The Google Generation & Depleting Scholarship

Just came back after attending an inter-college debate competition At Shaheed Bhagat Singh college. I was one of the three judges -- and went through a captivating experience listening to 59 participants of 30 teams.

The topic was Elimination of corruption is not enough for ensuring inclusive development. The students showed extreme enthusiasm while debating for and against the motion. A slew of arguments were put forth by each participants -- some very powerful, some bordering on trivialities.

What was good was the high energy level showed by the participants. Set in the backdrop of a string of corruption cases, participants were agitated and expressed utmost venom against the system and how it was seeding corruption and nurturing the corrupt. Some said the only way to get rid of the malaise was "revolution." For a moment, one was left thinking, something akin to the recently concluded Jasmine Revolution was in the offing. The energy was compelling.

What was disturbing was the complete disconnect with the grassroots realities as they exist today beyond our cities. For the youngsters, all of India except Delhi and few other metropolitan cities were poor. All of India except big cities were suffering the scourge of lack of development and systemic failures. Fascinating figures were thrown in -- be it on farmers committing suicides, children dying of malnutrition, women suffering domestic violence and exploitation of Dalits and Tribals.

The touch of mainstream media -- and an obsession with its pattern of discourse was clearly visible. This prompted one of my fellow judge to rightly remind the participants that the youngsters should not be so obsessed with the mainstream media feed.

What was disturbing was the dispassionate distance that the youngsters has today with research and perspectives. The Google generation is showing signs of being in a rush to jump on to conclusions, ideas on explorations and gathering facts were miserably absent in their content.

It is indeed disappointing. The Internet, notwithstanding its merits, has seemed to led our younger generation into blindly believing all that they can lay their hands on. For them, the first, and the last word on an issue is the Internet.

The Google generation seems to blindly follow the Internet without taking the pains to explore through the age-old books, which lie unattended in our libraries. Reading habits been on a decline like never before. Books are the last companion of modern students and I say this with my personal experience as a teacher -- as a teacher who goes out and meet students of all hues, drawn from management to communication to arts and science.

Educational institutions should devise some mechanisms to reinforce the reading habits amongst the youth. Else, I suspect, the trend will lead to an irreversible depletion in the future of knowledge and scholarship.

I am anxious!