point.

Because I avoided these things like the plague for most of my life, I found that executing them properly was no trivial task. I found that my body just didn't seem to want to sink into the natural squatting position, and it was messing with my progress (and causing me all sorts of aches and pains). I discovered that I needed to stretch, because tight muscles were inhibiting me from getting stronger!

For me, I needed a slap in the face that made it really obvious as to why I should do something like stretch. Sure, I've always known that stretching is good for you and blah blah blah, but there is a difference between knowing something and living it. Now I stretch every night, because if I don't then I won't be able to squat as well, and my muscles get super sore.

Sometimes people need this kick in the pants, the dosage of reality that makes it clear why they are learning something. It isn't always easy to do this, but in my mind you have to try to find ways to let your students see the fruits of their labor in a clear context.

Back to math being a common "least favorite" subject. This is an issue that really resonates with me and something that I really wish we would do more as a society to prevent. America is falling behind in terms of education in the STEM fields (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) and the long term implications are not good for us. Now I don't want to go on too much of a nationalistic rant, but in the past century America has helped with some pretty revolutionary technological gains, and they were all done by people that enjoyed math. If the next generations lose the will to learn math, then say goodbye to future scientists and engineers who will keep making cool things for us (and say hello to other countries pushing us around).

That makes sense, but how can you show a 10 year old boy that one day his knowledge of math can help him build something really cool?

If you are a parent, then you can start by simply doing some research of your own and finding people from history who invented and discovered things, and show your kids how they needed math to do so. And one thing I never want to hear you do: math bashing.

When I think back to my youth, I distinctly recall many times when I heard adults around me say something to the effect of a sarcastic "yeah, I use that all the time" when referring to some sort of math that went beyond simple arithmetic. Most of the time they would say things like this to young kids who may have been struggling or expressing their dislike for math in a way to make them feel better. "Don't worry, once you finish school, you'll never need to use that again."

Of course, they aren't lying. They haven't had to use it, because they probably studied some sort of "History of Renaissance Painters" with a minor in "Drunk Basket Weaving" while in college (I went to an engineering school so I don't really know what people did at liberal arts colleges).

Yes, advanced math is completely avoidable. Hell, with calculators, basic math is mostly avoidable as well. If you don't wanna do it once you leave the confines of standard school curricula, you don't have to. But is that the message we should be instilling in bright young minds when they experience their first bout of dislike with math? Should we tell them to just tough it out until they graduate high school and then get as far away from math as they possibly can in college?

No! Tell them that math is important! If you aren't sure why, then think about this: you know those cool things like, I don't know, computers, the internet, cars, robots, buildings that don't collapse, airplanes, cell phones, etc. You like those things, don't you? You want those things to keep getting better and neater, don't you? Well guess what, those were all meticulously designed by engineers and scientists who, you guessed it, used a lot of math to do so.

If we keep subtly telling our nation's youth to avoid math, then we won't have a next generation of scientists and engineers who will make more cool things for us, and our country will become one massive pile of debt because we have ceased to make anything useful (or has that already happened?).

So go tell kids that math is important! For 'Murica!