As
a country, we’ve always had difficulties with those who profess to know more
than us. It began with the British and
to be frank, the British have been holding it over us for centuries. What we did, collectively in the late 18th
and 19th centuries, we took pride in the opposite. We were a bit crude, we were loud and we
thumbed our noses at the pretensions held by others. Yet, there was still value on necessary
knowledge – skills that could create or build.
It would seem we are hitting new lows and it will be difficult to re-emerge
from our self-induced stupor.
Probably
the most obvious, lowest hanging fruit that I can bang away at is television
and advertisement. This time of year is
always distressing for me. It is not
that I’m returning to work soon but I’m bombarded with commercials that tell
kids that the most important part of returning to school is that they have the
right clothes, the right technology and in general, appear the coolest. On one hand, what else are they going to say
but the emphasis is all consuming and teachers know that of which I speak – the
first days of school and the first days after Christmas vacation are de facto
fashion shows. “Books? Don’t sweat it, kid. You’ll get further by looking better.”
Of
course, television programs consistently set new lows in depravity and
stupidity. It might be strange to hear
but in other countries, as we once did, they have programs where people calmly
discuss important political and social issues.
It is mature discussions on the events of the day or with the guest for
the evening. Today, the last refuge for
such programming is PBS and even there, such discussion-oriented programming is
rather thin on the ground. The programs
you would normally expect the most of but get the least from are news
shows. As I’ve mentioned before, I often
watch the news wondering where the adults are.
Screaming and emotionalism are a far cry from what once watched even a
decade ago. As for reality programming,
I don’t have enough space to address that issue.
Speaking
of the aforementioned arena of education, we have the prominence of standardize
testing. Today, it is more important
that you know an increasingly narrowed field of information – only what will be
on the test. From an early age, our
students are taught that a large swath of information is not important because
it will not be assessed. From the
earliest grades, we are teaching our students that the curiosity with which
they entered school does not serve them well.
Only a passing test grade will land you into a good school and ergo a
good career. Yet, school officials on
the national and state levels scratch their heads and profess dismay at
increasingly worsening scores on international testing. They’ve drunk the Kool-Aid and cannot think
beyond their boxes.
Lastly
(only for the sake of this article), technology has emphasized that convenience
is valued over substance. Technology
today, despite its proponents who champion educational apps and computer
programs as its benefits, has done more to shorten our attention span and gnaw
away at our intellectual stamina. Additionally,
for all the “enriching” aspects of technology, I don’t see people using
it. I see people pre-occupied with
Twitter, Facebook and other social media outlets. As a teacher, I’ve seen the degradation and
it is disheartening and baffling. Over
the last couple of decades, we have treasured our students’ ability to emote
and not think and we are paying for that misdirection.
I
hope the state of things is not as bad as I’m portraying. I’ve come across students from time to time
who buck the trend. What makes it seem
so dire is the prevalence of mass media and popular culture. I find myself wondering if there is some
network or programmer who would be willing to buck the trend and appeal to the
country’s intellect. Is there a
celebrity who will do more for intellectual pursuits that posing for the “Read”
posters found in libraries throughout the country? It is fine to not put on airs or to lampoon pretentiousness
but we must still value the mind and intellect.
If not, the great experiment might not last much longer.
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