Are we the dumbest generation? I don’t think there is a right or wrong answer. I believe in some ways we are the dumbest generation, but in other ways we are not. We have the capability of being the smartest generation, but we have more motivation for other things. It all depends on the individual. I don’t think that grades can accurately represent the intelligence of a person. I think we are just different from other generations. We are more advanced in technology, and that could either be considered a good thing, a bad thing, or both; depending on how we use it and the amount of time we use it.

Technology is very useful to us. It helps us with almost every single thing we need or want to know; it helps us find the answers. Just because there is a new and faster way to find information doesn’t make us stupid. In fact, it makes us smarter. Who wouldn’t want to use something that is faster and easier?
Teenagers are busy with sports and other activities, but I do still think that school should be first priority. Our technology can cause problems for us. We think we can multitask and do other things while we should be focusing on our work. Doing several things at once feels very productive. But switching rapidly between tasks can actually slow us down. (http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=95524385) It’s hard to productively work on something when we are distracted. But are we distracted? Or are we just bored with our work? I think if we can do something fun while we’re doing something not so fun, we will do that to make it less painful.

Are we really stupid? Or are we just lazy? I think we just don’t care as much as we should about our education. We care more about our social life because that’s what is exciting to us. Teachers can get more out of us if they try harder to relate to us. But they should also guide us in the right direction to help us create a better future. Addictions to video games and facebook are very problematic. These things should be in your free time, it shouldn’t take over your life. There are much better things to do.

There are nearly one million teen pregnancies each year. (http://crihb.org/files/statistic_on_teen_pregnancy.pdf) This does not show how smart our generation can really be. Most teenagers aren’t ready to have sex, or aren’t ready to deal with the consequences of having sex. We should wait for our mind and our bodies to mature, but we choose not to. We obviously need to take better care of ourselves. Students spend $5.5 billion on alcohol each year. (http://www.soundvision.com/info/teens/stat.asp) Clearly we are not concerned about doing dangerous things that could harm ourselves and or others. All we care about is having fun. This does not make our generation look intelligent.

Our generation is perfectly capable of being the smartest generation. We just choose to put more energy into other things. It all depends on how motivated we are to be better. I think that more and more people are starting to give up, which makes it hard for our generation to be successful. I believe in some ways we are the dumbest generation, but in other ways we are not. What do you think?