Like, Whatever.

      Bauerlein, an English professor at Emory University uses the book The Dumbest Generation to, shall we say "slam" the new generation. Pretty much he is saying that we are stupid kids who don't know how to use our time wisely and we are too caught up in the newest technology of our time to realize what is really happening in this world. Personally, and I think I speak for all of us teens that this book is a dis to all in this society. Its preposterous! Okay well maybe it is a little true, but to those who are the total opposite, and i know there are many out there, this book is just a way for Bauerlein to get his anger out at all of the no good, dirty rotten stinky kids that come into his classroom and disrespect him.  Bauerlein argues that teenagers these days don't have the common sense to do what is the most productive. He states that we are getting dumber because we don't read as much anymore and as said on the back cover of the book, "Cyberculture is turning us into a society of know-nothings", as in we always turn to the net to find our answers because supposedly we don't know anything anymore. As if we are supposed to know everything in the first place. Bauerlein cherry picks throughout the whole book; not every teenager falls into the "Dumbest Generation" stereotype. He uses facts and statistics to back up his argument, but you know what, I am not buying it Bauerlein, like, whatever. Just because he has a lot against the younger generation, doesn't mean he is right about us. He has to explore both sides of the argument. The only reason people liked this book and thought everything was a good point is because of his cherry picking.
        Apparently this book was a big hit? Maybe that's because it is targeted towards the older generation and since its not about them, they think its entertaining. What about the children? Huh? We are the next generation, and we are going to make a difference, you just wait and see. The parents could also very well be at fault for this whole scenario; they could have easily brought their kids up to love reading.

I found a perfect example of a passage from the book that makes a disrespectful remark to a young girl who was on a radio interview for the Survey of Literary Reading in America.

CALLER: I'm a high school student and yeah, I don't read and my friends don't read.
HOST: Why not?
CALLER: Because of all the boring stuff teachers assign.
HOST: Such as?
CALLER: Uh... that book about the guy [Pause] You know, that guy who was great.
HOST: Huh?
CALLER: The great guy.
HOST: You mean The Great Gatsby?
CALLER: Yeah. Who wants to read about him?

After stating this, Bauerlein says that he tried not to laugh when hearing this. How terrible can he get? This is a perfect example of cherry picking. I can agree that it is bad that she doesn't read what her teachers assign her but still, don't pick on this one girl, she has feelings too. Besides a lot can change in a person in a few years. Maybe she loves reading now. Its not fair to humiliate someone just to try and prove a point.

     On page 119 Bauerlein talks about laptops that are given to students in hope to make them more intellectual....
"By an overwhelming margin, seventh graders who received laptop computers say the computers have made schoolwork more fun, and 83% of the students say the laptops improve the quality of their work."
         Then he goes on to say that even though they have the laptops and they say they are learning more, their test scores say otherwise. I disagree with this statement because these kids are at least making an effort to try and do better. They even said that they enjoy doing their schoolwork; that doesn't sound dumb to me. That sounds like trying.

        On the other hand, I do agree with Bauerlein when he brings up the Jay Leno talk show. On person is asked how many stars are on the American flag. "Fifty two," she says. That is just sad. Everyone should know the amount of stars on the American Flag, it really is just common sense. The ignorance really is hard to believe.

        I also agree that the amount of people that read for fun these days has gone down the kitchen sink.
"We should consider, too, that reading is easier to carry out than all the other leisure activities included in ATUS except "Relaxing/thinking." it costs less than cable TV and video games, it doesn't require a membership fee, and you can still read in places where cellphones are restricted and friends don't congregate."
      This is a very true statement. If you think about it, reading doesn't take much at all. If you don't get one of the words that you read, all you have to do is grab a dictionary to see what it means, or you could be able to find out what it means through context. To buy a good book, it should only cost you about 15 dollars, which is cheaper than many other things, but there is always the library, you can get a library card for free, then you don't even have to pay for the books that you read.

To end this great rant, I am going to shove something else down your throat. If you haven't read the book The Dumbest Generation by Mark Bauerlein watch this video to get an idea of what it is like.

Heres a Link show some other reviews and comments on the book.....