What exactly are the "standards" of education these days?

Question

I have noticed that about 90% of the questions asked on Ask Yahoo do not even read like a complete thought or a sentence. I realize that there is limited space and some abbreviating is being done but half of the time even that doesn't make much sense. Is our "next generation" really this un-educated that they can't spell or write a complete thought into a sentence or are they not being taught how to do these things? I do not mean to be critical toward anyone but it just drives me crazy to see misspelled words, missing words and incomplete sentences that make no sense no matter how many times you read them. What is the answer?

Answer 1

They write in incomplete sentences and misspell words for much the same reason that young males wear their pants below their "cracks" - as a sign of rebellion against authority. And some of your generation are un-educated - not in "book-smarts" but mostly in plain common sense. Some of you can't balance a checkbook; can't give correct change without an electronic cash register to tell you what the change is(and then some of you can't give PROPER change even then - for $.92 in change one time, I got back 8 dimes, two nickels, and 2 pennies when proper change would have been 3 quarters, 1 dime, 1 nickel, and 2 pennies); can't believe that rules and guidelines are for everybody - not for everybody except ME. I hope that the rest of your generation - you sound like a very mature person - can grow into being a reasonable adult one day soon.

Answer 2

You just hit it! I agree with your viewpoint. Some people don't even value the importance of writing well. One person once asked me why I write messages completely when it's faster and easier to just abbreviate. I just think we are tending towards an effortless culture; undervaluing exactly those things, like language usage, that can help us to distinguish ourselves as individuals - I think this is where we should go when shaping educational standards. There's a writer, Antonio Machado, who once said: "That one who half-speaks and half-writes, half-thinks and half-lives." Interesting, isn'it it?