People have stopped reading as much because there are many activities with immediate gratification. Books are slower paced than a movie, and lets just face it, we live in a fast paced world. As for reading "required" in highschool, kids simply do not do it because they know that they don't need to. Most teachers in an English class will go over the book the day after its read, and tell the students the important things to know on a test. I will even admit to it myself. I did not read past chapter 4 in the Scarlet Letter, yet I passed the exam over the entire book. Not only did i pass it, I passed it with a high A. Once students figure out this system, they realize that regardless of whether they take the time to read the book or not, they will recieve a high grade. Therefore, there are many more "worth-while" things that the student believes that they could be doing instead.

I will not even begin to deny the accusation that we have become incredibly narcissistic. It is so easy to become so. #TeamiPhone has allowed us to link an endless number of accounts together, sending us notifications the second someone posts something about us on one of the social networks. It gives someone a world that revolves around them, and fits in their pocket! To know that someone posted about them makes an individual feel important. Everyone likes to feel important, funny, pretty, hansom, or popular. Logging into Facebook and seeing the number of notifications and friends requests they have lets someone feel popular. With access to this social world, anytime and anyplace, it is inevitable that people will become narcissistic.

This book is making a strong point to prove that America’s high school and college students are becoming more and more stupid. It has page upon page of facts and statistics confirming that our test scores are lower than they were 20, 30, or 50 years ago. Numerous studies were conducted in history, civics, math, science, technology, and fine arts- all of which pointed out the decrease in students’ knowledge.  I personally would like to see what the results would be if the same tests were given to 30-40 year olds. I do not believe that the only ones becoming less knowledgeable are the 15-20 year olds. Americans in general do not focus on world events as much as they did 50 years ago, regardless of age group. I attribute that to the fact that people are so caught up with their own lives that they do not care if they know things that, in a scientific study, would make them appear more cultured. An optimist would say that people have become more focused on a specific area of study and have no need for something that they will not use in their everyday lives. There is also the pessimistic thought that people are just becoming lazy and self-involved. Regardless of why we are becoming dumber, I have a hard time believing that teenagers are the ONLY group with a decreasing level of knowledge.

'The Dumbest Generation'

Hi I'm Lauren. I am a college freshman at the University of Mount Union, and this blog is one of my projects. I am going to be reading Mark Bauerleins book, "The Dumbest Generation: How the Digital Age Stupefies Young Americans and Jeopardizes Our Future", and then blogging online about it. Ironic, is it not?