The Youtube Generation: Pros and Cons of the Digital Age

"50 Million Minds Diverted, Distracted, Devoured"

This is the heading to the website, The Dumbest Generation, a website from Mark Bauerlein that is meant to educate the world on the ways in which technology is ruining the minds of the American youth. The idea, as Bauerlein puts it is this:

“Because in my limited experience as a teacher, I’ve noticed in the last 10 years that students are no less intelligent, no less ambitious but there are two big differences: Reading habits have slipped, along with general knowledge. You can quote me on this: You guys don’t know anything.”

Now, even though this post was originally intended as an oppsing argument, I have come to realize that I have no basis to contradict his statement. IT'S TRUE. I started this post without doing any previous research, I have barely read his webpage, and the quote I referenced... I copied and pasted it off of Wikipedia. That's just the tip of the iceberg. I am completely captivated by Facebook during every moment of my day (It's open in another tab right now). I'm a lazy writer. I pay little attention to punctuation, spelling, and I Randomly capitalize words and letters. I DO read literature, but I use SparkNotes to help me analyze it. I spend hours on my iPhone and computer, keeping myself up to date with popular culture news and topics of little to no significance. And the worst part... I have straight A's.

So has this generation morphed me into a technology-addicted "bibliophobe" with "a blazen disregard for books and reading?" Based on the statistics that Bauerlein keeps referencing, I guess so. And I am, in no way, mocking Bauerlein*. I agree that this generation of youth (including myself) abuses technology. So many friends and colleagues prefer to play "Dolphin Olympics" over reading Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea.

However, our "abuses" are far-eclipsed by our capabilities. Technology gives us access to information with speeds that are unprecedented. There are applications on my phone that send me updates on scientific developments. I can start teaching myself new languages on a display that is no larger that my palm. A library of books that range from Pride and Prejudice to Experiments with Alternate Current of High Potential and High Frequency are all readily available at few taps of my screen. And the best part... I'm not the only one.

Much of today's youth have these capabilities, and many (but not all) exploit them. The problem, which I am sure is quite obvious, is that most don't use them for anything other than procrastination. If we all knew the ways in which a computer can be used as a tool for advancement rather than as a tool to socialize (ironic seeing as I'm writing a blog), we would find that technology would be exponentially more valuable to our intelligence.

Although it is clear that the iPhone is not a suitable replacement for the library, it is unfair to say that our generation no longer cares for books and reading. We still read plenty, the screen's just gotten smaller.