Lost in the 21st Century

Another excellent article from Bob Herbert.  He’s fast becoming one of my favorite columnists.

This confirms a fear I’ve had for a while now:  That college has become the equivalent of a 4 year resort vacation for far too many students.

Admittedly, I had a lot of fun at College.  But I also learned more in one concentrated period than I would have thought possible.  It also laid the foundation for life-long learning and intellectual curiosity.

College also validated my natural tendency to question everything.  It helped to develop the critical thinking skills that made this possible.

That History Degree from a Liberal Arts program at Washington and Lee University has meant more in the course of my life than I can articulate.

This is also more validation of my fears we will one day be turning the nation over to a generation of Slack Jawed Idiots, or SJI’s as I lovingly call them…

Please click the link at the bottom to read the entire column.  It’s worth your time.

Intellectual effort and academic rigor, in the minds of many of the nation’s college students, is becoming increasingly less important. According to the authors, Professors Richard Arum of New York University and Josipa Roksa of the University of Virginia: “Many students come to college not only poorly prepared by prior schooling for highly demanding academic tasks that ideally lie in front of them, but — more troubling still — they enter college with attitudes, norms, values, and behaviors that are often at odds with academic commitment.”

Students are hitting the books less and partying more. Easier courses and easier majors have become more and more popular. Perhaps more now than ever, the point of the college experience is to have a good time and walk away with a valuable credential after putting in the least effort possible.

What many of those students are not walking away with is something that has long been recognized as invaluable — higher order thinking and reasoning skills. They can get their degrees without putting in more of an effort because in far too many instances the colleges and universities are not demanding more of them.

MORE:   College the Easy Way – NYTimes.com.