We are dumber than our parents

In Don Tapscott’s book Grown Up Digital, he asses the benefits and criticisms of the new age society that relies on technology. One criticism says the Net Generation is dumber then our predecessors. We are called “ a shallow, distracted generation that can’t focus on anything” (3). The Net Genreation abuses the internet instead of using it to their advantage and therefore perfom poorly on tests. There is too much distraction that is readily accessible at all times. The technology is eating away at our brains during its crucial development time period.
Response:
Grown Up Digital was not the first time that I heard our generation called dumb. The criticism comes from an older generation that feels threatned by how quickly we adapt to new technology. It has become an innate knowledge to our generation. For example, my grandmother has had an email account for at least five years and is just starting to understand how to reply to her messages. The difference in the generations is that the Net Generation is able to figure out the internet because we have become so acostmed to it. My parents were not teaching me how to set up an email account I was creating accounts for them.
Yes, I agree with the criticism that there is a lot of distraction available to us at all times. In reality our phones have formed into a device that not ony connects us with our friends and family, but with news, the weather, facebook and countless other applications. However this does not mean that we are a shallow minded generation that can’t focus on anything. Our technology has become so advanced that we are rapidly over taking the generations before us.
Another aspect of our generation that differs from generations past is that we have become a global community. We have the ability to connect with people from all over the world at all times. One of my close friends moved to Denmark when I was in 6th grade. Through Facebook, AIM, and cell phones we are able to talk as if we still lived in the same small town. Our global community keeps us up to date with breaking news at the tip of our fingertips, something that was not available to generations before us.

The Net Generation is not afraid of change. It is easier to criticize change then to form to it. We are changing the world and that threatens our predecessors.