Most teens don’t hate math.
They hate the lie they’ve been told about it.
The lie sounds like this:
“Just memorize the steps. Don’t worry about why you’re doing it.”
And that lie kills curiosity fast.
If you’ve ever watched your teen shut down mid-equation, or stare at a textbook like it’s written in ancient code, it’s not because the math is beyond them. It’s because they’re being forced to follow rules with no purpose.
Humans don’t do well with meaningless rules.
Give anyone—kid or adult—a list of steps with no context, and they check out.
Where the Disconnect Starts
For years, math has been taught like a cooking recipe handed down from someone who never explains the dish.
“Here are the steps. Don’t ask questions. Just do it.”
But go back in history and math is nothing like that.
Math was built by real people solving real problems:
- Farmers figuring out how to divide land
- Merchants tracking goods and losses
- Builders trying to make structures stand
- Sailors navigating oceans
- Astronomers predicting seasons and movement of planets
Math wasn’t abstract.
It was survival. Trade. Engineering. Leadership. Kingdoms rising and falling.
It meant something.
Somewhere along the way, we stripped the meaning out and kept the steps.
That’s the Math Lie.
Why Students Tune Out
A teen will work hard when they see purpose.
They will grind through hard problems if they can answer one simple question:
“Why does this matter?”
But if all they hear is, “Because it’s on the test,” or “Because you’ll need it someday,” they lose respect for the process. And honestly—they’re right to.
Imagine telling a young athlete to run drills every day but never explaining the game they’re preparing for.
They’d hate practice too.
How to Break the Lie
It’s simple. Bring the purpose back.
You don’t need to give them a full history lecture.
You just need to connect the dots.
Here’s how:
- Start with the problem before the rule.
“People invented factoring because they needed to track profits and losses without calculators.” - Show the story behind the math.
“Geometry came from trying to measure land after the Nile flooded.” - Tie it to something real.
“We use linear equations every time we compare phone plans or car payments.” - Give permission to be curious.
Teens are allowed to ask “why”… and they should.
Once they understand the reason behind the tools, the steps stop feeling like punishment and start feeling like power.
What Happens When You Remove the Lie
Students shift fast.
- Confusion turns into curiosity.
- Frustration turns into confidence.
- “I hate math” turns into “I get it now.”
Not because the math changed.
Because the story changed.
Math makes sense when the purpose makes sense.
And that’s the whole point of the Math Lie video—to help your teen reconnect the dots so math stops feeling like a maze and starts feeling like a map.
A Better Approach to Teaching Math
In this and last week’s videos, I break down the real issue behind “I hate math” and show you ways to flip the script so your teen learns with interest instead of resentment.
👉 Watch last week’s video: Your Teen Doesn’t Hate Math — They Hate This
👉 Watch this week’s video: The Math Lie Everyone Believes – But No One Explains
If you want to get your teen unstuck, start with the purpose.
Everything else becomes easier.
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