No I don’t blame the schools for the fact that geeks are not seen as cool. And I disagree that it’s the mere act of trying to be smart that makes a kid geeky - it’s the ones that look like being smart is no hard work that most kids dislike - and usually brand a know-it-all. I imagine most of it is insecurity.
I don’t actually blame the schools at all for the fact that our children aren’t as well educated as (IMHO) they should be. I blame society in general, for not putting that much value in a decent education. We pay our star athletes millions of dollars each, and our teachers are severely underpaid. I make more than most teachers, and while I’m not going to volunteer for a pay cut, I definitely feel any teacher should make more than I do. I think teachers should be the highest paid profession in the nation. But I think the mere fact that celebrity status is the Thing, and a minority values intelligence more than looks is one of the biggest downfalls of this country.
If we, as a society, started looking at education as one of the most important things in this country, and started making governmental changes and decisions with that goal in mind, this country could only improve.