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I left a comment on Britney Spear's blog post titled 15 -year old girl overdoses.  The post is very sad and tragic, but I highly recommend taking the time to read this story.  Too many kids are dying and many of these deaths could be easily prevented.  

Introduction and First Body Paragraph

When is the last time you voluntarily picked up a book to read?  Students tend to take their time while answering this question, because they truthfully do not remember the last time they read for fun.  Students are lacking the motivation to read for pleasure anymore.  Some argue it is because they do not have enough time, while others rather spend their time watching television, surfing the Internet, and mastering videogames.  According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, the “average time these children [spend] online on a typical day rose to one hour and 41 minutes in 2004, from 46 minutes in 1999” (4).  This dramatic increase is not benefiting the Digital Natives’ education, but hindering their academic success.  Although all reading, from the Internet to a novel, is valuable, books help students develop better habits of the mind.  Several scholars argue this issue and whether students are in fact reading less or reading more.  The lack of reading amongst our generation is evident through statistics, surveys, and studies.  The information presented in the scholar’s articles explains how the benefits gained from reading novels’ text are far more beneficial than the reading done on the Web.

Students may argue that teachers have made reading miserable and not fun anymore.  In class reading assignments are brutal, difficult, and sometimes plain boring.  The truth is all the reading done in the classroom is extremely beneficial.  For instance, when Mrs. Channell assigns a reading everyone comes to class prepared in order to contribute to discussion.  This interaction and participation in the classroom is made possible by novels.  Students are able to mark up their readings, flip to necessary pages, and connect to the author’s text more effectively.  Motoko Rich, author of several New York Times articles, one including “Literacy Debate: Online, R U Really Reading?”, refers to Ken Pugh, a cognitive neuroscientist at Yale.  Pugh states that “reading a book, and taking the time to ruminate and make inferences and engage the imaginational processing, is more cognitively enriching” (8).  Our minds are being worked while discussing chapters, metaphors, doppelgangers, plots, characters, and much more.  Typically, students reading online are in “30-second digital mode” (8), jumping from webpage to webpage and not understanding the meanings behind the text presented.  Critics such as Mr. Spiro of Michigan State argue that with the Internet a reader is able “to cover a lot more of the topic from different points of view” (8).  Although a reader is able to ‘cover’ more ground, students are not processing the information as effectively.  The Internet is helpful for finding quick facts but is the enemy when it comes to reading.  The Internet is “diminishing literacy [and] wrecking attention spans” (2).  Oftentimes students are spending their time on the Internet unproductively, which is weakening their academic success.  Children spend their time instant messaging and facebooking which involves “minimal reading at best”(3).  The negligible amount of book reading, done by students, is oftentimes represented by their poor test scores or low grade point averages. 

Mind Like Matilda

Remember the movie Matilda? Yes, the one about the young girl born into a family who barely notices her. She is a girl with magical powers which help her get by in her hectic lifestyle. Her family consists of a father who sells cars illegally, a Mom who is constantly getting her hair and nails done, and a brother who sits in front of the T.V. all day. Matilda distances herself from her family. Instead of obtaining their bad and unintelligent habits, Matilda finds comfort in books. She goes to the library as soon as she could walk. Matilda reads everyday at a young age, and enters into school smarter than the rest of the class. As Bauerlein comments in his book, The Dumbest Generation, by reading young Americans (or Matilda) gain “more civic and historical knowledge, familiarly with current events and government actions, a larger vocabulary, better writing skills, eloquence, inexpensive recreation, and contact with great thoughts and expressions of the past” (56). Reading is making us smarter. Because reading for fun is not the norm these days, I think people who are reading on their own time are smart and different individuals. They are set apart from those who are consumed by technological advances.

Sure, Matilda is just a movie about a little girl who has magical powers allowing her to move things with her eyes, but I believe she has another great “power”. Matilda is reading books for fun. This allows her to have a power over the other kids in her class and her family. She creates an intellectual gap between her peers and her family because she is reading, therefore absorbing more information than them. Matilda is reading for fun and reaping the benefits. The younger you start off reading, the easier and better you get at it. Students dislike spending their leisure time reading because they do not see the instant benefits. In reality, reading is beneficial in the long run, so you might as well start somewhere.

The Dumbest Generation- Commenting on Mrs. Channell's Blog

PEOPLE WAITING IN LINE TO GET THE NEWEST HARRY POTTER BOOK!


Let me first off say that this reading took me an hour and a half to complete! Yes I am not proud of this at all. I agree with Bauerlein when he says that "the more you read, the more you can read". Basically, because I rarely read in my free time I struggle to complete reading assignments quickly and efficiently. Usually I get very distracted and am unable to concentrate for awhile. From parents to teachers, everyone is always commenting on the benefits that come from reading. They make you a better writer, more knowledgeable about certain topics, and improve test scores. I disagree with Dyvrsity when she says that students are not reading because they do not want to be labeled as "nerds". When I see students sitting around campus with books propped up on their laps, they are smart in my mind. I am always curious if these "bench readers" are reading for fun or for class. Most of the time, I try to get a sneak peak at the books they are reading. Sometimes they are textbooks, paperbacks, and novels. I figure whether it is for school or for fun, at least they are reading and expanding their minds.


I agree with Bauerlein when he states that there is a large decrease in leisure reading amongst students. It is not that are generation dislikes reading, but we rather spend our time completing other tasks. A big one is socializing. The a-literate generation is concerned with keeping up with TV shows, such as American Idol and keeping up with all the contestants on the show. We do such things, because we know it will be the hot topic to talk about the next day at school. It is not that we are embarrassed to read, but we rather do things that connect us to our friends. Students get excited about books only if others are excited about books. This is why the Twlight Series and Harry Potter books are so popular. Kids are able to connect and relate to each other through these books, which I might add were both made into movies. Film makers probably figured if the books raked in the doe, the movies (about the books) would do the same. And they were right! Students get hyped up about books and movies only if other students are doing the same. I believe reading is a trend. Students want to read when they feel like it or when they have to. Unfortunately students are not reading for fun as much anymore, and are not gaining the benefits. I agree with Bauerlein when he says “books afford young readers a place to slow down and reflect” but I think because our generation lives such fast pace lives it is hard for us to commit to a book. We hate being cut off from the social scene and some believe reading is like solitary confinement.