Two days ago, I received some exciting news: I was asked (and approved) to be a guest blogger! At first, I was unsure if I had the ability to catch a reader's attention, keep their attention, and still get my point across. Writing has always been a joy for me, though, so I took the assignment. (And after seeing that my first blog on here got 32 page views in less than 14 hours, I'm feeling more confident!) I'm a total nerd; I will do research projects and write analytical essays out of boredom. Anyway, I digress...
My thoughts for tonight piggy back off of the idea of blogging. How is internet communication (email, blogs, instant messaging, etc.) helping and/or hurting people today, specifically our youth? On one hand, I could say that all of this writing is helping the students of today. Talking with someone who is not in the same room requires a certain amount of descriptive imagery. Younger children may be understanding the concept of sentence structure, as their emails to Grandma require sentences. Students may even get used to writing their thoughts so much that English testing could be less anxiety.
I could say that. But I wouldn't believe a word of it.
People today - not just youth - are taking the English language, throwing it in the blender, and smearing it on the walls of grammar. Kids, who have been IMing their friends since before they started school, have no regard for proper English, or even correct spelling, for that matter. They are so accustomed to this botched way of conversing that English essays look like this:
Me and my mom went 2 tha store this wkend. We would of gone 2 c my grandma but it rained.
It was so difficult writing those two "sentences." It hurts my heart to know that there are people who think this is correct. Honestly, they do! On a bit of a side note, technology in general is seriously hindering students. Spell check allows them to not be required to learn anything about English; they simply believe that spell check will correct everything for them. News flash! Spell check makes errors sometimes. Yes, you read that correctly. Spell check is IMPERFECT.
My biggest pet peeve in regards to this is that students don't have to learn practically anything anymore! Didn't read your summer reading assignment? Oh, it's fine, just Google the summary on the day before school starts. You can even look up symbolism in the book so you don't have to use your brain at all. Need to write a history paper? Just take one paragraph from a few different websites on the subject, throw the paragraphs together, and voila! A "flawless" and easy A+. I'm even seeing adults who cannot do simple math without a calculator. You seriously can't subtract five from eight? It's appalling.
I do understand that there are a select few teachers who still require at least one book reference for assignments, or take up cell phones when students are using them to cheat on tests. And for that, I applaud you. There are so many other teachers, though, who are tired, burned out, or just plain lazy. My daughter is only two right now. By the time she starts school, how relaxed will the schools be? Will there even be teachers, or just robots spitting out information that the students can print from the robot at the end of class? I honestly pray that my daughter is as passionate about learning as I am. Hopefully, even if the schools go completely downhill, she will still find a way to learn new information and actually retain it.
Ladies and gentlemen, I conclude the demise of the education system in the United States.
One last thing: my guest blog is expected to be posted on Tuesday. Check out blog.mommeetmom.com to read some awesome articles on parenthood, marriage, and tons of other topics to which moms (and dads!) can relate. And don't forget to head over there on Tuesday!
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