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| Hearsay: |
A highschool librarian in the US writes about his increasingly more difficult role in the intellectual lives of his students.
I recently spoke with a junior who was stressed about her decreasing ability to focus on anything for longer than two minutes or so. I tried to inspire her by talking about the importance of reading as a way to train the brain. I told her that a good reader develops the same powers of concentration that an athlete or a Buddhist would employ in sport or meditation. “A lot out there is conspiring to distract you,” I said.
She rolled her eyes. “That’s your opinion about books. It doesn’t make it true.” To her, the idea that reading might benefit the mind was, well, lame.
Ah, the intersection of apathy and ignorance. The main drag in the neighbourhood of the teenage superiority complex. She’ll make a fine eLever-puller or iGauge-monitorer in the cyberfactory workplaces of the future.
January 2006
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January 24th, 2007 at 2:34 am
-monitorer or -puller or, maybe what’s more likely, is future Manager, of Us.
Shudder.
January 24th, 2007 at 9:25 am
Yeah, that’s a tough one. I’ve had more that one teenager roll his
eyes looking at me as I explain some of the exciting and disturbing
facets of the written word. “So why is the world a pile of crap and
everyone a lier.” That is the message conveyed by his eye ball
rolling. “Gee, that’s so much like The Strawberry Statement.” is my
likely reply. I use that phrase often just to try and trick people
into reading. “The Strawberry Statement of course is this, ‘It’s hard
to live in a land where everything you own is stolen and everything
you say a lie.”
This simple statement lies at the heart of our culture and in the
souls of our youth. You bring up a fine point, George. Does reading
benifit the mind or make it easier to swallow the lies? I think the
book is still open on that one. Those darn teens want all the answers
or they won’t get off the couch. In the old days Dad could heave the
TV set out the window but I suppose Childrens’ Aid would intervene
today.
January 24th, 2007 at 3:16 pm
She’ll have good company. I’ve worked in such iFactories alongside people who can’t imagine finding the time to read a whole novel (except maybe something written by Cory Doctorow, which I don’t count).