Amy Wasserman Each New Generation Has New

Amy Wasserman

Each new generation has new challenge and issues to face, and the current generation of young people is no different. Today's parents were once young, and in the 1960's for instance, the younger generation had many conflicts with their parents. But now the young of the past are the old of the present and they have taken up the role of the old of their time and criticize the young of today. But instead of hippies and "rock and roll," today's generation of young people are criticized for being too familiar with, and too involved with the internet and their electronic devises. But, as Amy Wasserman points out in her article "What's the Matter With Kids Today," this criticism is unfounded and not appropriate.

Computers, iPods, and other electronic devices are criticized as the cause of ignorance and a lack of communication skills, but they are really just a new form of information gathering and communication. Therefore, the problem lies not with the younger generation and their addiction to their devices, but with the older generation and their inability to understand the potential uses of such technology. Instead of making the young ignorant and unable to communicate properly, the new medium of computers have change the very fabric of communication. And while the younger generation may not be able to answer the "questions" of the older generation in the way that they expect, the young are able to face the new challenges that the electronic age presents to them.

The older generation grew up in a time where the best way to communicate with others was the landline telephone. When this technology was introduced in the last century, there were those who said that it would be the end of the written word, after all why take the time to write when one can simply call someone and talk to them. But as the older generation proved, the invention of the telephone did not spell the end of the written word. People still write letters, books, and communicate in the traditional way. Information presented in schools did not stop because of the telephone, books did not become obsolete. The telephone developed its own niche within society, adding to the culture, not taking away from it.

Now those who grew up with the telephone and books see the computer, internet, social networking sites, and other information technology as a threat to what they consider the traditional way of transferring information and communicating. For instance, Wasserman cites the National Endowment for the Arts report which denounced "the diminishing role of reading in American life." (Wasserman) But as the author pointed out, the very means by which the NEA conducted its research was faulty. They used landlines to contact their subjects, and then used questions from a 1986 test to discover whether or not they knew the answers. ("To Read or Not To Read") But the types of information that are considered to be important are not the same today as they were in 1986, and the new types of assignments students are required to perform do not provide them with the type of information needed to properly answer their outdated inquiries.

Today's young are a new, computer-savvy bunch that learns and communicates in a new way; a way that is entirely different from that of the older generation. ("What's The Matter With Kids Today?") The internet can provide a thousand times more information than any one particular library and all of its books. If one in four teens could not identify Adolph Hitler's role in history, this is not the fault of the children but those who have been giving them their assignments. "The average teen chooses to spend an average of 16.7 hours a week reading and writing online." (Wasserman) And while the NEA may not consider this to be "voluntary" reading and writing, today's young are reading and writing a great deal, it is just in a way that the older generation does not understand.

The modern world is as much dependent on the computer and other electronic devices as the older generation was with telephones and books. And when a single device can hold the accumulated knowledge of the human species, books seem to be as outdated as stone tablets. Students often receive and turn-in assignment through the internet, as well as doing most of their research online. Writing is commonly done through a computer and not with a pen and paper. And it is not only education which has been improved by the use of electronic devices, business, industry, news, and almost every other aspect of society has also been transformed by this technology. Saying that the internet decreases the ability to read and write is akin to blaming the printing press for a decrease in the literacy rate; the exact opposite of its real effects.