I was not familiar with the 2007 Miss Teen USA pageant incident involving Lauren Caitlin Upton. So, I took it upon myself to find the YouTube snippet. One word, Wow! At least she’s pretty, as my boyfriend would say. I was shocked. Not only that this occurred but also that she would state that America needed to help other countries such as South Africa and Asia with education. What a great example of how highly educated our privileged students of the United States are.
I don’t feel that the digital age has created this evil economic superpower that is controlling our teen agers. Every generation has its share of under achievers and over achievers. According to Mark Bauerlein, studies show that young people today can’t read and understand complex documents, write grammatically correct prose, or calculate such simple things as the cost of office supplies. They don’t know how to balance a checkbook or pay a bill. If they can find the United States on the map, they can’t locate Egypt or Iraq. They can’t name their elected officials, or list the freedoms protected by the First Amendment. They don’t read for pleasure and they spend next to no time on homework (90 percent of high school students spend less than an hour a day on homework, college students not much more than that) (O'Connor, 2009).
I can appreciate Mr. Bauerlein’s viewpoint but he doesn’t state exact numbers. What segment or percentage of Americans is this applicable to and even he it is a high number does the percentage differentiate substantially enough before the digital age became dominate to determine that technology is the United States ultimate demise in a global economy ? I know he’s an educator, but he seems frustrated. In the interview he stated that his students act like their running General Motors, checking their texts and blackberry’s, face booking instead of reading (Bauerlein, 2008). In the words of my generation, he sounds like a “hata.” I would insert LOL after that but it’s not grammatically correct prose. I whole heartedly agree that in the age of no child left behind that there are indeed children and adults for that matter that are or have been left behind. But I’m a bit bothered by Mr. Bauerlein’s assumptions that if you don’t know the Venetian Republic of Late or Early Renaissance that you are lazy and ignorant (Bauerlein, 2008).
In a recent study of high-end computers and reputable learning software placed into libraries in economically diverse communities, it was found that well-off parents accompanied their children to the library and mentored them to read at or above their reading levels, to challenge themselves, and to sustain their engagement with particular learning activities, and to do so in re-active and strategic ways. Less-well-off families engaged much less in such mentoring, and consequently, their children gain less school-based knowledge from digital media and print literacy, read less well, are more passive in their activities, have less of a foundation to build on, and, thus, fall further and further behind. In contrast, the more-well-off students progressively build on their achievements. In this way, digital media — much like print literacy — can make “the rich richer and the poor poorer” (Gee, 2008)
That would mean that it’s not technology causing the barrier between education and the “dumbing down” of our society but rather poor parenting skills. Based on the above study its how effective or dare I say technologically savvy the adult mentor is in guiding the child into a direction that facilitates learning in our multi-media driven age. Which Mr. Bauerlein does bring up that his colleagues are too concerned about being relevant instead of teaching what he considers the “classics” (Bauerlein, 2008). Yet, I reject the idea that we cannot better ourselves through social media outlets. Having the ability to learn about others I believe is just as important as reading To Kill a Mockingbird. When it was published, To Kill a Mockingbird, was not only an engaging literary work but it was also relevant for its time. Now time has moved on to a younger generation. I don’t think it’s just the teenagers with the ego (Bauerlein, 2008). My thoughts are that people like Mr. Bauerline reflect a generation that wants to feel that their era is also of importance. I agree that it is. All works leading up to this decade have contributed to civilization as we know it today. And as a people we will continue to facilitate forward thinking and new ideas. I imagine Mr. Bauerline’s conflict is that he doesn’t want his learning to be for naught in a digital revolution moving at the technological speed of light.
APA Reference:
O'Connor, E. (2009). The dumbest generation: How the digital age stupefies young Americans and jeopardizes our future (or, don't trust anyone under 30), by Mark Bauerlein. New york: Jeremy P. Tarcher/penguin, 2008, 24.95 hardbound. Academic Questions, 22(2), 234-239.
Gee, J. P. (2008). Getting over the slump: Innovation strategies to promote children's learning. The Joan Ganz Cooney Center. Retrieved August 3, 2009, from www.joanganzcooneycenter.org
Bauerlein, Mark (2008) - Young Americans are the Dumbest Generation. Retrieved July 30, 2011, from .
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