Anonymous, Contributing Writer
Like, Seriously?
I think it’s safe to say that I’m not the only person who recognizes the amount of students who appear to be illiterate, or at least have incredibly poor writing skills. As a former tutor in the writing center of my previous college, I encountered various essays and pieces of writing that were downright horrendous! It really made me wonder how these students even got accepted into college. I understand that I am a senior and happen to be an English major so I may have the upper hand when it comes to this subject, but really, why are so many students lacking the basic grammatical and fundamental skills of the English language? Sure there are those students who have writing disabilities or something along those lines, but what is the excuse for all of the others? This is not a stab at those of you who may experience difficulties when it comes to writing, but rather an observation I have made throughout my years of college and my experience as a writing tutor.
Honestly, I don’t mean to sound like a crank. I just felt that someone in our age group should stick up for the value of knowing how to read and write properly, and knowing common rules of grammar. Just because we’re all young doesn’t mean we should only operate on knowledge of texting slang (not to mention texting grammar), or on abbreviations we’ve used to minimize conversation on the old days of AOL Instant Messenger or in email to our friends. Just because we’re members of the Facebook generation doesn’t mean that everything we submit, no matter what context, should appear like something written through such a medium.
Being on the forefront of the information age, dismissing written word, or typed word rather, in lieu of E! television has almost become the norm. On a college campus the precedent has been set time and time again where the college newspaper plays a pivotal role in the student body, however this is far from the case. On our campus, the ecosystem of frats, zombies and music nerds; a consistent publication that should be of interest to an engaged college student is systematically ignored.
The one venue that I would have as a student to publically vent my gripes outside of a Tumblr reblog or 140 character tweet seems to be completely alien to a generation that doesn’t read and has no intention of changing that. But you know what? Maybe it isn’t our fault as individuals after all. Maybe this can all be blamed on one thing: the American education system. Either way, I think it’s time for reform.
Sincerely,
Disgruntled Student
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