The dumbest generation

Mark Bauerlein

English professor

Author of other books related to psychology and literacy

Preface and introduction

Talk about Mark Bauerlein's childhood

He didn't like his parents

Technology limits a teenager's ability to expand his/her horizons

Chapter1- Knowledge Deficits

"Teens are encased in immediate realities"

Studies have been made to teens and young adults over the past 10 years

Schools are narrowing down the curriculum, excluding music and other arts

The current generation has advantages:

they spend more time at school

There are more libraries and museums available

They have more money to spend

Teens don't use these advantages

Never were "goods so plentiful, schooling so accessible, diversion so easy and liberties so copious"

This is a paradox in the book

Chapter 2- The New Bibliophobes

Kids do not read books

Teens and kids know how to read but choose not to

Kids will read only if obliged to or to 'bond with peers' e.g. Harry Potter

Studies show that the more kids read the better they will score

From 1982 to 2000 reading rates in younger genetics fell drastically

Younger generations have no shame in saying that they don't read books

"The more you don't read, the more you can't read"

Chapter 3- Screen Time

Study shows that the total leisure time spent by kids using media is equivalent to a full time job

On average an American teen spends 295 minutes a day using some sort of media

Multi-tasking

Teens only want to learn what they have to and how they want to

When faced with books teens reject them

"The web grows and the young adult mind stalls"

Chapter 4- Online Learning and Non-

Learning ICT (information and communications technology)

Tests were conducted

Most test takers scored above 60%

Dexterity and intelligence a both areas improved by digital media

English vocabulary skills are significantly increased for non-native English speakers

Vocabulary is limited for native English speakers

Screen reading differs greatly from book reading

The more web pages look like book pages, the less people visit the website

The web is a consumer habitat, not an educational one

Chapter 5- The Betrayal of the

Mentors Left alone, teens have no way to progress

"Twixters"

In 2005 the twixters are between 22 and 30 years old

Psychological assessments show a rising in narcissism

Young Americans need an inspirational figure

Chapter 6- No More Culture Warriors

The old generations gave up on the 'dumbest generation'

Young pele don't read enough books or care to do so

A cultural descent as started

The intellectual future of the United States looks dim

Social and ethical issues

Globalisation and cultural diversity

People and machines

Conclusion

The book makes one look at the technological world in a different way

Made me look at the negative impacts of technology instead of focusing on the positives

Any questions?(Non-complicated ones please)

Thank you for listening!