The Dumbest Generation : How The Digital Age

First of all, teens are not aware of all the information that is being targeted towards on the internet so they are easily manipulated by it. In source C, Mizuko Ito states “In both friendship-driven and interest-driven online activity, youth create and navigate new forms of expression and rules for social behaviour. In the process, young people acquire various forms of technical and media literacy by exploring new interests, tinkering, and ‘messing around’ with new forms of media.” (Ito, Source C). Mizuko emphasizes that the youth are constantly bombarded by the media on the internet. This can result in constant manipulation and impact their ability to make unbiased decisions. At last, media is taking away the formal classroom setting where students were disciplined. Mizuko states “New media allow for a degree of freedom and autonomy for youth that is less apparent in a classroom setting.” (Source D). Students today have gained too much freedom which is resulting in lack of discipline. Also, schools are allowing students to browse the web as they please which leads them into believing they have the right to do anything on the internet. In conclusion, students are constantly manipulated by the media and they are given too much freedom which results in their lack of discipline in the classroom and it is making them

In chapter one of The Dumbest Generation, Mike Bauerlein makes several statements about our generation and comes to a conclusion that helps set the groundwork for the entire book. His analysis of today’s youth states that the current generation is lacking when it comes to intellectual knowledge. He provides evidence that states that today’s under-thirty population in the United States does not have adequate knowledge, and their lack of knowledge with affect them greatly in their adulthood years.

Along with the progression of society, major advances have been made in hundreds of different fields — particularly technology. Controversy has risen, and debates ensued over whether today's young Americans are really “the dumbest generation,” due to their “money, media, e-gadgets, and career plans” [Source A]. While advances have been made, they have brought with them resources to benefit off of, and ultimately assist in the overall intellect and intelligence of the human race.

Howe, Neil, and William Strauss. Millennials Rising: the Next Great Generation. New York: Vintage, 2000.

Is our youth doomed? Mark Edmundson begs this question in his essay, “Dwelling in Possibilities.” His essay explains how the lives of young people have changed drastically over the years. Edmundson, professor at the University of Virginia, says his students are constantly “going” and that they never stop; they never settle in fear of missing something great. In lieu of this, Edmundson says that they are, “victims of their own hunger for speed” (Edmundson2). He also adds that his students, and young people in general, use today’s technology to be “everywhere at once” (watching a movie, instant messaging, talking on the phone, and glancing at a textbook) and are therefore, “not anywhere in particular” (Edmundson

English professor Mark Bauerlein claimed in the book, The Dumbest Generation. That the outcome of technology benefits for the children did not show up. According to the “2007 Pew” survey on “What Americans Know: 1989 - 2007”. There were higher percentages of younger generation who obtain little knowledge with the existence of technology while there is lower percentages of older generation who does not have technology support. Eighteen years old teens may have devices like an adult, may have accepted into a college and getting ready to start a new life.

Nicholas Carr is the author of the relatable book The Shallows: What the Internet is doing to Our Brains, a book that discusses the unassailable subject that many countries face today. This problem does not only present itself in teenagers, but everyone been using technology more often than ever before. Almost everyone in America is carrying a so-called smart phone in his or her pocket, but Carr questions the devices that people use. The Shallows give valid reasons to be concerned with whether new technology is smart, or the peoples’ lack of ability to live without internet access just makes it seem this way.

Have you ever wondered if our generation is the dumbest? Well, there’s some evidence to prove so. Generation ‘Y’ is considered to be the dumbest generation of all. This is based on numerous experiments, polls, surveys, etc. While everything else in this world is rising, intellect of each generation is falling. With the ignorance of facts, by choice, and lack of some education, Generation ‘Y’ is considered to be the dumbest generation.

To demand a new way of teaching and learning involving technology. (Thomas, 2011, p. 4) These popular claims within the seminal literature on digital natives (for example, that digital natives possess a sophisticated set of ICT [Information and Communication Technologies] knowledge and skills or that they have different learning styles or preferences) are largely unsupported by research evidence (Bennett, Maton, & Kirvan, 2008, p. 777). However, using these claims, enthusiasts’ present digital natives as a part of a utopian vision of technology tied to an exoticized picture of liberated young people (Buckingham, 2011). Despite slight distinctions, the terms digital native, the Net generation, and Millennials are used interchangeably (Jones et al., 2010, p. 723). Digital immigrants are characterized as individuals born before 1980 who knew an analogueonly world and still rely on analogue forms of interaction. For digital immigrants, the communication changes happening via the introduction of digital technologies are supposedly learned and relearned, instead of easily becoming second nature (Palfrey and Gasser, 2008, p. 4). Problems are often identified not with the digital natives but rather with older generations of non-natives who display their “digital immigrant accent” (Prensky, 2001a, p. 3) when using new technologies. In this way, digital immigrants are portrayed as being tied to older media, unable to catch up (Buckingham, 2011), therefore embodying the antithesis

