Dumbest Generation Yet? Maybe..

Like Bauerlein says, we may be the "dumbest generation".  As appalling as some of his accusations are, they are not without merit.  Most of us get sucked into facebook, twitter and google+ without even realizing it.  If we aren't gamers, we can sit back and stigmatize them, but in essence we are doing the same thing with social networking.  We get so caught up in whats going on online that we forget to live our lives and learn the very things that are right in front of us.  Instead of learning hands on from our parents how to cook or clean a tough stain we deem ourselves too busy.  So when we need to know something we rely on our computers, smart phones and iPads to give us the information.  Forget memorizing recipes, you can pull them up with nothing more than a few clicks.  Oh you don't understand mile markers along the highway, sure just put it in your GPS. All of the technology available today doesn't require us to think critically or even think at all.  The information is at our finger tips, instead of up in our brains.  

So with all of that said, who is to blame?

Sure some of the blame rests on our shoulders ( as Gen Y), but it doesn't seem that the finger can be pointed at only one group/generation.  In Drutmans LA Times Article, he says "... it reflects not stupidity, but a failure of the school system and of society(which is run by grown-ups)..." He couldn't be more on point. Judging this 'stupidity' from the outside things may look very two dimensional, but being in this "dumbest generation" allows for a more three-dimensional view.  It's easy for other generations to simply say 'its Gen Y's fault', since they aren't in our position they don't realize how their actions may also have affected us and shaped our generation.  Bauerlein provided us with some statistics in his interview: the younger generation spends on average six hours a week studying and 9 hours a week social networking.  This should cause a knee jerk reaction to parents; during welcoming day/orientation at Shippensburg, i know they told my parents that for each hour of instruction i should be spending at least three hours out of class studying and working with the material.  If adults were holding themselves to a higher standard and instead of trying to be our 'friends', we could learn the things older generations value.  

Technology, as i referenced above allows the continuation of our ignorance of the world around us.  We know where to find it, as the La Times article states, so we don't pay to much mind to it when we 'learn' it in class, or hear about it when we are walking down the street.  I know that we are all guilty of that, I am no exception.  I also find it hypocritical of older generations to knock the amount of time we spend on the internet though.  All of my classes now have online components, so even if i wasn't 'obsessed' with technology as is suggested by Bauerlein, I cant escape it.  The reason.tv interview mentions that the web wouldn't be bad if kids were surfing sites such as the Smithsonian Institute's, but being online for anything such as classes, only adds to the temptation to surf.  So if we shouldn't be surfing the web, they shouldn't be surrounding us with entrancing media.  

Overall, we may be the dumbest generation as of yet, but we will not remain the dumbest generation for long.  If we are uneducated in worldly happenings and household matters, our kids won't be either.  If the trend isn't stopped soon, every successive generation will be less intelligent than the last.