Reflect on the documentary and our class discussion. Then, peruse the linked review of "the Dumbest Generation" and locate 2 of Bauerlein's core points- 1 that you agree with and 1 that you disagree with. Finally, respond to the following prompt as a comment to this post:How would you encapsulate your final thoughts regarding how your generation is perceived and defined? Which criticisms do you side with? Which do you contest? Why?
25 comments:
After viewing the documentary, my faith in humanity stays the same as it was before: dismal. Our generation is too caught up in the attention gained for standing up for something that they miss the actual point. Our generation would rather have 1000 likes than gender equality, they'd rather have a celebrity re tweet their tweet than making a difference, and we would rather talk about change than actually make it happen. In my opinion, soon social media will become an entity too powerful to control, so it will be shut down.
I believe that our generation focuses too much on social media and their likes or views. Teens would rather be recognized as social media famous than be recognized for getting good grades by their peers. Which makes you wonder, if we're this bad as of right now how much worse can we become. We are heading down a dark path where social media is slowly taking over our lives.
I believe that our generation focuses too much on social media and their likes or views. Teens would rather be recognized as social media famous than be recognized for getting good grades by their peers. Which makes you wonder, if we're this bad as of right now how much worse can we become. We are heading down a dark path where social media is slowly taking over our lives.
Reading this piece on Mark Bauerlein made me realize certain things about our generation. One thing I agreed with him was that they're a lot more drop outs in high school and collages in this generation then usual. For example, this years seniors were worried they might not have enough money to have the annual senior cruise. Because there is so little sources to get from on a blame of the drop out ratio. What i disagree with is that he stated "Blame, also, the teachers, professors, writers, journalists, intellectuals, editors, librarians,and curators who will not insist on the value of knowledge and tradition, who will not judge cultural novelties by the high standards set by the past, who will not stand up to adolescence and announce". I on the other hand don't agree because our generation does know a lot and it is almost as an insult saying that we cant get far because of the generation before us that maybe perhaps we don't blame. Mark states that is the teachers faults and don't put enough pressure on the students well, this statement doesn't help marks cause because this helps prove it is not our generations fault.Over all I do agree that our generation could work harder not to give up when it gets hard yet, us total as a generation has done a great job on education.
In response to viewing the documentary "Generation Like" my opinion on the subject is as it was before. I have always thought social media was a good thing but our generation is spoiling it. In the documentary it explains that the average teen cares more about likes and retweets then important things like family and health. I disagree with that statement, I believe that is true with some people but most teenagers have higher values then social media. Sadly I predict as time progresses social media will take over and become too powerful. In result all social media websites will be taken down or should be taken down.
I think that social media can be used to help and support good causes and tear down the bad ones, or it can be used for the exact opposite. Right now I think that there is a mixture of both but in the end tear down the good causes and supporting the bad ones will prevail.
One point I think that Bauerlein makes that is good is when he says that we need someone to tell us what is right and wrong, and to tell us when to stop interacting solely on social media. One point I disagree with that he makes is when he says to blame the teachers, the parents, and everyone else when we make a mistake. I don't agree with that because it wasn't their mistake it was ours so why are you blaming the teachers and parents for it.
I think that our generation is perceived in the right way. We totally embody the name generation like. But I think that not the entire generation is that way, it's just most of the generation. I think that our generation should start actually living our lives through something other than our phones, computers, and TVs because we aren't getting enough exercise physically or mentally. America is one of the fattest countries in the world and I think that is because not only is our generation becoming more obsessed with technology but our whole nation is becoming obsessed with technology.
