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Are we raising the Dumbest Generation?
Writer Beth Harpaz asks: Are we raising a generation of nincompoops? The tough love from a mom of two tweenage boys is appalled by a visiting 12 year old who looks dumbly at an ice cube tray and it makes her ponder:
Second-graders who can't tie shoes or zip jackets. Four-year-olds in Pull-Ups diapers. Five-year-olds in strollers. Teens and preteens befuddled by can openers and ice-cube trays. College kids who've never done laundry, taken a bus alone or addressed an envelope.
Are we raising a generation of nincompoops? And do we have only ourselves to blame? Or are some of these things simply the result of kids growing up with push-button technology in an era when mechanical devices are gradually being replaced by electronics?
Between helicopter parents who put kneedpads on their crawlers and won't let their 12 year old walk a block to a friend's house, to the baby-industrial complex that sells us every product we never knew we needed, we have raised our kids in egg cartons, so maybe this isn't just another "kids these days" rant from a crank. But still, think about how smart this generation is about their computers and cell phones and technology that leaves their parents looking as dumb as that kid with the ice cube tray.
I interviewed Harpaz last March when she was taking the opposite tack, marveling at the sophistication of this generation in her very funny book 13 is the New 18. So how can this crop of kids be so brilliantly incompetent? Maybe, she posits, this is simply the last gasp of the analog era as we move once and for all to the digital age. In 10 years, there won't be any ice cube trays; every fridge will have push-button ice.
--Sharon Kennedy Wynne
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THE AUTHORS
Sharon Kennedy Wynne has sunscreen in her blood. She may have been born in Buffalo but she got here as fast as she could, in time for kindergarten. She grew up in St. Petersburg, graduated from the University of Florida journalism school, and even got married at Sunken Gardens. She's one of the few adults we know who actually loves taking her kids to the beach. She has two sons and with 10 years of parenting under her belt, she's starting to feel a little less out of her league. She comes from a large family and loves to debate, so brace yourself when the hot topics come up.
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Freelance writer Courtney Cairns Pastor wasn’t so sure about having kids and how she would balance child-rearing with her journalism career. It turned out that her journalism training went to good use. As the mom to a funny, active toddler, she learned to handle him like she did her sources. Never ask yes or no questions (the answer will always be no), get him to be specific (are you crying because you’re wet or your tooth hurts?) and be prepared for anything because no two days are the same. When she’s not playing trucks, Courtney crams for her book club, trains for races and occasionally bursts into showtunes. E-mail her at 
Suzannah DiMarzio has it bad for the Mouse. Although she grew up outside of Boston, she took her degree in tourism management down to Orlando just to work at Disney and the travel industry. Of course, when she married her high school sweetheart, the reception was at Disney. She’s now a seasoned stay-at-home mom to two tweens and a toddler – and yes, that is as crazy as it sounds. Suzannah has her own blog, Comment Policy
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