Language, Dead or Alive?

By: Beckett Van Why

The very basis of our culture died abruptly on January 1, 1983. This date was the day the internet was born. The internet provides an easy way for parents to avoid teaching their kids to read and study. Instead they are able to just give them an iPad and call it a day. However, it has also given people access to more texts and a better way to cross examine information.

Having the internet has given parents an easy way to avoid the need for teaching kids basic studying and reading skills. Devices like iPads allow kids easy access to the internet and parents believe that that is all their kids will need. They could not be more wrong. Ella Hovland, a ninth grader at the Fruita 8/9 states “A lot of teachers have noticed that kids' reading level is not where it needs to be because parents rely on iPads and the internet,”. Having teachers notice a decrease in the reading level goes to show the urgency of the situation at hand. Without the ability to study and read at a proper level kids are not able to absorb the information they need and therefore will not be able to succeed in life.

The internet is not all bad, though. It has increased people’s ability to access material to read. “People’s ability to read has gone up, but the average reading level has gone down.” says Jackie Bollan, a teacher at the Fruita 8/9. Having access to a lot of readable material is beneficial to the range of knowledge that kids have but it does not allow for in depth comprehension or comparison that you get from studying and reading higher level texts. Without the internet it is harder to access information and reading, but with it goes in depth reading and deep understanding.

The internet can be either a good or bad thing depending on how you use it and the amount of time in which you are on it. So use the internet wisely, keep reading daily, and try to comprehend the information that is being provided to you on a deeper level. The very basis of our culture died abruptly on January 1, 1983. Or did it?