When watching the very interesting documentary, "Generation Like", my view on our generation was not exactly influenced fully. I definitely agree with most of the video, but there were somethings in which I did not agree with. For example, I agree with the fact that our generation is horrifyingly enthralled with social media, but not everyone is. When talking about "generation like" as a whole, you have to be careful, because we take things pretty seriously. People are worried about what other people will think of them ALL OF THE TIME. It is disgusting how much people get judged these days, and how no one does anything about it. Everyone is too worried about how many likes their picture on instagram is getting to try and stand up for someone being bullied. This subject, of bullying, becomes even worse with talking about social media because social media is one of, if not the, biggest reasons for bullying. Eventually, social media will take over the world, and it will have to end, because there are more bad things about it than there are good things about it. Hopefully, our generation can realize their disappointing habit, and try to change, that way when they have children, and their children have children, they will not be completely ignoring face-to-face contact. Social media is a dangerous thing, and watching this documentary opened my eyes a little bit more to the fact that "generation like" is a tangible thing.
Many people believe that our generation is defined by the technology that we use. We are on many new digital apparatuses that have been introduced to us as we have progressed through life. These technologies and websites we are on have shaped our attitudes and our outlook on life. If we get a lot of likes on a social media site, then we are happy, and the opposite means we are sad. Our lives are based on how we are perceived on the web, and that is much different from how other generations have acted.
I agree that since these technologies have come out, we have started to digress away from traditional knowledge. Before technology, students would pay attention and study so that they can do well and learn. Now, we do not pay attention as much and do not care as much since we believe that we can just look up something on our devices if we really needed it. All we need to do is get a grade, and if you have the right answer, you get a good grade; it does not matter to the student where the information comes from as long as they get a good grade. People believe that our generation is not listening to our mentors, and out mentors are betraying us, but that is simply not true. Our generation learns the most from the people from past generations who have experienced more than us. They can tell us anything that will help our generation succeed in the future. Our parents and teachers are also able to shape us into who we will become, and they do not back down from helping us do this. Without these mentors, we would not have been able to do as much as we already have.
Though out generation will forever be known as "Generation Like", I think that we are too focused on social media. Before social media took a turn for the worse, it was a great source for many things. But, our generation has taken social media to an entirely new level. It is sad to know that teens care more about the amount of likes and favorites they get than other things. I think our generation is very intelligent but social media portrays us otherwise. In the future, I am predicting that social media will eventually take over teens lives. Watching this documentary made me realize how bad social media is actually "trending".
I am reluctant to agree with the idea that my generation will forever be known as “Generation Like”. Many people have come to appreciate favorites, likes, and other gestures made from behind the computer screen rather than a meaningful face-to-face conversation. I feel bad for the people who think they need more followers in order to be liked. I disagree with the fact that it’s all people think about, but I do agree that it has definitely become more prominent.
I disagree that our generation is the dumbest generation. However, I do agree that social media and technology is far more important than it should be. Bauerlien says that technology should not be a major part of the American youth's lifestyle. I completely agree with this and think the youth of America should not be using IPhones. But, I do believe technology can help in the classroom and if used correctly which I believe it is. I believe that social media can be very harmful to society and think that it is more of a negative than a positive. However, social media is not going to single-handily make our generation the dumbest as it just doesn't have that much of an impact on our generation.
I am ashamed to say that I completely agree with the way our generation has been perceived and defined. Our generation has been cluttered with nothing but garbage such as "twerking" and "yolo." Kids my age cannot be away from their phones for more than an hour without being bored. If you walk into a restaurant, clothing store, school or any public place for that matter you can visibly see that children physically cannot put their smartphones down without their parents ordering them to. The media is not helping with our generations problems with phone addiction. The media is consistently flooded with statements like "like us on facebook" or "follow us on twitter", it is tough for our generation not to be considered "generation like" because social media is being force fed to us. I agree with Mark Bauerlein's point about how journalists, writers etc. do not help out our generation because the quality of professional writing has declined throughout the years. It has gone from Shakespeare to "Snooki" writing a book which does not benefit anybody. I disagree with Mark Bauerlein's statement that we NEED somebody telling us when we are right and wrong. In many situations children can either discover multiple right answers or discover their own mistakes and do not ALWAYS need somebody looking over their shoulders, even though sometimes a second opinion can help, it is not necessary.
