Thread: Etucaton

Originally Posted by ScoutHikerDad

CommieCat-You cherry-picked my post and completely misrepresented what I was trying to say to defend a position no one was attacking. I never said or (or even remotely implied) that actual reading of text on a computer is any less real reading than reading text from a book. In fact, I've been a vocal (sometimes lonely) proponent in my department for a couple of years now for the very idea that the very nature of what we call reading, and the way the newest generations consume information, is changing dramatically, and that we had better get out in front of it (or at least try to catch up to it) if we want to stay relevant in this age of on-line courses, distance learning, etc. Just this year I started bringing my seniors relevant on-line articles to read, analyze, and respond to, on topics as diverse as the BP oil spill and "Twelve Ways to Get Fired for Facebook." The Shakespeare and Chaucer they get on stuffy old print.

And yes, though many young people (and even a lot of older, including me) do much of their reading on-line, with a Kindle or other electronic devices, what have you, my point (which I thought I made pretty obvious) is that many others spend a troubling amount of time watching WAY too much tv, doing bong hits in endless video game marathons, that sort of thing, and very little reading of ANYTHING, on-line or otherwise. And yes, an educational system that has at times been too slow to change has been part of the problem, but certainly not all of it.

Again, I don't want this to come off as a rant. It's just that this is a subject close to my heart, and one I am very passionate about, and I felt my chain being yanked a little...Forgive me if my claws came out for a bit, CommieCat. It's hard to have a good, spirited internet discussion without the verbal give and take of face-to-face communication; too much time to formulate the witty, perfectly-worded reply.

I will close by saying that, though we often decry today's youth, their teachers, and the educational system in general, I will tell you that I have had the honor and privilege of teaching (and learning from, for by the time I get them they are mostly "done" as kids) some amazingly literate, dynamic, and passionate young people eager (and well-equipped) to go out into the world and make a difference. As much as we (I as much as anyone) **** and moan about "kids today," many of them are extremely literate, and wise beyond their years. In fact, veritable legions of my former students go off to succeed in college and beyond, probably in spite of me more than because of me, but that is another boring topic (right up there with the first time a former student drew my blood in a doctor's office...). Aaron

Fair enough, and apologies if I misconstrued your comments. I grew up with video games and computers and didn't really read many novels after middle school, but I'd like to think that I'm quite literate. Last two authors I got into were Douglas Adams, because I had the text-based adventure game, and William Gibson, because I played a BBS game called Lords of Cyberspace which was based on Neuromancer. If not for computer games, I might have stopped with Choose Your Own Adventure!

I admit that I'm quick to jump in when I see arguments about movies, TV, computers and video games being the key influence of people who make poor decisions. I'm in the camp who thinks that parenting is where both the problem and solution lie.