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Tobias Mann

College Comp

Mr. Reynolds

Jan 28, 2012

Prompt 1: The Dumbest Generation Anti-Readers

In Bauerleins The Dumbest Generation he cites reading as the cause of the supposed

downfall of the so called Millennial Generation. Explaining that todays youth do not have the

incentives to read, amongst a slue of distractions such as hours of television, and an ever growing

web presence among todays youth. He cites what little reading is done because of peer pressure,

which casts reading in an unfriendly light. Bauerleins second chapter fails to take into account

that times have changed, and reading is no longer considered taboo, and that many students

avidly search out other sources of knowledge that better suit their indevidual interests.

Brauerlein states clearly that the very reason for the descent of the Millennial

Generation, is due to the fall in reading among young individuals. This statement while

obviously too broad. It fails to apply well to my own life, which is fraught with constant reading,

and exploration of topics. The mere idea of going one day without reading seems extremely

frightening to me. Especially when my life and interests revolve around it. From the time I wake

up in the morning, my first though is of picking up my tablet, and reading the news for the latest

technological advancements or scientific breakthroughs. This is a habit I have yet to find reason

to break. From the thirty odd minutes I spend reading at the kitchen table every morning, I cover

everything from the latest tech news and innovation, to the latest edition of Time magazine all of

which streamed to a screen less than two feet in front of my face.

The situation described above, begins to poke holes into the fabric of Brauerlines theory,

the first being that students dont read at all. The idea that students dont read boggles the mind

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until you look at other ways that students can get their information. The idea that students almost

never crack their books in college, describes an issue in the classroom, rather than an issue with

the student. If the material doesnt engage the student, the student is going to find alternatives to

reading the material. Including things like online lectures, breakdowns of the topic from places

like wikipedia, and visually engaging notes from other websites. Strangely enough all of these

require a huge degree of thought. In the passage above, I never once described picking up a

book, or news paper. The mention of a magazine was purely digital, visually engaging me with

interactive editorials and news in a way that is unheard of in print. In fact none of the intellectual

reading done every morning involves picking up a piece of paper. I dont need to pick up

antiquated mediums with a one-sided point of view. Especially when I can read three articles, on

the same topic, and get the bigger picture, just as easily.

Brauerline describes the idea that students discourage each other from reading, making it

a taboo, which will label you a nerd a geek, and other supposedly undesired names. This is utter

nonsense, perhaps in another time and place. In my experience this has never been the case.

Growing up I was never called a nerd for reading. I was called a nerd because I asked questions

that were hard to answer, and the fact I didnt settle for things that didnt logically make sense.

Of course it didnt help my four grade teacher was a far right religious conservative, who would

have loved to fill my little head with nonsense. Something it seams Bauerline would have

proffered. Reading had always been an exciting subject in school up until middle school, when

reading turned from a fun topic of discussion to a method of critical thinking.

It is clear that Brauerline has a political agenda beyond that of what is described in his

book. However what is that political agenda include? Is it a desire to derail public education,

because of its supposed failure to educate? Is it an attach on liberal values including those

surrounding public education? Or is it both, an attach on public education in an attempt to prove

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that the supposed liberal texts could not educate our youth, so that conservative values can be

entrenched in the minds of children. Its hard to tell. Brauerlein bases the statement that my

generation, that of the millennial generation, does not read nearly as much as previous

generations. This just isnt the case, while books, may be losing readers what has grown is a

huge degree of content consumption via new technologies. It is clear that his intentions lie

elsewhere and have a more manipulative agenda than the raw ink on the page would suggest.