I would say that the ways people view my generation are mostly right. We have become so obsessed with gaining likes or followers that we forget about the most important things in life. Also, we tend to judge our own self-worth based on what people online, including those we will never meet, think about our tweets or pictures. In “The Dumbest Generation”, Mark Bauerlein states,”…today’s youth have changed in how they utilize their time, and their priorities differ greatly from past generations.”, and this is true. Most kids today are not as interested in gaining knowledge or doing well in school as they were in previous generations. Social media and the internet are two reasons for this, because students are spending more of their time online on Twitter or Instagram than on studying. A point that I disagree with is, “It doesn’t matter what you know, it matters what you show.” This has become a statement that many people in this generation would agree with, but it is not true. Knowledge that is gained in school now will be beneficial to being a successful member of society and a good career later in life. After watching this documentary, I don’t have much faith in this generation.
After watching this documentary and discussing this with the class, I do not feel the same about How our generation lives. I feel much worse. We are more focused on social networking then we are real social interactions with real people. We are so engrossed in this idea that "likes" make you popular and more likable, some people even feel bad about themselves when they don't get likes; as if the amount of likes they get is a reflection of who they are as a person, which just ridiculous. We promote companies and movies and help them out so much just by being a part of social media, and we don't even care. Actually, we probably don't even notice. We need to refocus on what our real priorities should be and make them priorities. Things like helping the world become a better place, which social media can occasionally do, but mostly does the opposite. I agree with Bauerlein when he says that "emphasis on traditional knowledge and values is rapidly degrading," but I disagree when he says it encourages kids to read. Generation Like IS the dumbest generation, but it shouldn't be.
Our generation of kids has been defined as, “the Dumbest Generation.” Our generation is not credited with what we have accomplished in our youth, but with how well we do in school, because of that we have been deemed as, the dumbest generation. Mark Bauerlein cited numerous statistics about the increasing number of American students dropping out of high school or college. Mark claims that, “many of today’s mentors enable and encourage students to be undisciplined and lazy in their effort.” This statement is a good example of how Bauerlein is negatively representing our generation, we are not lazy. In fact, we spend 6 hours a day at school working our butts off so we are able to get good grades. On top of school many high school and middle school students have jobs and sports that we have to make time for, so clearly our generation is nor lazy, and Mark’s statement is incorrect. However, Mark Bauerlein does have some true statements about our generation. For example, he claims, “today’s youth have changed in how they utilize their time, and their priorities differ greatly from past generations.” I believe this to be true, because our generation is more obsessed with technology and updating their status than they are in finding a good job and getting into college. I believe Mark Bauerlein has a completely incorrect description of our generation, and we have a lot more potential than he gives us credit for. –Cody Aranjo
The documentary just confirmed my feelings, the way our generation is living right now is messed up. Teens are way to focused on social media and getting recognized online, that they lose sight of what is actually important. They spend more time online trying to get likes on a picture that they posted, then they spend trying to get an education. They use social media to talk about their problems rather than actually doing something to change it. also, some things that people say online or re tweet make people think they have to be or act a certain way and if not, they think that their is something wrong with them. People are way too focused on social media.
After watching "Generation Like" and discussing it in class I have discovered that our generation is too occupied and focused on social media. Also, that we are to concentrated on how many likes or how many views that we have. One point Buaerlein makes on how social media is good is that you can be told what is right and what is wrong. A point that I don't agree with is that when you get something wrong you should blame it on the people who taught you. Like your parents, teachers, etc. I don't agree with this because its not their fault that you got it wrong or did something incorrect. But through out this generation people have been giving to much care to social media. Everyone is too concentrated on what people like about you...well most people. And I think as this generation goes farther social media will get worse and spread to the next generation until it will be unstoppable.
The documentary was very disturbing. I think this because all these people are putting in so much effort just for the popularity over social media. The Steven kid was the worst of all. He looks like he is seven years all and hes doing all this sexual stuff with older women. It’s messed up that he has become famous mostly because of that. I would never waste my time trying to get the attention of a celebrity or trying to become social media famous.
