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Very well put, Dameonmac5918. I'd tend to agree with you on that one. I did it when I was in school and now I'm seeing my students do it--you have to hide the fact that you're smart or literate, because that's not "cool." No one wants to be friends with the bookworm. We don't value education and intelligence nearly as much as we need to.

I also blame the internet and text messaging to some degree, but I can't blame them totally, because I think kids really need to be taught to code-switch...txting with your friends is all fine and good as long as you can then know when it's appropriate and when you need to write like a human being with half a brain. Schools need to do better with this and so do parents. That's why I really find it hard to blame TV or the internet too much, because parents should be looking out for what their kid is reading or watching. If more parents would take the time to read to their kids or show them that, hey, it's cool to be smart, kids might be more literate.

Just my 5 cents. wink

In my opinion, I think it is laziness. Since technology is advancing, (I don't mind it advacning at all, mind you) many things are becoming faster, easier, etc. With that, it's influence is taking on the younger generations and slowly but surely affecting the older generations. It saddens me so to think that in five or ten years, where will we be? Will everyone type l33t and say "zomg lyk u r so cool!" and have no appreciation for literature of any kind? These are the questions that haunt me sometimes...

ninja

In my opinion, only one other post really had it right. The one that spoke about apathy being the problem. Laziness isn't the problem. It is more... that no one CARES. They don't care about looking stupid. They don't care about making themselves better.

In today's world, you can get pretty far on superficial qualities, and coasting. And the values from days gone by are getting twisted and warped, to allow us to not care. We are taught to not care what anyone else thinks about us. Which is a valuable lesson, for when you are being insulted or put down unfairly. But people are twisting it to allow them to continue being apathetic.

For example, many times I have tried to helpfully correct a person's spelling or nudge them gently in the direction of more proper grammar. And they get angry. I tell them I am not insulting their intelligence; I am only trying to help them learn. And their response is that they are going to do things the way they want, and they don't care what anyone else thinks. Because to care what other people think about their approach, would also cause them to have to think about changing.

And people don't care enough to change. This is why so many of us can be lazy, yet still strive to make ourselves better. Because we are not apathetic about ourselves. Which is wonderful, because it truly shows our strength. To live in a world so flawed, and so rife with chaos and strife, yet still care about making ourselves rise above it. I salute all of us.

Sorry I didn't get back to you on that... umm... I forget. I'll find out, something highschool. His name's Alan Cain. He's cool, but he's also a sophmore. Yeah, Corona California.

Okay, just hopping in on said subject...I have to say laziness is a huge part. As for the person who said they're lazy? So am I! I'm lazy-lazy-lazy in the fact that I never get my homework done, I dislike chores and most other work-related things, and would rather sleep all day. But there's another type of laziness in my opinion, and that's being too lazy to use your brain. Some people are too damn lazy to bother with the horrible inconvenience of having to put that E in...hav, txt, etc. (or tc. if that even works for anyone).

When texting on my cellphone, I've tried to use this 'txt tlk' people speak of, and I just can't. It scares me. Literally...it's actually really funny how persnickety I get about it. By the way...SonarP. I like your poem/thing a lot. It's amusing (and fairly honest). A lot of my friends start panicing when I use words that aren't...really that big. A three syllubal word and they say 'stop using big words'. So I agree, it is a lot of factors, and I too...have no idea how to say this correctly...but I think people understand what I'm trying to say.

While technology plays its part, I think the loss of literacy in America should be put on, well, America itself. As a nation, we have embraced the loss of literacy instead of fought against it. We've lowered our standards in education and have made it our goal to get kids to finish high school one way or another instead of ensuring that they receive a quality education.

(this may seem a little unrelated at first, but it I will end up seguaing into the topic) I am fine with "txt tlk" on phones (as cell phone companys tend to charge users by letter) due to the price, but using it on the computer is plain laziness. Slang on the computer is plain stupidity, and "133t" or whatever, is plain outdated. (it is from the 80's originally, right?)