The Loss of Literacy in Modern America

[Gachetemas]

Artiste_in_a_tunnel

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...

I agree that "everything being digital" is the main reason for kids reading less. My younger brother seems to think that watching Harry Potter movies and listening to the tapes is an adequate substitute for reading the books. Now what kind of fan does that?

Although TV, movies, video games are not a substitute for reading, they don't (to my knowledge) turn people into zombies... yet. Good movies are even supposed to make you think and they can have symbolism and multiple levels to interpret, like a good book. Video games have their benefits, too, though sometimes dubious. They might teach logic, problem solving, creativity, or snippets of history.

Coincidentally, isn't this "Teen Read Week" across the country? Ah! I think I'll go... on the computer. Uhh...  

[Switchblade Saint]

I think that a lot of this is due to a lack in interest in actually reading books. If everything is digital than, "Why should we bother?" If they can listen to books on tape, or they can browse the internet, or watch a T.V. show, then whats the point in reading? Honestly, I love to read. [currently reading: The Blind Assasain] I think that a good book touches your senses more than a T.V. show would.

In agreement with 'Artiste' i would like to say that it is brought on by digitized entertainment.

But when do we stop to ask ourselves 'Are we the last of a dying generation?' Do we really believe in the youth of tomorrow? Are your pre-teen 'txt tlkers' our future? If so what is there to look forward to? Not much i say.  

[Artiste_in_a_tunnel]

We very well could be the last of a dying generation of thinkers. Unless something is done to improve our schools, our homes, our economy, and our lives, there will be no future that is clearly defined as prosperous. This country, for the longest time, has had no room for free-thinkers. Perhaps it's time for this generation to rise up and take the challenge of changing the face of this once great nation, to make it great once again.  

[[`Teh.Emo.Fairy`]]

Hey.  

[MyOwnBestCritic]

The speed of modern society also has something to do with it. Everyone wants things "now if not sooner," so they abbreviate. And abbreviate. And abbreviate. Sooner or later, they forget how to spell the whole word, since all of the vowels and half of the consonants have all been removed.

Plus, reading is "dorky" now. Nobody wants to be uncool, so they aren't literate. Bah.  

[splashseal]

lola_siannodel

And here's alittle added part. people aren't patient. Entertainment has to be instant. I tried reading a ghost story to my friend, and she got impatient because I had to describe things to her. All books will become tapes and movies. Cds, Mp3s, and the such will soon make reading 'Obsoliete', and we will no longer feel we have a use for it any more. Thus, we don't and won't read. People also don't have imagination any more. They can't picture what is going on, while I can picture it very well. Whether it's TV, or just the generation, I don't know. In Shakespeare's plays, at the beginging, he would tell people to imagine horses when they speak of horses and stuff. Mainly beacause they didn't have the props, and couldn't bring in horses. But still, people had an imagination. Now, not to insuklt science, but we're coming up with to many explinations. I mean, peopl no longer ask, because they believe that they know. No one's couriouse about the world around them. No one asks questions, or anything. If somebody does something, we don't wonder why. We just believe them a freak and move on.

SO TRUE. I think what everyone has said so far has contributed to it in some way or another. I personally said peer validation, but I think it is a lot of little things. Video games, for example, make it so that "txt talk" is almost necessary. Yet somehow it had gradually become more and more acceptable to use this outside of video games into places where it is no more necessary than it is acceptable. Age definitely has nothing to do with it either. I commend all the younger members here for showing that being a kid does not mean you are stupid; I was once like you, too, so I know how you feel. I see just as many college students use "txt talk", and even in essays, no less, so it is an individual choice to be competent spellers, writers, etc., and age is just a state of mind, anyways, and to say anything else IS ageism, with which I also firmly disagree. So, getting back to peer validation, if something looks cool to someone, then it is very likely that trend with continue. I can say that this rapid (?) decline in literacy is the bane of our existence.