I disagree when “Bauerlein (2008) also states previous generations used to establish a good foundation of prior knowledge before shaping their identity” because I feel like for a while now generations before us have slowed down with using knowledge to find themselves.
I agree also agree with “Bauerlein has definitely taken a hard-line stance on the negative effects technology is imposing in the classroom, and many of his arguments challenge the conventional views on digital media that our teacher education classes possess.” I agree with this because for me personally, being a student in a classroom I do not like using technology. I feel I like it way more when things are just written out on the board instead of a SMART Board because its almost a distraction to me.
I honestly do not like my generation because were annoying. I hate things on tv that are way over the top inappropriate because I just think, wow little boys and girls are watching this. I agree that we are annoying with all the twitter stuff and it’s stupid that kids these days put so much effort into their social media accounts. I am basicly just disturbed mostly by all this because this is what kids now a days are growing up with. They wouldn't know any better to realize that it is messed up because this is what they’ve grown up with. The only thing I think is good about social medias is that you can find things you enjoy and by liking it you can express to others the things you enjoy. Other than that i do not like my generation and i am not a big fan of technology.
After watching "Generation Like" it's easy to come to conclusion that our generation is too obsessed with social media apps and the currency of likes. Teens today have their noses in their phones instead of a textbook, earning the name "Generation Like." Teens are focused on how many people favorite their tweets or like their picture instead of things that matter and are actually important in society. Social media is also a distraction from things like school work, and grades. And while I, and Mark Bauerlein, the author of a book called The Dumbest Generation, agree that "digital media is a great supplier of knowledge and information," and should be utilized as a tool for learning, I also agree that our lives shouldn't be consumed by social media. It's taking up to much of our time, becoming prioritized over school work. I disagree with what Bauerlein says when he states, "Blame, also, the teachers, professors, writers, journalists, intellectuals, editors, librarians, and curators who will not insist on the value of knowledge and tradition, who will not judge cultural novelties by the high standards set by the past, who will not stand up to adolescence," because we shouldn't be blaming anyone but ourselves. We've let social media flood our brains and consume our lives. We're heading down a slippery slope of intellectual ignorance, and social media will be the downfall of our generation, and other generations to come.
In the documentary, “Generation Like”, there are many criticisms against our generation. I agree with most of these criticisms because the majority of our teenage population spend too much time using cell phones and other electronics. The general consensus of those who participated in the class decussion agree that people are too obsessed with social media, and the sense of pride it gives them. For example, George said that he hopes he does not win the “Most Likely to be Retweeted” superlative becasue he does not see the accomplismnent of getting it. Those who consider us the "dumbest generation" are not far off from reality. Though, I do have to disagree with Bauerlein's point where he says that people need to be told when they are right and wrong because there is always gray area where there is no right and wrong. Saying someone is wrong can cause them to stop sharing their opinion and start following others opinions without ever having their own. On the other hand I agree with Bauerlein's point where he says we are slowly drifting away from traditional learning because we now have all the answers at the tip of our fingers through our phones. I predict that the world will soon be overcome by technology and people will lose all social skills because they won't have to converse with eachother. Hopefully it doesn't come to this but it is certainly possible.
After watching "Generation Like" and discussing it in class my opinion on social media remains the same. It is taking over this generation because everyone is obsessed with likes, favorites, retweets, followers and the idea of wanting to be famous. Now, people everywhere perceive us as the "dumb generation". Frankly, I believe that this statement is true. Teenagers today only care about texting and social media and can not live in the moment without taking a picture and posting it. An example of this in the documentary was when the kids were all sitting around a table posting things on facebook. They were hanging out but instead of doing something and being active, they all sit around on their computers. Social media is also a complete distraction and takes away from school work. In the article, "The Dumbest Generation: How the Digital Age Stupefies Young Americans and Jeopardizes our Future" by Mark Bauerlein, Mark makes some points I agree with but he also makes some point that i do not agree with. Bauerlein makes some very good arguments in his book one being: "He also claims today’s youth have changed in how they utilize their time, and their priorities differ greatly from past generations." Teenagers these days spend too much time on electronics either watching tv, texting, using social media or playing video games. Our generation needs to put down the phones and start being productive. On the other hand, Mark states: "He claims many of today’s mentors enable and encourage students to be un- disciplined and lazy in their effort." I do not agree with this at all. It is not the teacher's fault if a student is lazy and unwilling to cooperate. If the student makes poor decisions the teacher can not do anything about that, the effort has to come from within the student. By and large, technology is taking over our generation.
