Why do students hate math?

Question

Is there a reason why so many people hate math, and openly admit that they are the "worst possible person in math"

they seem to wear that fact as a badge of Honor..
who would ever admit to Not being able to Read?.. Math is an essential subject to maintain our modern way of life. without math, not much would be possible.

Answer 1

Society. People get locked into their mentalities at an early age, and just discussing "hating math" perpetuates the sentiment. My sister insists she's bad at math, but she's better than a lot of the people in her classes. She's going to take Calculus, for goodness sake.....



People say it with pride because who would say it with shame?..... You don't announce something you aren't proud of, so you make a joke of it and yourself and announce that instead. I can't spell -- I'll tell you that anytime unless you're really condescending about it, in which case I'll shut up right tight. Realistically, I can probably spell much better than most, but telling you I can't excuses any mistakes I might make while you're watching.

Answer 2

I Hate Math

Answer 3

Well, a lot of people struggle with math, and then when they get bad on the tests or assignments, they don't want to be seen as stupid, so they just say that they're teacher's terrible. There are also students who are not so good at the subject, and have absolutely no drive to achieve any more than they are, so when the teacher gives them extra homework, or keep them after class to help them etc, they find it annoying, and thus say the teacher's mean and unreasonable for keeping them after class etc. As for the people wishing you bad luck on contests etc, they just most likely don't understand math the way you do. You may see it as enjoyable, but they see it as difficult, and because they don't have a talent for math, and it takes them a long time to grasp a concept, they hate you for being able to understand something quickly. Well maybe not hate, but they're jealous/angry about it. Also, since they have absolutely no interest in math and think of it as boring, they think that you must be "nerdy" if you actually like the subject. Lucky for me, at my school grades and things don't count that much, and to most people, over-achieving is something to applaud instead of something to be frowned upon.....

Answer 4

I cannot answer for "many people," but I had the ill luck to encounter several frightening math teachers as a kid. Most of what I know about math, I learned as an adult. It is not true that the subject in general attracts people with unfortunate personalities - I worked for many years for a test publisher, and we had math content specialists who were top-notch thinkers and fine human beings. But I had at least three math teachers with personalities that would have stopped a rattlesnake in its tracks and sent it scuttling under the nearest rock.

Answer 5

My pet theory is that it is taught badly by most math teachers... but then, its probably because many of them don't like it either!



I think also it is because, unlike some subjects where there are "no wrong answers", math has very precise answers, so when you miss the target even by one number, it feels like a harsher failure than in other kinds of subjects. The rules are so tight, so merciless.



There's nothing like a math test with red X's all down one side to make a kid feel really dumb! and everyone has felt this, because learning a new idea in math always starts with a big bunch of wrong answers as you learn.

Answer 6

If u had good basics and some body taught u in the beginning then u never hate it.

Hating is just because u had poor basics.U don't study maths well in the beginning.



Start studying from the beginning is impossible.so it's very difficult for u.



Like other subjects,there is no need of core basics.You can start from any where.That's the difference which makes maths tougher.

Answer 7

My sister hated math, and refused to learn key aspects of it. Unfortunately, she got a degree in Elementary Education,and, of course a license to teach. Aspiring teachers are taught that it is not necessary to know the subject they are teaching. Therefore she was considered qualified to teach math to children. In how many of her students did she inspire an understanding of or a love for math? Answer: none. She should have taught jr. high or high school, as she is good at teaching other subjects.

Answer 8

I don't wear it as a badge of honor, I try to hide the fact I don't understand it. Maybe it was all the math teachers who look down their noses at you when you don't understand.



I work in math all day long with my job and know it well enough. Helping my son with homework math is a horse of a different color.

Answer 9

It is the way the school system is built. In Japan, kids are drilled in Math at an early age so later on it is only second nature.. Here, they are drilled on history nd how to pay taxes..so when it comes to math..it just gets hard and boring since our minds are not programed that way. And people thought Hitler was one of the few with mind control huh?? Less people know math = more of the few with more $$ and control.

