Tony Rodgers interviewed Mark Bauerlein, author of the book “The Dumbest Generation’ who thinks he knows.

The numbers are grim. A Pew Research Center survey found that people aged 18-34 are consistently less knowledgeable about current events than their elders. This knowledge gap was widest on foreign affairs. 

Bauerlein says young people are in the thrall of Facebook, texting and other digital distractions that keep them from learning about anything more meaningful than, say, who went with whom to the school dance. 

“What do 15-year-olds care about? They care about what all the other 15-year-olds are doing,” Bauerlein says. “Anything that puts them in touch with one another they’re going to use.” 

And when it comes to the news, “Who cares about some guys over in England jockeying over who’s going to run the government there when kids can talk about what happened at the party last weekend?” 

Young people are in the thrall of Facebook … and it keeps them from learning about anything more meaningful than who went with whom to the school dance

Bauerlein says the digital age has changed something fundamental about the family structure, and the result is that young people are less closely under the guidance of adults than ever before.

Left unchecked, these developments could result in a new age dark of ignorance.

Change must come from parents and teachers, Bauerlein says. ” “You need to disconnect kids from each other for some critical hours every day,” he says. “You need to expose them to realities that transcend their world.”

You need to disconnect kids from each other for some hours each day … you need to expose them to realities