Dumbing Down America
by James Buchanan
There are two big changes taking place in America. One is racial and the other is cultural. The racial change involves millions of Third World immigrants entering the US both legally and illegally. The cultural change involves millions of young Americans watching increasingly dumbed-down entertainment. Instead of reading books and actually learning things, more and more young people spend all their time on cell phones, Instant Messaging their friends or surfing the Internet. While it is possible to use new technology to become smarter, most people look for cheap entertainment. Cell phones and Instant Messaging make it easier than ever to be distracted from homework.
A recent news article confirms this trend: “The high school class of 2006 got stuck with a new, longer version of the SAT and didn’t fare well on it. Average reading and math scores fell a total of seven points - the sharpest decline in 31 years. Experts agreed the dip in combined math and critical reading scores on the college entrance exam was related to the new version of the test - but differed as to how. The updated exam, with a new writing section, also features more advanced math questions and replaces analogies with more reading comprehension.” (more…)