Not long ago, a friend and I were discussing how some of the the things we used to enjoy - the tools we used to unwind and relax - didn't seem to be working as well anymore. In particular, reading; both voracious readers, we no longer seemed able to lose ourselves in a book anymore.
Not that we don't read - in the last several months we've both read several books for sheer enjoyment, a few others for intellectual stimulation, and a daily ingestion of news and views from all places and all kinds. In addition to news, we both read a little bit of some book daily, too. But that sense of immersion, we agreed, seems almost impossible to grasp. We pick up a book. We read a few pages. And we put it down. Or we pick up a book and soldier on, but the pages don't provide the insulation against the outside world that they once did. We hear kids playing, traffic outside, the birds in the yard - and the background of our own thoughts, seperate and distinct from the story we're enjoying.
Perhaps it was one of those unspoken signs of approaching middle age, we mused. After all, we've spent our 20s and 30s learning how to multi-task, keep several trains of thought moving and balls in the air all at once. Is it any wonder that our minds, so well trained to do so, can't as easily be coaxed into a mental "retreat"?
And then yesterday, I read the cover story in this month's The Atlantic. "Is Google Making Us Stoopid?" the headline screams. To which I mentally responded, "I can believe that." and picked up the magazine two weeks ago. The fact that it's taken me two weeks, in spite of 5 hours of plane travel, four days of vacation and two weekends to actually read the damn thing proves the point the article makes. Go read it. If it doesn't describe you, or bits of you, I will be surprised.
And then this morning, I read a news story (online of course) about Mark Bauerlein's new book, The Dumbest Generation: How the Digital Age Stupefies Young Americans and Jeopardizes Our Future, Or, Don't Trust Anyone Under 30. An mildly offensive title, to be sure, but one that rings true, and echoes another conversation I had recently about what I believe will - if it already hasn't - make my children's generation very different from the ones that came before. And with all the self-awareness I can muster, I must admit - I'll likely buy the book, quite soon, and then take unforgiveably long to read it.
Irony upon irony, 'til it's piled higher than my head - the decision to blog my thoughts came only after I looked for, and failed to find, a link that would allow me to Facebook the article.
These concerns are real, and it is once again, perhaps, Generation X caught squarely in the middle. We're not the "old fogies" - not quite - who don't understand all this "Internet Stuff." We're young enough to not be frightened and baffled by the concept and mechanics of uploading our photos to Facebook, but old enough to know that it's probably a good idea to read the Terms of Service before doing so. To use Bauerlein's analogy, we're young enough to appreciate the fun to be had in this virtual school cafeteria, but old enough to realize that the library can be just as stimulating.
So, what of the ones coming up behind us (Generation X), those teens and twenty-somethings who, when we're really old, are supposed to be our doctors and electricians and engineers? These are the kids who will, for good or for ill, be taking care of us some day. They're bright, no question. But it would be nice to know that they are just as capable of changing a tire as they are of changing a sound card.
And that's the problem I have with the Atlantic article and what I know of the book - there are few solutions offered. But, idealist that I am, I'd like to think that there is something we could do. Short of wishing there could be a blackout every few months, I'm not sure what that could be.
There are a few things I'd like to point out.
-Yes, the internet is making many people lazy. Much lazier than they should be. But it's part of our lives now, and it is used for some good. Like you said - you IM'd your daughter every night she was away, and you blog.
-I am willing to bet that the ones caught "squarely in the middle" 20 years ago - your parents, were thinking a lot of the same things when you were into 80's metal or the Brat Pack. They probably often thought "How is this kid ever going to do anything but work at a fast food place? Who is going to do my surgery and teach my grandchildren?" But, they were wrong. Because in the end, you shaped up.
-We are learning practical things. We are learning more than most students in the 80s ever did. As one of my grade nine teachers put it: "The curriculum in most of your classes in grade nine is pretty much the same as what your parents learned in grade twelve." And some of us choose to learn about sound cards, while some of us still choose to learn to sew, or fix a car, or make smores over a bunsen burner. The basics are still being taught, its just that now there's so much more for us to learn about.
-Also, some of us CAN put together a full and complete sentence, with punctuation and everything.
So I agree with the author on only the 8th point - we're young. You weren't doctors or engineers at 16, either. Just give it time.
:)
Posted by: middlechild | August 19, 2008 at 10:55 PM
Well said oh wise middlechild.
I do think that many of your generation are taking the time to learn many different things, but too many are not. Too many are focused on the "techie" end of things, and at some point, something's gotta give. Yesterday Bug and I talked about the use of calculators. She was encouraged to use them..in FIRST GRADE. Shouldn't we be teaching the "real" way first, and then showing our children the electronic way after?
