Reflection Post

This class certainly got me thinking, and opened up my mind a little from my prejudices. Before I read this book I was convinced that kids were already too “wired” and that the last thing our society needed was giving kids even more time on the computer and in front of the television and games. After all I’m a proponent of getting kids outdoors.
Getting kids outdoors became even more important to me after reading Richard Louv’s book “Last Child in the Woods – Saving Our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder” that draws our attention to the absence of nature in the lives of today’s wired generation and links this to some of the most disturbing childhood trends: the rise in obesity, attention disorders, and depression. It’s a fact - children in the United States are spending more and more time indoors nowadays due to televisions, computers and electronic gaming, and less time outdoors.
As I started to read Mark Bauerlein’s book “The Dumbest Generation” I must admit I was kind of in this “see I knew it” attitude assessing all the negative statistics and comments. But taking this class, learning about how technology can be used to teach, and looking at interviews on you Tube like the one with James Paul Gee “Games, not Grades” helped me to open my mind to possibilities.
In reflection, here is what I believe now:
There are both pros and cons in this digital age.
First the cons:
Yes, nature deficit is on the rise and it is affecting our kids negatively; writing, spelling, language and reading skills are not improving, and in some cases getting worse, instead of better. Social networking on the web is not the same as physical face-to-face social networking, and we are losing physical communication and activeness in our communities. Even worse, our own family members tune-out with headphones, games, televisions and computers. Many families do not even eat together anymore.
When the children are at home, it is up to the parents and guardians to monitor their children’s amount of time they will be “wired” and what content they are viewing. It is also up to the parents and guardians to make sure their children get outdoors for both mental and physical health reasons.
While children are at school it is up to the educators to do the same.
As an aware parent and teacher I am very active in my daughter’s wired time and content. What scares me is there are parents and teachers who aren’t. Certainly the best approach then is to spread information on the pros and cons of technology in the lives of our youth, and to provide helpful guidelines to promote the good use and reduce the bad use of technology. Teach the students themselves about how technology affects them and how to be their own best monitors.
But there are pros too:
I think the Internet and web based tools introduce exciting ways to learn and have a place in today’s education. There are so many more possibilities for helping different kinds of learners (e.g., mnemonic, visual). There is an infinite amount of information at our fingertips 24/7. As for reading and writing skills, these can be integrated with web tools. For instance a Literature Circle and Blog site like we used for this class could require students to read and write. It is true we are able to do the creative part of writing, but not the penmanship when we type. However, there are smart boards that have tablets where students can use their penmanship, and if it’s not available now, then surely it can be where students can write on their touchscreens on their laptops. As for spelling skills, we could use virtual spelling bee games. As James Paul Gee said, when kids are playing video games they are constantly being assessed and they are always trying to improve to up their score.
I would like to see education move entirely away from lectures and standardized testing and toward the integration of authentic hands-on activities (a lot of them outdoors) with games (both indoors and out) that test their knowledge and in some cases simulators to tests skills that are too expensive or unavailable in reality. I think some students who hate coming to school to learn might start to enjoy learning.

Reflection/Summary

I will be honest....half-way into this book, I was wishing I had picked a different book! I found myself being discouraged and disheartened as I read through all of the statistics and negative comments about the young students of today. While I can somewhat understand where the author is getting his beliefs from, I do nto feel it is quite accurate. Today's students simply have a different approach to learning than what many older teachers are used to. There are so many tools available for students to use today, and "old school" methods of research seem meaningless. We as teachers need to figure out the best way to use these tools in our classes and find new ways to keep our students engaged in our classes.

With all of the social networking sites and wide variety of different "entertainment-based" things that kids can be doing on their computers, there is a good chance that students will become distracted and may misuse technology within the classroom. If we can find a way to properly monitor its use, technology can be a huge benefit in the classroom. One big problem that I see is that while we may be doing everything we can in the class to teach students how to use technology productively and responsibly, the same things are not being taught at home. If the parents of the younger generations would maintain some guidlines and limitations on how their children are allowed to use technologies, these young people might be better trained in self-discipline, responsibility, and respect when it come to use of technology. This book has helped to open my eyes to the quickly changing world of education and the role that technology plays in its development.

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The Dumbest Generation

book summary

The book The Dumbest Generation is a good look into one of the major ciriticisms of the computer generation, but the picture Mark Bauerlein paints is a little more bleak than it really is. His stats are taken a little out of context, and kids have always complained about hard work, hard thinking, hard reading. The difference between this younger generation and my own generation is that this young generation is being scrutinized more often and more publicly than ay other generation has been. And I believe that a huge part of the blame for this younger generation's intellectual laziness (that we laugh about on Jay Leno's "Jaywalking") and technologocal dependence is my generation's fault (maybe WE are the dumbest generation). We are the parents who let them "google" instead of research, cut and paste instead of read and summarize; we are the parents who buy them their cell phones and let them text all day and all night and sleep with their cell phones; we are the parents who buy them the WII instead of sending them outside to play. It has happened on our watch!

