Yup, I agree! If we want to point fingers, lets point them at people of influence who should know better. But authors of internet articles are fairly low on that totem. Leaders in the sciences, public-policymakers, educators and marketers should all be held accountable for the public perception of science.
On one hand, science should be taught as an art. It is a creative endeavor, and when well-taught it engages the mind naturally. Why aren't we asking these kids what interests them and helping them apply the appropriate science?
On the other hand, science is incredibly useful and necessary to understand the world today, and fix the bugs in our social systems that otherwise are or will cause human suffering.
I think finding a handful of heroes to fix all our problems is dumb. We are at a point where fulfilling the greatest potential of all humans should be the goal of any thoughtful person.
Let people fix their own problems, but also let them borrow your tools. And science is an amazingly cool set of tools for fixing things.