under attack

“According to the pundits, Net Geners are steering their ships head-on into an iceberg of ignorance, but are too busy posting on Facebook to notice.”

If you’re born in the baby boom echo and are a part of Generation Y—the Millenials, or what Don Tapscott refers to as the Net Generation—you might feel targeted by what is becoming an increasingly loud attack against your character and intellect. This public assault is widespread, as teachers, parents and the media continue to paint an extreme, yet increasingly popular, image of youth…and the picture isn’t pretty.

Frankly, it’s quite offensive.

The generation in question has been called “fatally flawed,” accused of lacking values, social awareness or caring about anyone or anything. In fact, Professor Mark Bauerlein says we’re “The Dumbest Generation” in a book of the same title, arguing that the Internet “stupefies youth.” Author and Professor Jean Twenge dubs the Net Generation as Generation Me, saying that self esteem programs in schools combined with the Internet may be unleashing “a little army of narcissists” on society. Others argue that youth, consumed by their celebrity and web obsessions, are superficial and lacking social skills. For these critics, the cuplrit is clear. They point to the Internet as the problem, arguing that today’s youth have grown up digital and are dumb as a result.

Not only is the Net Generation “woefully ill-prepared for the demands of work life” (according to the Conference Board and its partners) and doomed to a destiny of parental dependence, but everyone beware—it’s taking the rest of society down with it.

Or is it?

‘‘The 21st century teen, connected and multitasked, autonomous yet peer-mindful, makes no great leap forward in human intelligence, global thinking or netizenship.’’

- Mark Bauerlein, in The Dumbest Generation: How the Digital Age Stupefies Young Americans and Jeopardizes Our Future (Or, Don’t Trust Anyone Under 30)

Has the Internet turned youth into a generation of simple students, unproductive employees, violent video-game addicts and ignorant citizens? Increasingly, people are arguing yes. Based on millions of dollars of research, Don Tapscott is saying no.

Why then, does he think this generation is coming under attack?

Because it’s going to change the world.

Poised to transform every social instituion, the Net Generation is reshaping the form and functions of school, work and even democracy. Simply put, the wave of youth, aged 12-30, is going to turn social institutions as we know them on their heads, and for the better. In fact, look around you and you’ll quickly notice—it’s already begun. As the first truly global generation, Net Geners are more tolerant, innovative and productive than generations before.

via http://www.thedumbestgeneration.com