There are many words I could use to describe my generation. To me, there can be a combination of words I would use to describe it. Some of those words could be good, but I can think a lot more negative words instead. A lot of people would say stupid, some would say we’re gaining intelligence considering all of the technology we have produced over the past few years, and others wouldn’t know how or what to call my generation because of all of the events that have happened during it. Personally, I would be one of those people who wouldn’t know what to call it. I agree that we have come very far with technology but after watching “Generation Like” I realized more and more people abuse technology and social media more than I thought. I disagree with the people who call my generation things like “stupid” and “uneducated” or anything along those lines. Unfortunately I do see why people call my generation that. More and more people in my generation are starting to abuse how they use social media. Nowadays all people worry about and want are “likes” and “fans”. They only want to get noticed and be the best. People are starting to do anything to get people they don’t even know to notice them. Hopefully in the future things will start to change and people will have more positive things to say about my generation.
After viewing the documentary, " Generation Like", I agree with the criticisms that are said about our generation. There are many words that can be used to describe our generation. Popularity obsessed and just an image of a dismal generation. We focus on popularity gained from social networks or videos posted online. We don't focus enough on gaining true friendship in reality. We envy celebrities and try to act like them r get them to simply retweet them just to ensure that they are recognized for their so called hard work. In the book review by Mark Bauerlein makes some very compelling points, but also some points that don't hold true. A point he makes that I agree with would have to be when he sates, " Blame, also,the teachers, professors, writers, journalists, intellectuals, editors, librarians, and curators who will not insist on the value of knowledge and tradition, who will not judge cultural novelties by the high standards set by the past, who will not stand up to adolescence and announce, " It is time to put away childish things." They have let down the society that entrusts them to sustain intelligence and wisdom and beauty, and they have failed students who can't climb out of adolescence on their own. I side with this criticism about our generation. Although, we chose the path we go down regarding technology and social network, we had no push the intellectuals to say that we were heading down the wrong path. Now that we are too far down the path it will be close to impossible to brings us back. Some of the blame has to fall on the shoulders of the older generation. This is a very compelling point. A point that I do not agree with is, " Digital enthusiasts", states Bauerlein, " say the screen ( digital media) incorporates all the things book reading entails, and supplies so much more". I find no truth in this statement. Digital media brings the answer right to the students. It prohibits students from searching for the answer in context. The point of finding answers in a book is to have students find the answer by reading. With digital media the students have the answer in a matter of seconds and now they know nothing about the piece which they were reading. I feel this statement is incorrect. After watching " Generation Like", I still feel that our generation is a disgrace to other generations. We care more about social network fame rather than life outside of technology. I feel as though it is pitiful. I can only hope for a generation after ours to fix what we created in the world.
John Munger
After viewing the documentary "Generation Like", I agree with the criticisms that were made toward our generation. Our generation is known for revolving around social media. Our generation uses social media to become popular or to stand out. It is also an easy way to track what is happening all over the world. In the documentary one girl used social media to know everything about the hunger games. She would tweet, Instagram and even created different blogs to show her love towards the movie. She did this to get noticed by the actors and be known. Social media is now mostly used for Instagram, Facebook and Twitter but before it was used just to see what was happening around the world and for news. Our generation grew up relying on social media so if taken away now no one would know what to do. Even though our generation is known for just using technology, we are also a very smart generation. We can spread news and know what is happening in an instant. Social media may cause drama and bullying but it also helps to catch criminals and help know when something is happening around the world.
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