Our job as parents and teachers is pretty clear and I think we, as teachers, are in a nice position of power. WE can help them to use this technology for thinking instead to avoid thinking. Kids do still read. Bauerlin states that the sale of the Harry Potter books rejuvenated book sales, maybe not quite a much as people hoped and predicted, but kids were/are definitely reading. "In a year with no Potter, BISG estimated that total sales of juvenile books would fall 13 million....Sales would jump again when cloth and paper editions of the next Potter arrive, but after that, unit sales would tumble a stunning 42 million copies" (pg 44). In my own household, Harry Potter was read, reread, and led the way to a search of other series from the library. As an English teacher, I still get to teach students about the beautiful language of Shakespeare, the horror or Poe, the sharp wit of Pope. I still get to teach them to love to think and feel ...I just have to do it a little differently... but I still have the privilege of teaching them that the hard work feels good. I just get to use a lot of tools to help me to do it.

No More Culture Wars

This chapter begins with the story of Rip Van Winkle, a man that fell asleep for 20 years and awoke in a completely different world, a world that that had become involved and educated in government. The relaxed indifferent world that he fell asleep in was no longer. Rip Van Winkle was being forced to make important decisions that impacted his life as a colonist, but he was unequipped. Mark Bauerlien uses this famous story to set the stage for this chapter. This generation is the modern Rip Van Winkle. The authors states that "Most individual voters are abysmally ignorant of even very basic political information." Rip Van Winkle had no idea whom to vote for because he had been asleep for 20 years. This generation has chosen not to be educated. "They are latter-day Rip Van Winkles, sleeping through the movements of culture and events of history, prefering the company of peers to great books and powerful ideas and momentous happening." This apathetic nature has stopped the culture wars. They have chosen to be passive; they are no longer the radical thoughts of Alcove 1 and Port Huron. This decline in radical ideas and lack of civic responsible will be the downfall of this generation. The author ends the chapter with a very bleak outlook of the future: " They may even be recalled as the generation that lost that great American heritage, forever."

Reflection

Reflection: The Dumbest Generation by Mark Baurlein

I just need to start this by saying how sad it is that trees had to lose their lives for the printing of this book. It is also sad to think that this author is a college professor and seems to hate the age group of students that he is responsible for. I would not enjoy him as an instructor.

Now about the book. My reaction to most of this book was, “Is he kidding?” The author seems to think that all people, especially those 15 to 29, who have not read the classics or regularly visits museums, are “dumb”. He doesn’t seem to take into account that people have different interests and likes and do different things. (Thank goodness for diversity.) After reading this book, I asked the young people I know in this age category if they have read the classics and/or like to read the classics. A couple of them said yes to both. (They are readers.) The others said not so much. But they are very active and smart and reading is not high on their interest level. They are all college graduates and function very well in society, most are even great parents. They do however have a great knowledge of technology. It is part of their lives and their jobs. I often wish I could be as comfortable as they are with technology. So “no” I don’t agree with the author that all people 15 to 29 who don’t read classics or go to museums are “dumb.”

I hope that as a teacher I will be able to find the balance of the old (books) and the new (technology) in my classroom. I feel there is still a need for both.

I feel I am a functioning adult, but I don’t frequent museums and I have read very few classics. But hopefully with the 100 of them on my eReader I will eventually read a few more before I die.

One last thought—is it ironic that this book is available as an eBook?

