Mark Bauerlein, author of the best-selling book "The Dumbest Generation," which contends that cyberculture is turning young people into know-nothings, says "the absence of technology" confuses kids faced with simple mechanical tasks.
But Bauerlein says there's a second factor: "a loss of independence and a loss of initiative." He says that growing up with cell phones and Google means kids don't have to figure things out or solve problems any more. They can look up what they need online or call mom or dad for step-by-step instructions. And today's helicopter parents are more than happy to oblige, whether their kids are 12 or 22.
"It's the dependence factor, the unimaginability of life without the new technology, that is making kids less entrepreneurial, less initiative-oriented, less independent," Bauerlein said.
I've spent a few hours today figuring out how to download music from YouTube, cut it in Audacity, and import it into iTunes. Then there's the extra battle of ripping music from a CD, converting it to WAV, and placing it in Audacity for cutting. I did this all from online research. I also did this of my own accord.
Back in the day, I used to cut my floor music with side-by-side tape decks, rewinding and recording to make sure the transitions were perfect. Then CDs came into the picture and I did the same process, recording from CD to tape.
It's all technology, you see, and it's all mechanical. Just the methods have changed.
Sure, I'm not 12. But that's how old I was when the Internet became a relevant part of our lives. I can't help but think this mentality is of the recurrent "kids these days"/"technology = doomsday" ilk.
I'd argue that Internet searching affords a different independence, one we need in the digital age: the ability to ask the right questions and to piece together "found" information. To distinguish between authentic and useless. To test what they've found. And besides, we're going to need these 'Net-savvy kids as the world becomes increasingly digital.
Anywho, I'm off to take initiative and cut some more music!
It's shitty stories like this that really irritate me. And it's an argument that will never end. The previous generation will look back upon the latter, and complain about how "easy" they have it and how they lack maturity and how they don't have to work for it... And at the end of the day, it's LAME. He might as well tell anyone under 30 to stay off his lawn. Did he also walk 15 miles uphill in the snow. Get over yourself, dude.
ReplyDeleteIt's like how I get uncomfortable when I find out someone was born in the 90s.