Welcome to Gaia! ::

So you see? It's peer vandilation? If no one thought it's "cool", then no one would do it, right?

I understand n00bs typing poorly...

But OLD n00bs?

Shouldn't they have learned a bit more by now?



The text in bold just makes me laugh.

I agree, but to a point. Carpentry is math - that's why you need a college degree (you need a degree for everything now). Not to mention carpenters make serious money if you know what they're doing. I actually think it's better to require a college education for all jobs. If anything, it lets you realize the potential your job has.

As for the computer bit? Everyone does need to become computer literate and the best time to start is when you're younger, but the chat rooms do mess kids up. They think that this txt talk is the way you should type and that it's 'normal' (I personally don't see the draw to them, but whatever). And sometimes they do just want to fit in. It's sad...

That's true... Nice point. 3nodding

Oh, dear. What can I say that has not already been said in one form or another? I shall try to put in my own two cents.

I believe that the decline of literacy in this nation is due to the fact that no one cares. Nobody cares if you can type or speak intelligently, only if you have a "hot bod" and a "sweet ride". No one cares if you have a great proficiency in language, or that you can spell extremely well, because for the most part these skills rarely apply themselves to society. When a child (I will use myself as an example) shows a propensity towards higher learning at the tender age of six, don't you think someone might raise their heads and say, "Oh ho! Look here, everyone! I think we've found the next child genius!" Don't you think that the path towards that child's goal of perhaps ridding the world of AIDS would be unhindered thenceforth? No, no. This is not so. To be so intelligent that it puts to shame the teachers in whom the child's trust has been issued is a crushing blow. You see, in this Modern American society, to be intelligent is considered stupid, moronic, idiotic, and all those other wonderful adjectives. Therefore the "smart people" as all of the real-life, bonafide stupid people like to call us, are segregated into certain classes, and even then, they segregate themselves even further by retreating into a wonderful world like Gaia.

The mere fact that children have little to no desire to read comes from everything being digital. Television and video games are mostly to blame for this little qualm. When children are taught that thinking is bad, what do they do? They go for the most brainless thing they can think of. Then after a while, they learn to function for their entire lives without actually having to think. It's really a brilliant system for those who will one day rule this country. There will be a select elite that will have the brainpower to control out nation, and the rest will be a slobbering horde of idiots.

Personally, I believe that everyone has the potential to be intelligent. I think that given the right mixture of encouragement, dedication, and understanding, the children of today can reconstruct our world for a much brighter future. It's only a matter of self-esteem. Children have little self-esteem in the area of intelligence. They feel as though any accomplishments they make in school go unnoticed at best. Therefore, with anything they do in life, they feel an immense sense of loss, not only of self, but of that connection to others that makes us feel like humans.

Idiocy is an epidemic.

I blame lack of literacy on the parents. If the parents don't introduce reading at a young age. their children won't want to and they'll initiallly receieve some difficulty reading.

ya we lost it too in america...people dont read much and talk too much and say 'like' 5 million times in two messed up sentences.