Reflection

I enjoy reading and have read many books throughout school and just for fun. However, The Dumbest Generation, by Mark Bauerlein, was so far removed from fun that it made my skin crawl. Even though it was for a class, I have never disliked a book more. Mark Bauerlein is off his rocker and should be locked up for the serious stereotyping and downgrading he wrote inside the cover of this book. He threw all people, under 30, into one big bowl and said they should not be trusted because of this or that. On the cover, the words were there, “OR, DON’T TRUST ANYONE UNDER 30.” In other words, we are all the same. I don’t think everyone over 30 is the same or shouldn’t be trusted. Even though, there are the select few I wouldn’t trust as far as I could throw them. But, I don’t lump everyone inside the same category like Mr. Mark.
I am part of the “dumbest generation,” so maybe, I take this a bit more personally than say a thirty-two year old reading the book. I don’t know how the author decided to draw the line in the sand at age 30. There are people of every age that take technology a bit too far and forget about the books. Have you seen “The 40 Year Old Virgin?” Case in point, this movie is set in a Best Buy look alike store and the guy is surrounded by screens all day long, every day. I don’t believe he really picks a book, say Shakespeare, the whole movie. This guy is forty years old. It doesn’t matter how old a person is, they are capable of losing themselves in technology and forgetting about real life, books, or music.
Overall, I was severely disappointed in how the author went about discussing the matter. Yes, technology can become addictive and lead to poor writing, reading, and test scores. However, there are those 30 year old and younger members of society, who successfully contribute. There are those who read classics and correctly write. There are those who do well on tests.
I took from this book a lot of negatives. However, there is one positive. I realize that, as a teacher and parent, I have an enormous responsibility to the students in my classroom and my son. The children need to know how technology can take them places they may never see. It can provide many opportunities. It can provide new and innovate ways to learn and communicate. But, they also need to know about all the great books available to them. They need to know life doesn’t revolve around a computer, or any kind, of screen. They need to be able to communicate in person. As adults, teachers, and parents, we need to create a healthy balance between screens and real life. Our students and children are not going to create the balance themselves. It is like when children are learning to tie their shoes, they need someone to show them the correct path.

Reflection

I found this book to be a very difficult read. It was tough to hear someone with such a negative view of younger people go on and on about how dumb they are. I can understand where the stereotype comes from, but it doesn not apply to everyone. The use of technology has and will continue to enhance our lives. What I have taken from this book is simply that we must all do our jobs in helping others to understand how to use technology productively. I hope that there are others out there who found this book more interesting than I did. It was a great day when I finished this book!

Reflection on The Dumbest Generation

The book I chose to read for our literature study was The Dumbest Generation by Mark Bauerlein. To be candid, I did not enjoy reading this book at all. I feel the author has an extremely negative outlook on young people that are 30 and under. I believe he looks for negativity, and therefore finds it, in a "glass is half empty" point of view. However, like I heard Oprah say once, if an author can get you to feel this much emotion about their writing, even if it's negative, they must have done something right.

I am a parent of someone under the age of 20 and I believe that technology and the new digital culture is at an exciting place and that it is these young people that will take us into an exciting future! Like anything in life, there are exceptions to the rule and those that take shortcuts, but let's not forget those responsible young people that want to make the world a better place. Not everyone is being "dumbed down" and spending all of their time in social networking. The author stereotypes young people so much it is infuriating! The world has changed so much and we have got to keep up with it!

If there is one thing this book has done for me, it is to make me even more aware of the huge responsibility that we as parents and teachers have in teaching our kids and students how to be responsible technology users and responsible people and citizens. Parents and teachers must work together on this and we must also teach the concepts of the need for the balance between technology and the "old way" of doing things. I believe kids must be exposed to and taught at a very young age and have opportunities for trial and error when it comes to technology. I am amazed at what my high school aged daughter knows about technology and some of her school assignments she has to complete using the computer. However, I also want her to be able to function by reading a book and doing her own research, should the Internet go down! Thus the need for balance and teaching kids to be responsible people with the ability of using technology, or not, to better our world.

In summary, I'm sure I will think about this book as I continue to teach and seek new, interesting, and exciting ways to help my first and second grade students learn how to be responsible technology users, and to try and rid the stereotype of being "The Dumbest Generation" for their generation and beyond.

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Chapter 2: The New Bibliophobes

            In 2004, while Mark Bauerlein worked for the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), he did an interview with NPR that centered on a discussion about the significant drop in leisure reading, especially among 18-24 year olds. The radio interview was one amid many different types of media interviews and reports that followed a NEA report entitled “Reading at Risk: A Survey of Literary Reading in America”.  Bauerlein reports that during the radio interview, he was “startled” by the reaction of the radio-listening audience. He summarizes after recalling the conversation he had with one high school student “she didn’t like to read, period, and she wanted to tell us that, throwing our assumption that every young person should read books right back in our faces”.  He states that this “new attitude” of flaunting “a-literacy (knowing how to read, but choosing not to)” and “anti-intellectualism” is peculiar to the millennial generation.  Bauerlein gives another example – this time a college panelist relates how his “dad is still into the whole book thing” and that he goes to the library only to retrieve course information, but never to check out leisure books. He has not realized that the Internet kind of took the place of that”.

            Among my students, I do see youth with both of these aforementioned attitudes. However, I also know youth that love to read. I have several students that choose to read their leisure books (checked out from the school library) during free time in class. Still, we don’t have computers in our classroom. Given a choice – would they choose the Internet over their book?

