Face it - Our Kids are Stupid

No, this is not a knock on the education system. I think our teachers are doing an amazing job with the limited resources that they have.

They are brilliant when it comes to Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) - which has now become the focus in curriculum's across the nation. They rely too heavily on technology to ensure their spelling and grammar is correct - frankly, we all do, our smart technology has numbed our skills. It is much easier to slap the keys on your laptop or tablet, look for the red squiggly line then to actually think.

My ten year old son asked me just the other day what the yellow pages were, why I bought them and asked me to clarify again what they were used for. We were at my Dad's one afternoon and he stumbled upon an old rotary phone - he was amazed that you had to dial each number. Technology has made his life easy, everything is accessible at his fingertips, 24/7

I keep seeing these posts on facebook to demonstrate the difference between you're, your, their, there, they're, etc. Why are these words being misused? To make matters worse, the one I saw last night - had a statement following each word, each statement closed by a period (which was incorrect). Oh and the texting, if you are not typing LOL or LMBO, please take an extra second to spell out the word you (that is unless you have an antiquated phone without a qwerty keypad).

Card Catalog System

Card Catalog

In eighth grade, I had to write a research paper utilizing the resources within our school and public library - we had very limited technology. One of the purposes of this project was to learn our way around the library, understand the
card catalog and dewey decimal systems, retrieve reference materials, and learn proper citations.

Dewey Decimal System

We did not have computer access or internet in the mid-80's. Without access to computers, we had to write our papers in draft form, edit, revise and type them.

I think it is time that our children let go of the technology crutch. It is time that they actually rely on their brain to guide them. They need to thumb through a card catalog and find the answer - possibly even getting a paper cut along the way. They need to not only meet Dewey, but become good friends with him. They need to do a complete research project, with hand-written index cards and drafts written in longhand,

Writing in longhand - contributes to cognitive thinking

edited the old fashion way. Simply put, they need to turn technology off and learn how easy they actually have it. I propose that every school use your library and resources in a different way - The Card Catalog Project.