I think the real problem is the gap that is beginning to form between older generations and generation y and even more so with the Silent Generation (2000-present). Wikipedia actually has a nice article on the youngest generation, comparing them and naming after a past generation that shared similar qualities (although it really is a bit early to tell). These qualities include, "withdrawn, cautious, unimaginative, indifferent, unadventurous and silent."

As Lilith brought up, hardly anybody reads in their free time anymore. While it is easy to write the young off as sinful sloths, I feel this is overly simplistic. First, I can only speak for the American generations and am in no way trying to make a global assertion. I believe Generation Y (my generation, 1980-1999), was the first generation that experienced a sort of loss of childhood. There are far more pressures facing our generation than any other. The competition to rise above "averageness" is blinding, and leisure activities such as reading are either eliminated or stripped down to a fashion that is both efficient to the teen's progress, but no longer fun.

Take high school reading for example. In many cases, schools force such works as The Tale of Two Cities, The Odyssey, and other classical works, upon which no foundation for comprehension has been laid. The student is expected to look up whatever words they don't comprehend. This, by itself, is by no means so horrible, the only problem is when you have no foundation to read a difficult classic work, filled with vocabulary that is unfamiliar, taking it at 100 page chunks per every few days, or every week, the experience no longer takes on a pleasurable one, nor one conducive to learning. Society has become obsessed with cramming as much as they can, with quantity rated over quality. This obsession stems from the competition I have mentioned, and has turned reading into a torturous experience for most teen, including myself at that time in my life.

It wasn't until after my freshmen year of college that I began to love reading. This, of course, occurred during the summer, where I was free from the pressure of reading deadlines. In a bit of ironic justice, I read faster and with more comprehension than I ever had for any class.

Unfortunately, I don't feel many people try to discover a love for reading, especially not after their high school experiences. This lack of reading, as Lilith brought up, results in lower vocabularies.

However, I believe publishers are keen to this. A "new literacy", I believe is being formed, where the word bank new authors are pulling from become slimmer and slimmer. I read close to 14 books this summer, all contemporary. I can't remember a single instance where I did not know the meaning of a word. This, however, is not a case of my flexing my intellectual muscles. My vocabulary, while not average, is by no means at a high intellectual level. I struggle with a good deal of words from classical novels.

In essence, you have baby boomer parents, disillusioned with the life they were promised but in most cases failed to achieve, pushing their kids in unhealthy manners. This is reinforced by the school system, which turns reading into an activity that very few associate with pleasure. This lack of experience, and lower reading comprehension is adapted to by new authors have simplified their vocabularies. Teens, of course, shoulder some blame. If I had, perhaps tried to develop a love for reading at an early age, I am sure my vocabulary would have been better and my skills as a writer improved. However, given the obstacles Generation Y and the Silent Generation face, it would be naive to think that reading, and the love for the activity, will not diminish as time goes on.

___________________
Lost Souls

Language is not static.

Language is just a lesser, more base form of communication.

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There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio,
Than are dreamt of in your philosophy.

quote:

Originally posted by Halcyon+On+On Language is not static. Language is just a lesser, more base form of communication.

Language is a symbol!

___________________
"You won a new refrigerator, great! Where you gonna put it?" - Tony Danza

This is terrible!

The solution obviously is that we have to give the young folk a love of reading at an early age, that way it will be with them throughout their entire lives.

But how can we do this? I think if we put a think tank of the world's smartest people together that we could find a solution.

Maybe something that would catch their imaginations? Something with wizards, and dragons, and Hogs and Warts and all that kinda stuff.

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Светопресавление
your pearl casting hero

quote:

Originally posted by Marc Summers Language is a symbol!

People have this *awesome* tendency to deify symbols. Especially in America.

A symbol is nothing beside the actual concept it seeks to describe.

___________________
There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio,
Than are dreamt of in your philosophy.

quote:

Originally posted by Subey This is terrible! The solution obviously is that we have to give the young folk a love of reading at an early age, that way it will be with them throughout their entire lives. But how can we do this? I think if we put a think tank of the world's smartest people together that we could find a solution. Maybe something that would catch their imaginations? Something with wizards, and dragons, and Hogs and Warts and all that kinda stuff.

___________________
There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio,
Than are dreamt of in your philosophy.

quote:

Originally posted by kush paintings There are far more pressures facing our generation than any other.

Nah, not at all. Other than that, though, perceptive comments.

I think what will happen is a larger and larger gap will develop between "high-level literacy" and the "average level." Not that the highest level will somehow be increasing, but the average level will be plummeting to the bare minimum needed for "functionality." It is true that teaching kids the skills needed to read and comprehend Shakespeare or The Federalist Papers or Last of the Mohicans is mostly superfluous; it is not "necessary" for a booming economy or a lively culture, and it is dishonest to pretend that it is. I do think that something significant gets lost when the vast majority of people can no longer understand the works of their fairly recent ancestors, but ultimately high-level reading skills can be done without, and not enough people feel the way I do for the trend to reverse itself.

quote:

Originally posted by DigitalPhoenix Everyday I hear the English language butchered down in certain parts of Miami, but it's because of latin people not knowing how to speak it properly. I do agree however that proper grammar MUST be taught regardless, it urks the fuck out of me to see people mispell common words: 'you're vs your' - would be a perfect example. That and Geography are my peeves...if you dont know where Guyana is...school yourself!

Yeah, that really Irks me too.

quote:

Originally posted by Subey This is terrible! The solution obviously is that we have to give the young folk a love of reading at an early age, that way it will be with them throughout their entire lives.

The solution actually lies in parenting, and not in academia. Some kids will naturally gravitate towards reading, which I did... and some not... like my older brother.

For my own part, what made it enjoyable was that I was never forced to read, only encouraged... and books were made available as and when I wanted them... even comic books.

For the more complicated books I attempted at an early age, my mother, who loves reading too, was always around to help with words I didn't understand.

As far as the degeneration of writing skills, grammer, spelling and basic manners go; it's in my opinion an inevitable phenomenon, as more and more parents spend time in the office, at work... away from their kids.

Thankfully in India, we still have strong family ties, and being a homemaker is considered serious business and not perceived as a lack of ambition.

quote:

Originally posted by nikhil chinapa For the more complicated books I attempted at an early age, my mother, who loves reading too, was always around to help with words I didn't understand.

Maybe it's not so much the parenting as it is the parents.

Like, encouraging your kids to read or not...being there or not...when the parents are illiterate and simply cannot help their children with words, the trend simply repeats itself.

___________________
There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio,
Than are dreamt of in your philosophy.

quote:

Originally posted by MrJiveBoJingles Nah, not at all.

Really? College admissions are getting exponentially harder, my generation is the first to more or less "have" to do summer internships if you want to make it in the business world, there isn't a high school guidance counselor in the country who will deny that there are far more pressures on students by their parents, amplified by competition from their peers. In short, you, my friend, are wrong. Biotch.

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Lost Souls

quote:

Originally posted by kush paintings Really?

Yes, really. If you were talking about just educational pressures, then what you said may be accurate. But you did not specify that.