Are Computer Progressives Dumbing Down US Society?

OK, so we get rid of cursive writing in schools.  Writing by hand will default to printing just in case applications for government assistance need to be filled out.  But isn’t the next step simply to get rid of any response that needs to be done the old-fashioned way?  Paperless is cool, isn’t it?

    Computer donations to libraries and schools have always boosted computer industry sales.  The catchphrases are “boosting the economy” and “creating more jobs.”   So the next step is to give away computers to the poor, so that they too have a equal chance at the American Dream.

    Sure, the less advantaged will be tracked better once they sign up for welfare from their own homes.  But what about changes in the curriculum at school?

    With “free” computers everywhere, why teach any skills by hand?  With word processors available on every cell phone, why teach writing at all?  Besides, voice-to-text programs are more and more common.  Next to be scuttled “for budget reasons” will be all the “boring” arithmetic:  calculating by hand, remembering multiplication tables, and the like.  After all, digital calculators are almost as ubiquitous as free toys in cereal boxes.

    No sense in learning foreign languages now that automated translation programs are here.  And what about reading? Nightly television news and the Web give us instant access to anything else we need to know.  Isn’t Twitter a godsend for those who don’t like to read and write much?  Let movies be the new novels, and radio talk shows can fill in during long drives when hip-hop or other pop music isn’t available.  If need be, let books be listened to, then critiqued via oral reports.

    The list goes on, but the question is “what will remain” in the curriculum that isn’t related to the pure custodial care of keeping kids entertained during those long daytime hours when parents are doing their own thing? Let’s hope that no war or untoward catastrophe upsets our expected dependencies.