Dumbing Down or Smartening up -- It’s Your Call

Of recent, in this part of Canada, there has been an ongoing debate about the quality of our University education. On April 8th, 2010, the Ottawa Citizen published an article, called Dumbing Down, discussing the recently released study by the Ontario Confederation of University Faculty Associations (OCUFA) arguing that the quality of the Ontario University education has fallen in past generations.

The study, entitled The Decline of Quality at Ontario Universities: Shortchanging a Generation, argues that, in contrast to the university experience from the 1960s, there has been a significant decline in the quality of education provided to Ontario students. This is the a result of a creation of a university system that has been reduced to little more than degree factories in order to become economically sustainable.

As a recent M.A. graduate in communication and media studies from the University of Ottawa (one of the universities scrutinized), I find this very concerning. This study suggests that today’s university graduates are not as well educated as in the past. However, regardless of what this study suggests, it makes me wonder that, given the amount of information and knowledge available for anyone who has access to the Internet, are we not smarter and more knowledgeable than previous generations?

Yet, throughout my studies in communication and media, I have come across a number of scholars and cultural critics who argue that not only are we not getting smarter, but that we may also be getting dumber.

For instance Mark Bauerlein, in his book The Dumbest Generation: How the Digital Age Stupefies Young Americans and Jeopardizes our Future (2008), argues that the media is creating a younger culture that is less informed and less aware; that the digital world is providing younger generations with an abundance of superficial content that it is disconnecting them from the "adult" world of tradition, culture and history. It is creating a digital world of endless amounts of content where it is increasingly difficult to find meaningful information to become informed citizens.

Although Bauerlein critiques American culture, there have been other scholars such as Canadian scholar David Taras (Power and Betrayal in the Canadian Media, 2001) and British scholar Daya Kishan Thussu (News as entertainment: The rise of global infotainment, 2007) who have made similar arguments regarding the media.

Often times, these arguments can be easily brushed aside as being overzealous because, how can any society with access to endless amounts of information, enormous technological progress, and higher standards of living be judged as dumber?

But, take our media industry here in Canada for example. It relies on content that “attracts” in order to survive economically. This content, be it entertainment, gossip, or controversial material, is used as marketing devices to attract our attention to news, Canadian programming, and company brands. This reliance is increasing as more Canadian businesses and public services are learning how to utilize the media (e.g., Twitter and FaceBook) as ways to connect with their consumers, clients and citizens to both improve services and create economic growth.

Even Canadian media policy reflects this trend. For example, in 1999, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunication Commission (CRTC), the federal government agency which regulates and supervises all sectors of the Canadian telecommunications and broadcasting system, changed Canadian private television policies (No. CRTC 1999-97) to provide more incentive to produce content that entertains (e.g., Canadian produced dramas and Canadian entertainment news programming such as Entertainment Tonight Canada). The idea was to ensure that the Canadian media and entertainment industry is better equipped to compete in the growing age of digital and new media.

But, what happens over time when this type of content is relied upon for economic sustainability?

As Bauerlein, Taras and Thussu argue, it creates a media landscape with an over abundant amount of content that attracts more so than informs and creates a landscape where it becomes more difficult to find content that allows us to become informed citizens.

It may also be creating, according to the PBS documentary, Digital Nation: Life on the Virtual Frontier, a younger culture who, from a very young age, are socialized with “eye catching” content that desensitizes them and makes it more difficult for them to remain engaged with content that does not provide them with some level of stimulus. Not only does this create a demand for more pervasive “eye catching” content, but it can de-value content that cannot provide the same level of excitement.

It is also creating, according to this documentary, a younger generation of multi-taskers who require this type of environment to remain focused and engaged.

But, according to the research sited in this documentary, we, as a human race, are poor multi-taskers. When we multi-task, we retain less information and are unable to perform as well as if we were focusing on a single task. More concerning though, this documentary illustrated that we are under the assumption that we are good multi-taskers, and that it improves our ability to learn and acquire knowledge. But, as for now, this may not be the case.

It is often unpopular to suggest that we are “empty vessels,” easily manipulated by the media; that the media cannot be blamed for our lack of knowledge in tradition, culture and history. But, regardless of whether you agree with these arguments or not, there is no denying the fact that the media plays a large role in our lives and, as technology develops and becomes more accessible, it will continue to do so.

We are now questioning our universities and their ability to become economically sustainable while providing students with good quality education.

But, we must also question the direction our media industry is taking outside of ensuring that it remains economically sustainable and using it as a tool to promote and advertise? The media can provide wonderful opportunities to share and acquire knowledge, connect with others, become informed citizens as well as create potentials for economic growth. But, we have to learn and be taught how to use the media in a way to ensure that we “smarten up” rather than “dumb down”.

 But, are we? What do you think?