Young Americans: Hope for the Future or Putting Us in Jeopardy?

WASHINGTON, SEPTEMBER 30, 2008--Should we be optimistic or pessimistic about where the millennial generation is taking America intellectually? Is the millennial generation cause for panic or a source of hope for the twenty-first century? Mark Bauerlein of Emory University and Neil Howe of LifeCourse Associates debated the strengths and weaknesses of this generation at an AEI event on Monday, September 29, 2008.

"In spite of enormous advantages the young have--opportunities to acquire knowledge and skills--when we look at actual measures of knowledge and skills, we actually see a decline of intellectual habits," said Bauerlein, author of The Dumbest Generation: How the Digital Age Stupefies Young Americans and Jeopardizes Our Future. While he conceded that there has been a positive increase in young people's political involvement and volunteer work, he said that the millennial generation is "too dynamic" to come to any conclusion about overall improvement in their social and political behavior. Bauerlein argued that in college, political participation is easy and even encouraged, but that after graduation these positive trends tend to decrease as finding time to pursue knowledge actively competes with hectic daily schedules.

Bauerlein then described how today's youth are not using conventional methods of learning--reading books, writing papers, conducting research--like previous generations did. "If we understand reading as a measure of intellectual curiosity . . . in 1982, the eighteen- to twenty-four-year-old age cohort was the most active reading group, and by 2002 it was the least active reading group except for [those] age seventy-five and older." While this study was unable to conclude that Americans are becoming less intelligent over time, Bauerlein used it to highlight the changes from previous generations.

Howe, coauthor of Millennials Rising: The Next Great Generation, ardently disagreed. He said that while there has been "little, if any, improvement in traditional modes of communication—the writing and research and novel studying," this does not mean that there has been a regression of intellectualism as a whole, but rather a spur in new technology and shifts in communication.

Howe compared the winning National Spelling Bee words from a few decades ago to those of the past few years as an example of intellectual development. He said the winning words "Chihuahua" in 1967 and "croissant" in 1970 were at a lower level of difficulty than "autochthonous" and "appoggiatura," the winning words in 2004 and 2005, respectively, in an attempt to demonstrate that the millennial generation is verbally superior to past generations. "If you still think today's youth are dumb, be careful, because some day you may be a contestant on the TV show Are You Smarter than a Fifth Grader?"

In their rebuttals, each put stock in varying analyses and statistics. Howe discussed the dramatic increase in college attendance among young people, and Bauerlein wasted no time in pointing out the corresponding increase in remedial college programs--designed for students who could not succeed in college on their own without extra academic help. Regardless of whether or not the millennials are the dumbest or smartest eighteen- to twenty-five-year-olds this country has ever had Bauerlein and Howe agreed on one point: the importance of guiding young Americans toward even greater levels of intellectual achievement.

--MAUREEN WALDERS

For video, audio, and more information about this event, visit www.aei.org/event1766/.

For media inquiries, contact Véronique Rodman at 202.862.4870 or vrodman@aei.org.

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