I am so tired of sensationalist, chicken little, sky is falling books like this.

According to the author,Mark Bauerlein, the internet is making young people ignorant about just about anything, and destroying their ability to read. As a society, we are apparently doomed.

I would be worried, but at 55 years of age I have heard it all before.

When I was a kid it was television that was turning children away from books. Before that it was crime and horror comics (remember "The Seduction of the Innocent"?). And before that it was radio.

In 1955 "Why Johnny Can't Read" was the eighth best selling non-fiction book of the year. It was a "shocking" expose of how the suburbs were failing our children, and how suburban schools were churning out kids who didn't know how to read.

That was 54 years ago, for the love of heaven.

And in spite of the claims of Bauerlein and his many predecessors more books are being printed and sold (and presumably read) than ever before.

In his book Bauerlein points out that many high school graduates today do not have the basic reading and writing skills that are needed to succeed in university and, later, in life.

That is true, and it's a concern. I am frequently stunned by the poor quality of the resumes that potential job seekers submit to my office.

But it is not, as Bauerlein wants us to believe,a new problem that has arisen since, and because of, the birth of the internet.

In my first year of university well over half of the first year students were sent to remedial reading and writing classes. That was 37 years ago, in 1972 (this review is really starting to make me feel old).

Another point that the author of The Dumbest Generation tries to make is that young people do not "read" the internet in the same way that older people read books. Instead, they quickly scan a web page and, if nothing catches their interest, move on. They also bounce back and forth from site to site,instead of focusing on one at a time.

From this and similar data the author jumps to the conclusion that young people are losing the ability to focus and, therefore, are losing the ability to read books.

Well, I'm 55 years old and read web pages in pretty much exactly the same way that the author complains that the internet generation does. That hasn't stopped me from reading the better part of 100 books each year.

There have always been kids who love to read, and kids who hate it. My brother has probably read less than 20 novels in his life, but he still managed to obtain a degree in engineering and is extraordinarily bright.

He has three sons. They all grew up with the internet, love computer games, and text constantly.

The 17 year old is a strong reader. The 15 year old doesn't read a lot of books, but he devours the daily newspaper. And the best word to describe the 12 year old's reading habits is "voracious". He always has his nose in a book.

My clerk's 8 year old daughter also loves to read. Her birthday is approaching, and she gave her parents a list of 10 books that she wants.

In my job I regularly deal with a lot of young people, and my personal experience after 30 years is that they are no different today than they were when I started. Most are great, some are rotten. Some are brilliant, most are bright, and some are "intellectually challenged".

The Dumbest Generation is yet another book that relies on scare tactics and slanted research to rack up sales and make money for the author. I never felt that Bauerlein actually believed what he was writing- he's just out to make a fast buck.

He is, by the way, a professor who is paid to teach the dumbest generation. Must be a real joy to be one of his students ( )

non-fiction, popular ( )

Although Bauerlein spends a lot of ink (bits) in attack mode, he gives plenty of evidence to support his claim and his title. ( )

The dumbing-down of America continues at an astounding pace and an Emory University English professor believes that he knows why it is happening. Mark Bauerlein has written a book that will likely irritate as many people as there will be people who will praise it for its insights, starting with the very title of the book: The Dumbest Generation – How the Digital Age Stupefies Young Americans and Jeopardizes Our Future. Labeling any generation “the dumbest generation” is guaranteed to draw the wrath of most of those falling into that age group. Unfortunately for them, Bauerlein builds a strong case that the title of his book is entirely accurate.

But make no mistake. Bauerlein is not calling this generation stupid; he is saying that their ignorance is largely the result of the technology they have grown up with, technology that keeps them tied to their peers practically 24 hours a day, thus ensuring that they can completely insulate themselves from the rest of the world and whatever responsibilities and challenges they might be asked to face. Their worlds are so local and so superficial that they can completely cut off circumstances beyond their immediate circle of friends. If the subject does not involve “friends, work, clothes, cars, pop music, sitcoms (and) Facebook,” they are not much interested.

According to Bauerlein, and the numerous studies he cites throughout The Dumbest Generation, the main culprit in this sad story is the computer, the very tool that was supposed to give this generation an advantage over all that preceded it. But instead of using computers and the internet to their advantage, members of “the dumbest generation” have turned them into little more than combination telephone/television contraptions through which they can seamlessly socialize with their friends and peers.

A related problem is that these young people have grown up in a “disposable society,” one in which it is cheaper, easier, and much more fun to replace broken consumer items with new ones than it is to repair the old ones. It has become the norm for Americans to throw out old consumer electronics items and the like because, frankly, it is cheaper to buy new ones than to get the old ones repaired. Unfortunately, in the “cut and paste” society in which these young people live, knowledge has become just as disposable as any consumer electronic product. Students have convinced themselves that there is no point to retaining knowledge on any subject because that information can be found on the internet within seconds when, and if, they need it. So they “cut and paste” the information they need, often from dubious internet sources, and make almost no effort to retain any of it. Why bother, they think, when I know where to find it if I ever need it again?

Bauerlein builds a strong case that the failure of this generation to assimilate the history and culture of the society in which it lives is a dangerous thing, a breakdown that threatens the democratic system under which this country has thrived for more than two centuries. These young people, as a whole, do not read books; they do not study history, foreign affairs, civics, the arts or much else. If it happened before 1990, they are not interested. Bauerlein wonders where the next generation of “strong military leaders and wise political leaders, dedicated journalists and demanding teachers, judges and muckrakers, scholars and critics and artists” will come from and he hopes that his book will finally open the eyes of teachers, parents and reporters in time to save this generation – and our country’s future.

Of course there are exceptional members of “the dumbest generation,” young people who are as determined to learn and prosper as any who preceded. But they seem to be as much the exception as they are exceptional, and that is scary.

As Bauerlein puts it, “The youth of America occupy a point in history like every other generation did and will, and their time will end. But the effects of their habits will outlast them, and if things do not change they will be remembered as the fortunate ones who were unworthy of the privileges they inherited. They may even be recalled as the generation that lost that great American heritage, forever.”

Agree with it or not, this book will make you think. It might irritate you or it might upset you, largely depending on which generation you are a member of, I suspect. Read it with an open mind and decide for yourself.

Rated at: 4.0 ( )

Interesting and eye-opening but it rambles on with many details. It took the author so long to make his point. ( )