Another social matter is that adult students are often patronized, treated as if they were children. They are looked upon as if they were mentally subnormal, or as if they were a herd to be milked and pastured. Actually, in English-speaking countries many government-sponsored ESL classes can be dumping grounds for adults with low IQs, trapped forever in a low-budget limbo, and the classroom activities are then nothing more than a time-filler.