The Dumbest Generation

I agree and disagree with Bauerlein's statements and comments.  I think that our generation is dumber is some aspects, such as politics, history, and world events.  However, we have attained much more knowledge in other aspects like technology.  So either way you look at it every generation is competent in one aspect and clueless in another.  Bauerlein also made comments in the real tv interview about college students being lazy and saying they are always busy, and related that to how much the average student watches tv each day.  I believe that yes college students are busy just like everyone else in the world is busy, and everyone likes to take some time for themselves each day to do something they enjoy.  Some people choose to watch tv so I do not think he is correct in those statements.  However, I agree with him that is important to know our country's history.  Bauerlein says "... those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it."  I think this is a great statement because our country is what it is today because it has learned from its past mistakes.  If history is forgotten we cannot learn from it and continue to grow in the right direction.  You don't realize how you have grown, if you forget how far you have come.

I also think students are under increasing pressure to pick a career and that is the goal you work toward all through out high school and college.  Before we even get to college we are told to pick a career we want to pursue.  I know at my high school we had to have an idea of what we wanted to be in 10th grade, and we chose different pathways to follow which allowed us to pick courses that would help us in college.  Then when we get to college there is so much pressure to do well in your majors courses, which is why I think a lot of students do not take general education classes seriously, and think they are a waste of time.

I also believe that his book is a HUGE generalization. He seems to point his finger at every single person, when in reality a lot of his statements do not apply to every young person.  The video we watched of Jay Lenno asking random people historic questions was probably well edited.  I'm sure they interviewed a lot of people who answered questions correctly but they did not include those because it would not have been as funny and entertaining. I knew the correct answers to all of his questions, as did members in my book group, which proves you cannot generalize when it comes to knowledge.  I also think if he is going to make a generalization it should be about the population as a whole, not just the new generation.  People of every age are at fault of being "dumb" about some aspects.