America is being "dumbed down"

The resolution states that Americais being dumbed down. It does not state that America is not as smart as we should be, or that Americans are dumber then other nations. I have no desire for semantics but Pro made his resolution clear with his opening argument. Pro must show an overall negative change in our “dumbness” in order to win this debate. However when scrutinized, his arguments show the exact opposite. Texting Pro claims that my two languages argument is nonsense because students don’t have to learn them in order to balance their social lives. Texting lingo has developed naturally as a way to communicate more efficiently given the amount of effort it takes to type on a cell phone. Students spend much time on their cell phones and anyone who doesn’t understand the lingo will not only have no idea what anyone else is talking about but will also be ridiculed for it. It is a sign that they have no social life. I think Pro fails to acknowledge this because he has forgotten the pressures of young people to fit in with their friends. It doesn’t matter if that seems childish to an adult, it is a natural and necessary stage of their maturity development. It is very healthy for young people to be at least moderately successful in this area if they wish to grow up feeling full and confident in them selves. Those that don’t are usually the ones we see on the news years later, and not for good reasons. However, this point matters little. Pros premise is that texting lingo is a sign of dumbness. As I have explained, students don't use this lingo because they are lazy, they use it to be more efficient when texting. It creates yet another thing they must learn. Pro also claims that schools not teaching cursive writing is a sign of dumbing down. Pro should watch his source. The focus of the debate as to whether students should be taught cursive is about the balance between a focus on writing vs. focus on technology. In other words, students today have much more to worry about then they did years ago and this is turning educational focus into a difficult dilemma for teachers. This is not dumbing down. Religion and Science Pros science based beliefs vs. faith based beliefs argument is irrelevant. I have already accepted his premise and showed how the trends are not in his arguments favor. However, Pro makes the bizarre claim that the population increasing somehow negates an overall increase in those who believe in evolution, despite a higher percentage of that same population believing just that. If 50% of 6 people believe in evolution then we have 3 evolution believers. If 60% of 10 people believe in evolution we have 6 evolution believers. A higher percentage plus a higher population = a greater amount of people. If evolution = smart, and the number of people (and percentage) who believe in evolution increases, then America is getting smarter. State of the Union vs. Super Bowl Pro says I have proven his point. I haven’t proven anything. A desire to be entertained does not equal a lack of desire to be educated. Pro must show the latter, which he didn’t even bother to attempt. Many doctors, lawyers, politicians, etc are football fans. Education Pro dodges every single argument I made in round one (which BTW is not a “later round”) and instead focuses on completely irrelevant cherry picked examples of how dumb some people are. There are, have always been, and will always be dumb people out there. If YouTube was around in the 1950’s you would find just as many videos of people who don’t know where America is on a map. Pros responsibility is to show how this represents a change in our level of ignorance as a nation. He has yet to accomplish this. And once again, the debate is not about how we rank against the rest of the world. Other countries improving their education system does not mean that Americans are becoming dumber, it means other countries are becoming smarter. If it does mean the former, then it is Pros responsibility to show how. His attempts have not lead to this conclusion. I extend my technology argument as the reason why Americans are attaining a higher education. Today’s world is much more complex then it used to be and as a result a simple education which would have earned a decent living years ago simply won’t do it anymore. That is the opposite of dumbing down. Not one of Pros arguments affirms the resolution. In fact they all thoroughly negate it.