Take a kid fishing

Have you ever gone to an art museum and looked at a Chuck Close self Portrait and marveled at the sweat and whiskers painted into the portrait and wonder how he did it?
Have you ever sat down and listened to Adagio in G-Minor by Tomaso Albinoni and imagined a World War 1 dogfight in the clouds between the Luftwaffe and the British.
Have you ever sat down and read Pincher Martin by William Golding and imagined his struggle to survive on the island?
Have you every sat on bench and just looked at a scene and contemplated how to paint or photograph what you are seeing?
Have you ever gone to the library to research something that you saw or heard about that intrigued you?

Chances are if you are under 25 the odds are pretty high for you to say NO. I say that because we no longer teach the young to think, to be creative or install a desire to want to learn or read. Schools kill Music and Art Programs in budgets in order to add technology We focus everything now on what the technology and the internet can provide but we do not teach how to use it. We have been hearing about "No Child Left Behind" and closing the "Technology Gaps". It is only recently that studies are coming out that show how much the technology is dumbing down the upcoming generations. Social networking including Myspace, Facebook, Cell phones, Texting, Electronic gaming and computers are starting to be shown as the source of the decline in literacy rates of the young.

Games may teach motor skills, spatial or judgment skills but very few improve language or communication skills. Most games are mostly sound effects and music and little to no language content. Those that do have communication between players is communication on the level of the game and minimal. You’re character will get killed off if you are too distracted talking or typing.

Social networking allows users to stay within and never leave an all inclusive comfort world. It is a world at the fingertips 24/7 that provides all that is desired or fills the interests needs and peer support and friends. There is no need to venture out of the comfort zone. RSS feeds, Twiiter, Facebook/ Myspace and many of the Web 2.0 tools provide the users with everything that meets their interest and in essence isolate themselves from stimulus that is out of their interest. Viral Videos, Nike shoes, Ipod downloads, and news of Britney outweigh reading “To Kill a Mockingbird”, the News or following current Events.

The young may be Tech Savvy but they are also are becomeing increasingly functionally illiterate in reading writing and communication skills as they grow. The lack of skills are showing up more and more in the job market and college campuses and general everyday life in the adult world. Studies are now showing that college students are entering college with a conversation literacy rate barely higher than that of a pre school level book. Employers can't get workers that understand how to perform the job, read or follow instructions.

Schools and society have come to depend on technology as the source of learning and not a tool. Proper reading, writing, math and cognitive skills are not being taught or instilled but assumed they will be learned online.
We need to make sure the young have the tools for a first life before worrying about Second Life and all the WEB 2.0 tools and technologies. We are their future and they are ours.

Is Google Making us Stoopid?

Atlantic Monthly magazine has a cover title in the July /August 2008 issue titled "Is Google Making us Stupid?" I found the article an interesting and thought provoking read. I read the article in the printed magazine not online, I have to admit my mind kept wandering, scanning ahead and I had trouble reading every line word for word with out becoming somehow distracted. The significance of this statement will be realized by reading the article.
Oh - Yes my spelling error is intentional.