SPEECH!

Classmates, as I start, I urge you to look around. Look at the faces of your peers, especially your young male peers. Do these look like the faces of failure to you? Now imagine sitting in the general classroom in a school in downtown Detroit. Do these faces look different? Of course, because we all know the problems of a sub par education system in America, but, I’m here to tell you today that us in this very classroom are victims of some of the very same pitfalls. I’m here to warn you of the increase culture of isolation and failure befalling many guys in America today.
So lets look at some of the facts. Despite the relatively uniform success of the guys in this classroom today: guys are thirty percent more likely to drop out of high school than girls. Ill repeat that, THIRTY PERCENT MORE LIKELY. Guys also make up two thirds of remedial classes in America. That, my friends, is not a very good number at all. By no means is it only guys, once again we are all familiar with the effects of an under funded and low priority education system, but with statistics so extremely polarized it is impossible not to be concerned for ones fellow man.
But why is the number so different? Why do guys look so comparatively incompetent? We are afforded all the same educational opportunities as girls, so are we just less intelligent? I certainly do not believe this is true, but instead it is a product of such a different culture from females. One thing that nearly all the males in this room can relate to is video games. Video games are not bad in moderation but when you consider the extremes people can take it to the detrimental effects are easily recognized. Did you know that it is estimated that by age 21, an average boy in this day will have played over 10 thousand hours of video games. With this amount of gaming, many people become addicted, or even if they aren’t they can still just prefer the instant gratification of Skyrim compared to, oh, say writing a speech for your English class. Time isn’t the only issue with excessive video games, studies, such as the one performed by Rachael Rettner from LiveScience, have linked the playing of video games, especially at an early age, to a decrease in attention span and focus. Obviously this is detrimental at school, where certain lectures take place that test the will of even the most focused individuals.
However, video games do not affect all, but our culture does. Now, more than ever, boys are being sent messages through the media that you don’t need an education to have a good life, in fact that there are more lucrative opportunities afforded by dropping out to rap or playing sports than getting a good education. In our media, we don’t focus on the works of the Nobel winning scientist, or leading doctor in cancer research, no we focus on idiots like the umpa lumpas and gwedos from jersey shore. Sending guys the message that school isn’t important to make it in the big time like Hollywood, sports, and the music industry do not help at all, in fact the UK basketball team managed one of the worst GPA’s in the country for a collegiate basketball team last year, but still were heralded as stars and made it to the final four. Not exactly the message you want to send to aspiring STUDENT athletes.
So, what am I trying to say with all of this? I’m calling you out, guys, it starts with you. Tonight, take a break from those video games, put down the controller and study for your finals, make education important again, a priority over other things. Because changing a culture starts with us, it starts here today, and together, we can save the future of guys all over America.


bibliography:
Rettner, Rachael. “Video Games May Hinder Learning for Boys.” LiveScience 16 March 2010: n. pag. Web. 2 August 2011
Rettner talks of the correlation between children who have video game systems and lower tests scores than those who don’t. She alerts the reader to the fact that there is no sure cause and effect, but does go on to describe a study in which a group of 6-9 year-olds were given a game system, some right away and some after a 4-month study period. The results showed that the children with the systems from the start showed a drop in educational development, which she attributed to the video games taking away time from other educational activities that could have been taking place during that time.

Wolf, Naomi. “Porn Myth.” NYMag 2003 n. pag. Web. 2 August 2011
Wolf in this article discusses the negative effect of excessive porn on interpersonal relationships. The easy access and constant bombardment of internet porn makes it something that reaches and affects almost every individual. She talks of how the porn desensitizes men to interaction with real women, and gives them false pretenses, information, and ideas about how sex is and should be. Also how it causes relationships to deteriorate between the sexes.

Digital Nation. Dir. Rachel Dretzin. 2010. DVD. Frontline, 2010.
This documentary highlighted the developmental and social problems that a technology overwhelmed society experiences. From American children with problems reading and writing in school, to Asian teenagers that are addicted to the internet and video games, causing physical ailments along with feeling socially out of place in face-to-face interactions. This film is persuasive towards the negative qualities of technology in excessive quantities.

The Demise of Guys? Phillip Zombardo. Internet Talk. March 2011.
This quick talk by Phillip Zombardo addresses the reasons that young males in this generation are struggling in school and socially. First he displays statistics to show the deterioration of performance of young American males, then goes on to explains his thoughts on what is causing this. He lists an overexposure to video games, internet porn, and other technology that causes a deprivation of human interaction and less priority on school.

Bauerlein, Mark. The Dumbest Generation. New York: Tarcher 2008.
This book talks about how the new age of technology has not stimulated the minds of our young people but instead lead them into a lethargic and mind degrading state which results in having the “Dumbest Generation”. It talks of how technology is making us incompetent instead of more efficient and how we are only going to go downhill from here.