As for miss Lola's quote, I think society is ultimately to blame for it. Not that anything is going to ever be perfect and that things will always be changing, but why not try to make things change for the better. Instead, we are all about instant gratification. Artiste_in_a_tunnel mentioned us being the last generation of thinkers, and I most certainly disagree there. Education isn't the answer either, at least in terms of current practices. Everything is given to you and you take it for truth and never question it. I recently came across an article blaming Plato for the downfall of education (WRONG on so many levels!), but if you blame someone who encouraged thinking and questioning, then is it any surprise that things are as they are now? Being intelligent and wanting to learn is seen as uncool and unfashionable, and it is annoying to be criticized for using proper grammar, etc. Really, I can go on and on...  

[Leoshi]

Wow...this is all so true! I never really realized how far down America has fallen until I see these examples. Jeeze, I hope something changes for the better. Heh, like someone starting a campaign for the improvement of spelling!  

[May Lassie]

Why would anyone do that? People are so lazy these days. If one doesn't have to work, they wouldn't even get out of bed. That’s why technology has gotten slow over the century.  

[Luxx Aeternam]

I blame computers! It's all because of Microsoft Word automatically fixing mistakes. People no longer feel obligated to learn how to spell and write proper sentences because a computer can do it for them.  

[xAvenirYuinax]

I don't think the decline in literacy can be blamed on one specific thing, many could argue that point though.

Everything that has been said on parental influence, peer validation and pressure, laziness, everything being digitalized, the list goes on, it's all true. If parents don't introduce reading to their child while young, the child likely won't develop a passion for it. I was fortunate enough that my mother was dead set on reading to me every night. Call me sad, but I still have the first "book" I read. >.> You know, those plastified cardboard things that are indestructible kind of. That was how my passion for reading was born. Heck, my mom and I, we have book races. That always earns me funny looks.

In terms of videogames, TV, music and all that media, if you don't have an anchor of "literary sanity" I guess you could call it, you fall victim to the brain-dead state that they often induce. Well, that's forward-thinking out the window. Lovely. Although I must admit that TV soaps, reality show and the like promote a rather demeaning way of life... Music is all sounding the same to me, that same vague message of 'you cheated on me' and 'the world is against me, I shall angst.' I mean no offence by saying that, but it's so redundant. My theory is that the media is trying to transform us all into a brainless population.

I agree that Word, although useful to a certain point, is also a reason for a lack of literacy. Why do it when the computer can do it for you? Not to mention that for papers, reports and such, all people have to do these days is copy, paste and say it's yours. Some teachers do check for plagiarism (hah, used an actual dictionary since that's not a word I use often), but not the majority of them.

Peer validation, that's a big one. It can be tackled from so many different view points. Now, I'm talking for my age group -teenagers. Well, there's the mnost obvious reason, we want to look "cool". The best way to do that? Look stupid. I don't exactly know how that works but anyway... Another human instinct, besides being noticed, is to fit in and be accepted. If sounding like total idiot is the way to do it, trust me, we'll do it. Also, there's another thing that I've noticed that hasn't been mentioned, rebellious pride. I only thought of this when on msn with one of my ex-friends, you could call her. She doesn't do any of her school work and is failing with perfect 30%s or below. But the thing is, she prides herself on her low marks. She thinks it's positively hilarious. Where does the rebellious thing come in? Well, as a teenager, we often feel the need to ascertain our position, to gauge what level of power we have and it's sad that some people resort to attacking their intelligence... and their language abilities. Heh, "lost in translation?" That's something I often think about when trying to decipher all these forms of netspeak.

The school system does not help either. In fact, it discourages having that bright-light or kid prodigy. That goes back self-esteem and self-assertion, for the instructor and the rest of the students, in the face of an individual who was blessed with an above average intelligence. The same is true for the other extreme, the mentally handicap, although the others feel a little more positive about it. The government and school systems do not want to have to deal with these problems. Both extremes of the IQ spectrum require specific attention, attention that our institutions are not willing to provide support for. The message? well, for the smart ones. Be mediocre, be dull. So even the government is turning its back on us. Okay... that was a little off-topic. Just had to rant a bit since I'm stuck in that situation. If it's bad enough reading language mutation, hearing it makes me want to go on a rampage. ex: "Yeah! I did good!" "But sir, I didn't do nothing!" -cringes- Yeah...