In the chapter literacy, are today’s youth digital natives? on pages 176-186 Boyd discusses how the term “Digital Natives” is an over exaggeration phrase to describe today’s youth. She argues that even though today's teens are engaged in both the internet and other social media networks they don’t inherently comprehend most of their online encounters. She also claims that even teens are so deeply involved with the internet it’s “. . . dangerous to assume that youth are automatically informed. It is also naive to assume that so-called digital immigrants have nothing to offer.” Most of the teens today are solely consumers of technology, knowing what to do but not how to explain what they’re doing, giving them an upper hand over so called “digital immigrants”. Boyd provides examples of two types

He goes into detail about how the internet and social media have a negative effect on today’s teenagers. Mark also says the cause of their lack to know material such as literature, history, fine art, and civics, is because of the excessive amount of technology use. That the bedroom is no longer a sanctuary but just a hang-out place. Bauerlein also goes into detail about attitude and maturity and how today’s teenagers will lack these skills in the future. Blaming all of this on parents and teachers, saying they are responsible to contain it.

The authors extend the comparisons using descriptions and adjectives. The past generation of youths was made up of go-getters eager to “hit the road and find freedom”; they were even the inspiration for Bruce Springsteen’s vivacious album, “Born to Run.” The authors claim that today’s youths are far from that, holding nothing back as they describe the young people of this generation. “Risk-averse and sedentary,” they don’t bother to get their driver’s licenses, are satisfied to be at home browsing Facebook, and put too much faith in luck than effort. In other words, “Generation Y has become Generation Why Bother.” The authors appeal to the audience’s sense of patriotism, stating that American is “a nation of movers and shakers” and enumerating the accounts of bravery shown by the youths of previous generations, images that are admittedly different from the image they have crafted of the modern young person. The praises and favorable descriptions that the authors lavish upon previous generations of youths contrast sharply with the lackluster and borderline-insulting descriptions of today’s young adults. The juxtapositions accentuate how far Generation Y has fallen from its predecessors and prove, once again, that its constituents are leading stagnant lives.

With 50% of the population now 25 and younger, the millennial generation can no longer blame their parents for their woes. Economic disparity and human suffering are the new facts of life for millenials. Fortunately, for them 2015 marks the dawn of a new day. Millenials are projected to have finally outgrown their forefathers, in size, education and overall presence on earth. The millennial generation, born between 1980 and 2000, is the tribe of digital natives best known for their ‘slacktivism’ and impossibly quick trends. Recognized by a technological sixth sense and indigeneity to the online world, millenials have lived to see a rapidly mounting technological progression. Shaped by international affairs more than ever before, millenials

According to Sharon Begley, young people today are more concerned with where to find information rather than actually remembering the information (Begley). With all these new electronics and technologies, man is trading in their libraries and books for a tablet and an iPhone. A cartoon depicting a man on his computer in a comfortable chair with thousands of books behind him, all with faces of surprise, sadness, or disappointment appeared on the cover of “The New Yorker” in 2010 (Chast). This is to show that the laptop has replaced the books on the shelf. The books, representing the past and the older generation, are insignificant to the man representing American culture today influenced by young people. As America continues to grow in population, the generation gap and differences in views on change will continue to cause controversy.

The overarching assumption in today’s society seems to be that the Millennial generation is doomed or maybe even worse than that. The topic has become so paramount that now not only concerned parents are disputing over the issue, but scholars and highly esteemed authors are announcing their professional opinions in various articles. The debate on whether or not the Millennial generation is equipped to take on the real, responsibility demanding, society of today is becoming a prodigiously larger. In the articles “Hunting for Hope in Modern America”, “Preparing Students for The New Reality” and “The Beat (Up) Generation” all three authors argue that there is no hope for the Millennial generation, they are doomed due to the fact that the education system is failing and that these Generation Y’ers are feeling more and more entitled.