I have a bunch of very cool people at my house as I write this on a beautiful Wednesday evening.

I just finished getting them all set up at the card table after serving one of the last sunny barbecue dinners of the summer holidays.

I've gone back and forth on whether I am happy or sad for back to school over the years. Tonight I am sad.

The gang around the table is 14 and 15 year olds and they have legitimate beefs as to why going back to school is becoming boring.

It was easy when kids went back to school as 4, 5 and 6 year olds because things were simple and simply explained.

Back then your kids would drink it in without wanting or needing more. I miss those days to be honest with you.

Now, when those same kids have been social networking and meandering through the artist paradise of the Internet for several years, coming back to a curriculum that is usually same old... as in same old for years... things are not that exciting anymore.

For the most part, I am not hearing anything suggesting that going back to school is going to great and lots of fun this year.

I'm not sure that the actual curriculum is to blame. It could be that the way in which it is conveyed might need an upgrade.

Perhaps it is time to integrate the strengths and knowledge of those who may have a better understanding of how to learn in to the system.

Would it be so wrong to ask our kids to develop their own curriculum and methods for teaching it for a certain part of the school year?

I don't mean to offend the Delta School District or the Provincial Ministry of Education, but seriously... I do not see any major shift or attempt to play catch up. For the most part I see the curriculum as modestly evolved over 30 years as opposed to the major change that it probably needs.

Let's give our kids some credit and get them involved in the process because they are learning faster than anybody else right now.

Let's shake it up and dump this thing on its ear because if you are like me you will know that these guys deserve to have some input.

Let's take a really simple example - food. Would it not make sense to talk about where it comes from, and how it relates to several pressing issues of the day? Maybe as an add on to home economics or sciences?

Instead of just making the recipe why not grow the stuff that goes in to it?

Technology and the Internet are clearly in need of attention in our curriculum. The kids are already avid users of the technology so why not teach them, from an early age, to develop ideas that would thrive in the online world.

Instead of "social networking" in between classes and at lunch why don't we teach the kids how to use it in real world business and arts applications in class time?

The problem is that we don't have enough teachers who could possibly teach our kids these types of courses and that is why the current trend will likely continue for quite some time and that is a shame.