I also think, refering back to your place in teenage society, that txt-tlk is an attack on the literate. Since many today do not like to waste effort on showing people up, they distort something of their 'nemesis'. For us, our language is butchered. So through these English monstrosities, we're isolated, excluded and further labeled as the freaks that we are not. Well, not in the literal sense. It's a perversion, the smart become dumb. Because of that, education is shunned.

Laziness, I don't think that I have a sufficent or powerful enough opinion on it. I'm one of the laziest people around but then again, that's in terms of procrastination, not in communication and intellect. So not much comment on that. But hey, sloth is a deadly sin.

I say all this as a Canadian. It's not only the Americans, rest assured... or be discouraged.

So all that prattling in a handful of words, it's a groupd effort by the evil in the word. Aka, society.

-yawn- Well, I'm getting tired, so I think I'll stop before my thoughts become even less comprehensible than they already are.  

[Malbeur]

I think texting is a big problem, sending text messages on cell phones. I never got into that fad, I don't get the point. It's a lot easier and quicker to just call a person. Due to the limited space on the screen, people feel inclined to shorten their words. I blame texting.  

[K4t3yKat]

People just don't bother teaching their kids, and the schooling is lax. It's like this in Canada, too. The kids could care less about having proper grammar, and the parents could care less about whether or not the child is properly educated. For instance: When I was in grade eight, I had to teach five people on how to read and look up words in a dictionary, and then another ten on how to use an encyclopedia properly. I learned this in grade four, and was amazed at the total incompetence. Finally, after about 3/4 of the class came up to me, I told them to screw off, and that if they were stupid, it was their problem. But I mean come on, if they can not even read a simple dictionary, then I pity the new generation. If this keeps up, we're royally screwed.  

[xAvenirYuinax]

Harusaki-chan

People just don't bother teaching their kids, and the schooling is lax. It's like this in Canada, too. The kids could care less about having proper grammar, and the parents could care less about whether or not the child is properly educated. For instance: When I was in grade eight, I had to teach five people on how to read and look up words in a dictionary, and then another ten on how to use an encyclopedia properly. I learned this in grade four, and was amazed at the total incompetence. Finally, after about 3/4 of the class came up to me, I told them to screw off, and that if they were stupid, it was their problem. But I mean come on, if they can not even read a simple dictionary, then I pity the new generation. If this keeps up, we're royally screwed.

It've come across people in my school completely ignorant of what an encyclopedia is, or they had some distorted definition of it. I was tempted to grab the thickest volume that could be found and club them over the head with it. In retrospect, I think I should have. It might have knocked some sense into them.  

[Exidus3]

I find it's kinda of sad that most people don't even know what an encyclopedia is...The reason for that, well, I would have to blame television, computers, and laziness all at once. For example, I was sitting in class with some other students. All they wanted to do when no one was in the room was watch the Black Entertainment Channel...people are more interested in seeing videos that sound like crap and are unnecessary. Society in general has lost the meaning of reading literature or at least typing right..Come on! Every time I go Towns, and some area, there's always at least 10-20 people talking in that "txt talk". I can barely stand it. I think that's because society has become lazier and typig out words just seems to take to long. I just can't understand why typing out a few words is so troublesome.  

[Mismatched_Dreams]

Personly I blame the fact that people think their 'cool' if they "txt talk". I really don't understand why they do it. I'm on my sisters laptop because mine won't turn on, the keys are hard to press and some don't even work. But I don't use "txt talk". One of my friends does and it always takes me like three minutes to figure out what their saying.

Also I think you look much smarter if you type out the full word. I only ever use "txt talk" on my cellphone when I'm text messaging with my sister. (We do it that way because we hate talking to each other over the phone for some reason.) But we understand each other. ninja For some strange reason I can understand what ever she writes even if its missing three letters. Kids from 8-17 use chat speak just because they can somtimes.

Although... Even when I was 11 I typed out the full word. I wasn't a very fast typer but I still did it. Now I can type 150 WPM. Maybe some people do it because they don't know their way around a keyboard? sweatdrop