Each parental generation had something to "worry" about when it came to their kids....I just don't think that previous concerns were as scary as the ones we face today.
I long for the days that I could get lost in a good book. I see my children being able to do it, and i gaze longingly at that lost skill. Maybe it won't be too hard to get back. After all, we had to learn how to do it once..can't we teach ourselves again?
Posted by: kim | August 20, 2008 at 05:59 AM
I find Mark Bauerlin's observations offensive. I agree with Middle Child's take on them -- the 8th one is correct and normal. The other seven are aimed only at inciting a riot (or rather selling his book by burning down connections between generations rather than attempting to improve them).
I believe today's generation are on information overload. They are learning more at a younger age. Does Bug need a calculator in first grade? Yes because first grade now involves Algebra (finding x). The idea is to teach them a little bit of everything every year and to build a tiny bit on all of that knowledge each year.
As a K-12 student, I was "advanced" and took pre-algebra in 8th grade. My own children are struggling with these same concepts in elementary school right alongside learning multiplication and division.
A better companion piece to the Atlantic's article is this Slate.com article: http://www.slate.com/id/2193552/
By the way, I had already planned to use both the Atlantic and Slate articles in my college class this fall. I will have to debate whether I use the book you linked to. It would be a good example of logical fallacies at work....
Linda
Posted by: Linda Sherwood | August 24, 2008 at 09:09 AM
Last semester, for my major paper, my prof made us have six sources for the paper - and only two could be internet. I delved into the stacks and searched microfiche until my eyes blurred.
I skim when I read. If it's longer than four paragraphs, I tend to just stop. Sometimes I'll read the first and the last, as that is where the summaries lie. I don't think we're learning more at a younger age. I think we're being babied. I had a math teacher in grade ten who would take all the calculators away until you had done it by hand - and then gave back the calculators - just to make sure we could do it without the aid of a computer. Sometimes I'd rather scratch it out on a post-it than punch buttons. I think like that though.
The statistics about children and teens being "lazy" or "dumb" is ridiculous. They're lazy and dumb because it's "too mean" to hold a child back. They won't skip kids a grade, and they won't fail them, unless requested by the parent - and what parent wants to admit their kid needs to be held back?
I can still get lost in a book. I can read and read and read. It may take me longer, plagued by the constant interruptions that go on around me, but I still get lost and bring images to mind based on the words I'm reading.
I agree with Kim. There are so many opportunities to learn and so many things to learn about, but parents and children alike jump at the new-age, the techie end of the spectrum.
If I was allowed to have a library card, I'd have one. If I have money and I'm at the mall, 90% of the time I'll come home with a book. But middle child (the one with the tan from her iTouch) and I, we're of a different cloth. We like to read, to learn, to immerse ourselves in information.
Take away the internet. I'll still get my news every day. But the paper online is free, and the one that comes to the door costs me money. Why pay when it's free?
I think Bauerlein is right. He's up front and callous and cynical. But he's right, to a sense. Atleast maybe the shock of what he's saying will force some parents to shut off the internet and shove a book in their kids' hands instead.
Posted by: Angelica | August 24, 2008 at 12:59 PM
But, as I digressed there, my prof was smart. He forced me to look at other sources. Teachers and parents should do the same.
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It has been almost a month....
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Posted by: kim | October 06, 2008 at 09:52 PM
We can't change a tire? Hun, we will probably have 9-10 different careers and professions before we reach 40, hell, I'm in my late 20's and I'm already on serious profession number four thanks to all the offshoring.
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Posted by: Dissertations Writing | February 24, 2010 at 11:01 AM
A lot of today's generation only learn what they learn in school, so they don't have life skills like doing laundry, changing a flat tire, etc. There really should be classes in school that teach life skills. There's only so much "real world experience" you can learn in a teaching setting. Also, I think the generations have just changed where we're a faster paced culture and enjoy skimming over reading.
Posted by: Kirill | July 05, 2010 at 09:49 AM
I can still get lost in a book. I can read and read and read. It may take me longer, plagued by the constant interruptions that go on around me, but I still get lost and bring images to mind based on the words I'm reading.
I agree with Kim. There are so many opportunities to learn and so many things to learn about, but parents and children alike jump at the new-age, the techie end of the spectrum.
Posted by: air jordan 1 | October 29, 2010 at 06:21 PM
Unfortunately, our generation is different from previous ... we are growing in technical terms, but lose the taste of life ...:-(
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Posted by: Kally | November 07, 2011 at 04:18 AM
I do not know what to say ... on the one hand, it always seems that the generation that had been before, much smarter, and on the other, all the scientific developments, achievements and technical process of happening now in our time!
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