We are not the dumbest generation.

I most certainly do not believe that we are the "dumbest" generation, but maybe that is just because I am part of it.  However, it does seem like there is a giant gap between those people that are considerated to be educated literate people and those that can not meet basic literacy standards.  As a generation we may not know the facts that Bauerlein claims to be important, but that is how we grew up.  In high school I was always encouraged by my parents and teachers to do what I was interested in.  I was interested in math and science, so I loaded my schedule up with those types of classes.  I may not know what the biggest lake in the United States is, but I know a lot of other information related to my interests.  Many schools have also fallen into a rut of simply trying to get the best test scores possible.  They focus less on teaching kids about what is going on currently and more on making sure their math and reading scores meet the state requirements.  In my school district they began eliminating "specials" classes like family and consumer science and tech ed. 
It seems like society is becoming more and more specialized, so people have less of a need to know minor facts about everything.  Many job fields are becoming more and more advanced, so employees need to become experts in their field.  This increasing expertese allows less space in the mind for information not vital to you.  To be honest, I do not even think my parents know music composers and other tid bits of information that Bauerlein said to be important to know. 

I agree with Bauerlein when he says our generation is more lazy than ever, and although there are some dumb people out there...hasn't there always been?  It is unfortunate, but the technology we have today has allowed us to become lazy people.  We can go to school online, we can read the news online (we do not even have to walk to the end of our driveway to get the newspaper), and we can go online shopping.  Almost anything we could ever need is at the ends of our fingertips.  On the other hand I think it is completely unfair for Bauerlein to apply a blanket statement to all of today's generation.  I do not know a single person that the all statistics he pointed out apply to.

I was really surprised when he mentioned companies finding the needing to provide remedial writing classes.  Isn't that the fault of the company for hiring somebody that is unable to adequately write?  It is virtually impossible to graduate from a university without writing skills.  As a senior I have written a countless amount of papers and I have received good grades on almost all of them.  If professors are providing passing grades for papers that are of failing quality then I believe it is not our generation that is the dumbest.