Comments on: Reading the young brain

By: Natalie Freeman

Natalie Freeman — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 01:50:36 +0000

I do feel like the ninety minute estimate is very low for the amount of time that teens are spending on the internet. I feel like I spend way more time than that on the internet. Half of it is probably spend on pointless blogging and internet surfing, but I do feel like I spend a decent amount of my time on the internet researching things or reading articles and reviews that give me a little more insight and a better understanding of the entertainment industry, which I am extremely interested in. I also watch a lot of TV, probably as much as the average television critic. Then I spend time on the internet seeing what critics are saying and what observations they made that I didn’t. My dad likes talking to me about television among other things because he knows that as much time as I spend watching TV, I am actually paying attention to it. I look at production and writing. I don’t just watch to watch.

By: Caitlin Weber

Caitlin Weber — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 05:48:13 +0000

I wish it wasn’t true that books have lost their value and popularity in contrast to media, technology and the internet. I know growing up for me personally I was never into reading books but at the same time I wasn’t consumed by video games or endless amounts of television. My mom used to always say that too much television or relaxing on the couch just to be entertained by technology would “rot my brain.” As a child I never understood her meaning behind saying this, but now that I am older and can see how technology has affected the learning habits and abilities of individuals, it all makes sense. I babysit for a family that has four young children and it is so scary to see how immersed they become to their video games, technology, television and internet. The youngest of the four children is a five year old girl and she is more illiterate in technology that I ever would have been at the age of five, but when I go to help her with her vocabulary she seems to struggle with understanding the visual and functional sounds and pictures of words and phrases, not to mention it takes her away from the addicting video games that she loves to play so much so that spoils her “fun.”

By: Mariya Wilson

Mariya Wilson — Mon, 11 Apr 2011 19:42:20 +0000

I read an article similar to what was on your blog. The article was titled, “Is Google Making Us Stupid: What the Internet is Doing to Our Brains?” by Nicholas Carr (http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2008/07/is-google-making-us-stupid/6868/)

The article talks about how it has become increasingly difficult for people to read long pieces of writing. The cause? Internet. Reading is not an inherent trait: it has to be developed over time. People do not know automatically how to read and after they learn the techniques they develop their own style reading. Because much of what is on the Internet is aimed at sending quick messages to our brain and because people have begun to simply “scan” papers and articles, their reading capacity has significantly decreased, due to a learned style of reading that focuses on “in-and-out” attitude. It is not a good change, but the difficult part is overcoming this phenomenon, since that is how much of today’s works of writing tend to be structured.

By: Leia Smith

Leia Smith — Mon, 27 Sep 2010 16:28:02 +0000

Steven Poole’s statement about reading in video games validates the fact that at least some learning is occuring while a child partakes in this media form. Could the child be reading a book instead? Sure, but if he/she can gain the same reading practice from an act they find enjoyable then why not? Wouldn’t this, in the long run, be better at promoting reading than to force books upon a child who simply is not interested?

As far as I’m concerned, the media industry has much improved the subliminal learning that they introduce to children. Take cartoons and television shows for children today compared to those that most of us grew up watching. If my child watches Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, they are asked to count and recall information from earlier segments. I certainly don’t recall any of this learning being incorporated into Tom & Jerry or Rescue Rangers.

By: Colleen Bormann

Colleen Bormann — Mon, 27 Sep 2010 08:02:30 +0000

Are Video games a threat? Depends on who you ask! Violence in the media, whether it be a video game or a movie, is nothing new. However, its the growing media influence that is new to some.
If you look at the aggressive stimulation theory, their blame seems to be placed directly on the media. A young teen blured the lines between the media and reality because he is exposed to it. This theory fails to look at other factors. Does this teen have a history of violence? They could be prone to violent acts, but typically it’s hard to prove the media is 100 percent to blame.
The Catalytic theory is more realistic in today’s society. It admits the media has a strong influence, but it points out the media is just one contributing factor in a violent act.

By: Brian Van Bokkelen

Brian Van Bokkelen — Sun, 26 Sep 2010 22:12:04 +0000

It’s interesting that you wrote about the difference to reading online and reading some form of print. Personally, I can’t process much more than a paragraph on content that I’m trying to read online before I start quickly skimming. Unfortunately, I found myself doing just that while reading your blog post about reading online. I had to remind myself that it was for a class and start over. I have to print things out if I hope to actually read and absorb. The concern would be that if we’re skimming quickly, we’re not actually processing anything and keeping our minds strong. Yes, our brains need workouts just like the rest of our body and print offers a better workout.

By: Mary-Kate Kelledy

Mary-Kate Kelledy — Fri, 24 Sep 2010 04:38:12 +0000

I would definately agree that the interaction of Children and simply reading on the internet is detrimental to their education and growth of literary knowledge. Reading on the internet always provides an emergency exit, an ” I don’t understand what the author is saying, so rather than picking through the peice, I will just go google it’s true meaning”. I personally believe that nothing can compare to an afternoon of sitting down with a book and challenging oneself to dive into the unknown, highlighter and ready to annotate.

By: Shea Chambers

Shea Chambers — Wed, 22 Sep 2010 19:35:09 +0000

As a person who hates to read I felt a little guilty while reading this post. Ever since I was a young child I have had issues comprehending what I read. I can read over a section millions of times and forget completely what I was reading. But when it is something I find interesting I can read and read for hours. Along with my guilt I agree completely with the post. Our world is changing and the value of a book has dramatically declined,the imagination has disappeared and technology has completely taken over our brains. McLuhan touches on this epidemic in his videos. Books and the deep understanding of them use to be how we educated ourselves and now the “easy way out” seems to be technology and how fast we can learn about something. I also see a connection with this post and the Magic Bullet Theory. The choice to choose to read is linked with selective exposure and peoples tendency to expose themselves to those mass communications which are in agreement with their attitudes and interests.

By: Estelle

Estelle — Tue, 21 Sep 2010 21:18:52 +0000

I enjoyed reading this post. It is sad how the television, computers and video games have taken over the enjoyment one gets from reading an interesting book. When I was younger I would rather go to the children’s section in the library sit on a bean bag and read a few books. I excited me knowing my mom was going to take me to the library. As I grew older I turned my attention to television for entertainment. I am still in he process of trying to focus more on reading. It has gotten even harder considering all the distractions around me.

By: Susan Eichhorn

Susan Eichhorn — Mon, 20 Sep 2010 18:22:02 +0000

I enjoyed this post for multiple reasons. One is that I have a 5 year old son and watching his interest in the internet and video games has been fascinating to me. Even at the age of 4, he is literate in the ways of the internet. Although he needs assistance getting to a particular website, once there he has no trouble finding the games and activities that he wants. Secondly, my mother is a retired librarian so just watching the changes in libraries since I was old enough to know what was going on around me to now working to keep my son aware of libraries and regular books. Having some level of media literacy is imperative, it will help us keep a broad view of the world and help us filter out the nonsense. I only hope I can stay one step ahead of him, although someday it’s inevitable.