Letter to the Editor: Generation Z Will Go Down as The Dumbest Generation
July 30, 2020
I am a member of Generation Z currently in college. I graduated high school without taking a single online class from kindergarten to 12th grade. Currently, with COVID-19, schools are closing, and classes are now being offered and taken online. Some students love online courses, and a lot of students hate online classes. Online learning is not the same as in-class learning because online you teach yourself, you make your schedule, and you have to be self-motivated to do your work the proper way. When classes are in person, your teacher or professor is there to walk you through any questions you may have, motivate you, and help manage your time.
At the end of the last academic school year, I talked to many parents and students. Parents with children in elementary school taking online classes said that their child spent a few hours a day or a week at school. Public schools in North Carolina spend 6.75 hours a day on average in class, but if elementary students spend half of the time, such as 2-3 hours a day with school, they are getting half of an education.
I am a college student. My lowest grade before classes went online was 85%. Remember that number. One month into online learning, I’m spending 10-12 hours a day on schoolwork every day Monday through Sunday. Before online schooling, I would spend around 5-6 hours a day on schoolwork and class Monday through Friday, giving myself the weekend to relax. As I might be spending more time on schoolwork, most would think “see online schooling is better!” Wrong. I have the first series of tests after a month of online schooling. I failed every single test that week, the highest grade being a 58%. This was the first time I’ve ever failed a test in college as a junior, but I failed three tests in that one week. I also couldn’t tell you a single thing that I learned this last semester after we went online.
Online schooling is not the answer for Gen Z, and we will be the dumbest generation because we all will be lacking knowledge. Kindergarteners will go into middle school without knowing how to do basic math such as subtraction, adding, division and multiplication. Middle school students will go into high school without knowing how to do algebra, simple grammar, and basic reading or spelling. High school students will go into college not knowing the history of the world and America, basic calculus, basic science or life skills. College students are going to graduate school, not knowing how to do work in their field. How is an education major supposed to teach a class if they were never given the opportunity for student teaching? How is a nurse supposed to take care of their patients when they weren’t able to do clinical experience? How is an accountant supposed to make a balance sheet if they aren’t taught properly? If our generation is not taught correctly, how will we teach upcoming generations like our children and grandchildren?
John Moncrieff
John Moncrieff is a junior marketing major.
John Ramsey • Jan 3, 2022 at 4:36 pm
Gen Z will be the dumbest because they are entitled and have no skills. I have never met such a lazy bunch of whiners. Take a magical ride back to the 1900’s and you will find a generation that did not go to college, yet they fought 2 World Wars and invented everything you take for granted. They also were smart financially, saving until they could afford something. Gen Z is in debt because they chose to take out student loans they could not afford, attend classes in a useless major and then expect the US taxpayer to bail them out. Sorry, but you are the dumbest generation for more reasons than online learning.
Angie • Nov 18, 2021 at 7:02 pm
All I’m reading here is whine whine whine. That’s is EXACTLY why we think Gen Z is dumb and lazy.
MrESB • Aug 23, 2021 at 8:58 am
Although some valid points are made, the bottom line is it’s all still excuses. Live classes or online the vast majority of ‘Gen Z’ are still clueless and self absorbed with apparent Don Quixote syndrome. Our country is done for with these lemmings in line to ‘lead’.
Daniel Yim • Jun 29, 2021 at 11:12 am
I agree that online teaching for young people is not that great if it’s the only method of teaching. In-person teaching is better overall I think. It instills discipline and respect.
It seems like your equating length of education/hours put in with quality of education. I personally found that school took up too much of our time and I didn’t learn much at school at all. In school, we are also forced to learn things we don’t necessarily need to or want to. I hated taking English class and frankly I think it was a complete waste of time. But I had no choice. And I had a lot of bad or demeaning teachers. Yet that meant spending more hours in the classroom. And most of the things we learn in school is useless in the real world, apart from learning the essentials. So I am having a hard time understanding why you think spending more and more hours in class instantly equals a better quality education and smarter students.
Aria • May 6, 2021 at 6:09 pm
I completely agree, though unlike you I’m only in the 8th grade, most of us are slacking off or just unmotivated. There’s so many ways we could cheat through Online Classes. But after a week of coming back, we completely lost it. Homework and tests we couldn’t do during the course are piling up even though we didn’t learn a single thing. Even second term Exams are coming and we are unprepared.
Angel • Mar 15, 2021 at 9:13 am
People all learn differently, teachers teach differently, and each school’s curriculum is different as well. The pandemic and online learning has been happening for less than a year ( though the tone of article suggest it’s been a decade since this started with no end in sight), there have been multiple pandemics and past generation didn’t have the option to do there work online but somehow still made it. Young kids have to move from school to school all the time and still somehow make it and maintain great grades. Online learningng is challenging to younger group of kids (elementary, middle and some high) iT shouldn’t be so much of challenge to a college student, at least not to the point it’s causeingnyou to fail, since college is all about learning to be self motivated and adapt to the world around you. Also if your a senior in college and don’t have the ability to motivate your self to finish a degree you’ve been working on for four years good luck with the rest of your life.
John Gruntfest • Jul 31, 2020 at 2:29 pm
John, I applaud your willingness to communicate your frustrations and share them on this platform. Your generation, as every one before yours, has a set of unique challenges that the ones before unintentionally contributed to as well as new organic, evolutionary hurdles. I believe your generation is up to the challenge of adapting to the new normal as well as transforming our world to a better place than it is today. Good luck, stay strong and support your fellow classmates as best you can.
Jean • Jul 30, 2020 at 2:44 pm
I agree with you that online learning is far more difficult in terms of students feeling motivated and engaged in their classes. I’m also worried that students won’t receive proper education through online classes. However, online programs have existed for awhile now, and the more opportunities we have available for professors to learn how to teach in an online setting, the more likely students will succeed. Will students be as prepared for college going through elementary, middle school, and high school online? It really just depends on the teacher and coursework. Not every school teaches the same way in-person, so not every school will teach the same way online.