Are we dumbing down or am I just becoming Mr Curmudgeon?

I am normally very confident in my opinions and certainly not afraid to express them. This one is a case in point. Today, a blog I read made me certain that we are, as a nation, dumbing down. I would like to believe that I am wrong but I fear not.. 

Cases in point.

1. 'A' level questions which would have been in 'O' level papers in my day.

2. Teens asked questions in voxpop news items to which their replies are worthy of a child.

3. Answers to similar questions which merely parrot the prevailing ideas on any particular issue without any supporting original thoughts.

4. Youths who have no idea of their own history (Often seen on quiz programs.)

5.Geeks who endlessly argue about which superhero is better or has better powers. I stopped doing this when I left Junior school. These guys live in a world of Games and Science fiction films, the real world does not impinge on their lives.

6. Those who believe that the money they receive from benefits are from some magic endless fund and never question whether they deserve it. This is usually followed by some incoherent comment about why a job is impossible to find for them though everyone else should be made to get one.

The list goes on. It rapidly becomes obvious that many young people today have no idea about Politics, their heroes are vacuous or violent fictional soap opera characters and celebrities with no real claim to fame and they cannot even express themselves without those dreadful Americanisms innit?

Go on Facebook and the ideas expressed by older members are often about politics and current events. Younger people post about said celebrities, post meaningless graphic jokes or parrot others who post (Often obscene) reactions to others.

I have strong Anti European feelings and wish to leave the EU as soon as possible. There are several reasons but a typical post from a younger person might be a graphic like 'Get us the F**k out of the EU.' followed by a comment, if pressed, like 'It's the immigration innit?' That is the extent of their explanation for their views. Interviewers have long learned to accept comments from youngsters but not to push them too hard for further explanations.

The most dangerous youths today are those who see racist information and who do not have the intellectual toolkit to realise they are being manipulated. Thus you have them being indoctrinated by the far right or terrorist organisations. They are ignorant of the futility of fanaticism and it leaves them wide open to this manipulation.


I am sure there are a lot of younger people out there who are not like this but they are definitely in the minority.

Recenly discovered 1912 exam paper which would give me problems today.


'They are Man's,' said the Spirit, looking down uponthem. 'And they cling to me, appealing from their fathers.
This boy is Ignorance. This girl is Want. Beware them both,
and all of their degree, but most of all beware this boy,
for on his brow I see that written which is Doom,

Charles Dickens 'A Christmas Carol'

I may be Mr Curmudgeon but I am sure that I have very good reason to fear the dumbing down of society.