Answer 10

well i'm a student and i hate math because it is sometimes hard and that is my main subject that is my weakness because it is to much problem solving but that's what i have to go through in order to get my education and so i can succeed and move on so i can get a good job house and good money so all the problem solving is worth it

Answer 11

Why is it that people always equate mathematics with numbers??



Get it straight, people: Mathematics has **NOTHING** to do with numbers. Numbers belong to the domain of arithemetic. At best, numbers only provide a convenient source of examples for some mathematical concepts.



Mathematics is concerned with collections of things, relationships between these things, and relationships which may (or may not) exist between collections of things. Mathematics, at it's core, consists of set theory and logic. The fact that most fundamental mathematical concepts can be 'mapped' onto the integers, the rationals, the reals, the complexes, the hypercomplexes (oops.... Did that last one scare you? Sorry 'bout that ☺) and that mathematical concepts when applied to 'numbers' give us a huge amount of power to discuss and understand the Universe in which we live is, as William Thomson (Lord Kelvin) so nicely put it, "A mystery which we do not understand, and a debt that we will probably never be able to repay."





Doug

Answer 12

Some people just don't like numbers. I know that I am not very good at math, and I will admit it. I am not a great reader, but again I am not afraid to admit that. Some people just need a little extra push to see that math is nothing but numbers.

Answer 13

Not everyone does. My husband enjoys math and aspires to being a metallurgical engineer. He starts school in January. I will openly admit to being less skilled in math, not with pride, but with acceptance. I know my strenghs and weaknesses and accept them. Math is not one of my strenghs, those lie in the arts.

Answer 14

People hate math because most teachers suck at teaching it. The textbooks are lame, the problems are stupid, and the school boards who approve these inane methods are clueless. Math could be interesting, but no one wants to make it interesting because they're afraid of the people in the community who keep shouting "Back to Basics!" teaching methods. K-12 math & science education in this country makes me sick.

Answer 15

I hated history - and loved maths.



The history teacher was lousy. How can you make such an interesting and relevant subject so boring...



I liked solving puzzles, maths was just another puzzle. Irrelevant to me at the time, but fun.



If maths was seen to be more relevant it might be more interesting.



If my history teacher had taught history as a puzzle to be solved rather than dates and facts to be memorized, I may have found it more interesting...

Answer 16

There are only a few teachers who make math fun and interesting

Answer 17

Simply cause they dont understand it.

Yes people do admit that they cant read or do math very well. It's better to admit it then to deny it!

Why do you ask questions like this one?

Answer 18

they don't understand and don't want to look incompetent, so they put it off as disliking math or using the excuse "i'm never going to have to use this stuff."

Answer 19

i actually love math i find it quite easy but i think some students hate math because so many numbers and terms =] but you get used to it...... i hate biology!!

Answer 20

Kids like to use their creativity. They like to draw pictures, color and do arts and crafts. Unfortunately, math and science have zero creativity. It's very exact and to the point. There's no room for going astray.

Answer 21

Some of the concepts are hard to grasp

Answer 22

It makes me think that they may be a bit lazy math requires thinking

Answer 23

for me , i love math very much . i enjoy solving mathmatical problem and i enjoy teaching math to my friends .

Answer 24

I don't hate math, I'm just not that good at it. Ok.

Answer 25

Because its boring. Just numbers. And since they arnt interested they probaly dont try hard enough to do well.



;)

Answer 26

Some students dislike math because they don't have the brain capacity to compute the numbers or they don't like doing it I'm great at math but i never did like it I didnt like it because it was to time consuming but i like being good at it because my check book has never been messed up and my combo of photographic memory and math i can now win almost all of the casino games im currently kicked out of 3 casinos in Jersey (taj mahal trump and hilton) and 1 in vegas (taj mahal)

Answer 27

its important i find it really easy and very logical...but harder to put off unlike english. it just requires more thinking than most are willing to do. they r just l-a-z-y!

Answer 28

Cause they are not very good at it?

Answer 29

Yes.

It is because they have to use what brainpower they have

Answer 30

math can sometimes be tedious

Answer 31

who told u so

Answer 32

they don't know better.

Answer 33

b/c it actually takes work.....and you have too think....

Answer 34

one word....boring!!!