The Dummy Down Syndrome

Can you read beyond an 8th grade level?

What is the Dummy Down Syndrome? Merriam Webster Dictionary defines the term as "lower the level of difficulty and the intellectual content of or to lower the general level of intelligence".

Recently I purchased grammar check software created especially for writers. Why not the regular software? The writer‘s version has a few extra bells and whistles. One of which I find very insulting unless you’re writing children’s books for the very young. It is a feature that tells you when you’re using words your reader may not understand. Get this, the program says the average reading level is 8th grade or lower. What?! Can you repeat that? I think my Q-tip swap is stuck in my ear!

Do you remember, as a child, reading and you came upon a word you didn’t understand? You asked your parents and what was the most common reply? Look it up!

When was it decided the only practical solution to comprehending books and other reading material was for the writer or publisher to use the simplest words possible. More important, who decided that we are all beings whose reading comprehension froze between the 4th and 8th grade? This assumption is farcical!

The grammar check software did beg a valid question. Why aren’t we broadening our vocabulary? What’s wrong with an intelligent conversation consisting of words your elementary school aged child does not know how to say or spell better than you…yet?

Did you ever wonder what happens to all those babies and tots using the “Your Baby Can Read” program? Since we seem to be in the age of Dummy Down, how do those children fare once they have matriculated into the school system with peers who cannot read or count? Somehow, I don’t see the teachers rushing to bring the other children up to speed, with their pre-educated classmates, do you?

Today we have more books and technology available to us than any other generation or century that has preceded us, and yet, I wouldn’t call this the most intelligent generation or century, by any means. According to OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development), the US ranks 18th out of 36 industrialized countries. Only 75% of US high school students receive diplomas. Talk about dismal numbers!

A lot of us would do well to turn off the televisions and video games and even computers. Pick up a book. They don’t bite and who knows, you just might learn something.

Ah, now that I’ve had my rant for the day, I feel much better. The room seems to have cleared from the steam that was coming out of my ears.

Who should we hold responsible for this atrocity? You. Me. Our cities. Our Towns. Our states. National government. "It takes a village to raise a child," The sentence is not a colloquial turn of phrase it is a home truth.

Related articles:

The Precise Word - newauthors.wordpress.com
Stupid in America - youtube-Noone
The crushing impact of illiteracy - antioppressive.wordpress.com
Retarding America - youtube-Literacy Alert
On Teaching - crissforshay.wordpress.com
Public Schools Funding Cuts, Teachers out of Work, While Charter Schools Are Expanding on Tax Payer’s Money - fredericacade.wordpress.com
Google’s Reading Level Search Feature - teacherleaders.typepad.com
Reading On Grade Level in 3rd Grade: How is it related to high School performance and College Enrollments - skypingreadingtutor.wordpress.com
Study Shows Nearly Half Of Detroit Residents Are Illiterate - newsone.com
The Moral Imperative of Literacy - timesoftexas.com
The owners and the owned - brobrubel.wordpress.com
The Achievement Gap: Why Hispanic Students Are Still Behind  - time.com