This also makes me think of the different attitudes of a niece and two nephews (in the same family). The oldest who is almost 18 years old loved to read Harry Potter books and also other books in that genre a couple of years ago. Now he spends less time reading, and more time on his smart phone texting. He reads well, but his writing is terrible and he wants to be an engineer! I wonder- does his texting (shorthand) have something to do with his writing skills? His brother is 16 and has always hated to read. He would rather spend all his time playing video games - mostly in the subject of shooting (hunting animals). Their sister, who is 14, loves to read books, especially in the popular romantic-vampire series. So here is an example of 'same family- different interests'.

Bauerlein goes on to describe numerous observations that suggest that events such as the release of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, are more about the social event than a reading trend. In other words, the mind-boggling sales of such books are a result of “special social meaning” or “youth identity”, rather than purely in the interest of reading because it was something they were interested in themselves.

Pages forty-five to sixty-three are mostly filled with information on surveys, statistics and reports with a somewhat common dismal conclusion – a staggering number of “students are not learning the basic skills needed to succeed in college or work while they are in high school”. They end up needing “remedial coursework and advising before they can even start college-level instruction” and this ends up costing tax payers a bundle. Then on page sixty-five the discussion switches to a different view – “a newfangled cognition and knowledge.” This opinion states that although they don’t read books “well, they read other things” and while they “don’t know any history” from books – “they know other kinds”. Some proponents of this generation point to a “quicker attention span”, and better ability to “multi-task”. Bauerlein however, is quick to point out though that many of these proponents are actually the “20-something” “practitioners themselves”. He gives an example where a young blogger says:

“What smart person would devote hours to learning words that can be accessed at the click of a button? Spell check can spell. Shift+F7 produces synonyms. What is wrong with relying on something that is perfectly reliable? (Andrukonis)”.

            My thought here is: Yes, but what about the countless times I have had students who fail to even remember to use Spell Check?

            The chapter concludes that after all the arguments about learning in the digital age, there is still the question: While students have so many more conveniences and quick information, available to them, why then are their reading scores, and science, culture and civic knowledge still suffering?

Book Cover Image

I chose this image because it reminds me of a quote in chapter 2 of the book “My dad is still into the whole book thing. He has not realized that the Internet kind of took the place of that”.  I liked this photo of a dad reading a favorite book to his teenage children because he is carrying on a family Christmas tradition. I think this is probably rare these days!

Chapter 5 - The Betrayal of the Mentors

Chapter 5 starts off telling about how an activist nonprofit organization, Partners For Livable Communities, sponsored a study of community arts programs for troubled and underserved youth. The main purpose of their efforts was to lower the rate of high school drop outs, by giving them a focus and a purpose. For many of these students, the long-term effect turned these troubled youths, into self-sufficient, confident, and creative citizens. Here, the author believes "that young people during those years most critical for moral development miss repeated and consistent immersion in activities framed within and around pro-social and pro-civic values orientations." "Left to themselves, teens have no forward direction. Their goals contrast and blur into meeting friends and "doing stuff" and the prospect of becoming a positive contributor to their neighborhood never even crosses their minds." I personally think this is quite a negative attitude and view of today's youth. I would like to think of someone with more knowledge and opportunities to meet with adults and leaders, that it would broaden their thinking and create opportunities that haven't even been thought of yet. I believe this author looks at "the cup is half empty" philosophy and tends to lump all young people in this category. Like everything, there are exceptions to the rule, and I would like to think of more young people doing good for their communities, than bad. In this particular study, it proved to turn kids around into working, responsible adults by having important people in their lives, such as parents, teachers, and mentors. These kids could turn out either negatively or positively, but this study showed that The Arts Program helped to turn them into responsible young adults.

According to Reich, there is a new generation coming, called "The Twixters". These are people age 22-30 years old, have a college degree or at least college coursework, come from middle-class families, and reside in large cities. What makes them different, is how they choose to live their lives after college. This is their time to work different jobs, live at home, and not have too many constraints to tie themselves down. This is their time to prepare for becoming an adult, according to Grossman. What makes this interesting is how the traditional adults in a young persons life responded to this, such as parents, teachers, and society.

It is the authors opinion that todays young adults not only need to be competitive in science, technology, and productivity, but also in the ways of culture. They need a lot of reading and writing and an involved home and school environment. This includes teachers, mentors, and family members who communicate with them when things are right and wrong. It is these formative mentors who need to remind young people that there is more to life than their social life. He reminds us that it takes a village to raise a child. He says it is flexible, but is concerned that it is breaking down with "The Dumbest Generation".

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