I honestly don’t know what to say about the “Dark Night” article. One the one hand, there’s the school violence angle; on the other, there’s the idea that face-to-face contact is the savior of our society; on the other hand (we’ll pretend that Vishnu is keeping track of all this), there’s Miller’s feeling that all the reading and writing that we suffer through in public school is basically moot because no one pays attention to it anymore. I mean, honestly, what am I here for then? Yes, great, let me read articles about how reading articles is a stupid waste of time and lots of money because in a few years, Oprah is going to be the one telling people what to think. I’m sure I’m missing the point, but what is his point? Our educational system is in crisis: the number of school shootings has been on the rise over the past ten years, and the kids who manage to make it out alive are dead inside from the spirit-crushing ranking methodology inherent in the system. So do we make the schools smaller and more personal, give all the kids a chance to become really well-acquainted so they can hate one another based on personalities, rather than quick-and-easy stereotypes clued in by brand of sneaker? Or do we make the schools larger and less personal, running the risk of alienating further the kids who already feel marginalized? There must be some middle ground, but damned if anyone knows what it is because, hopefully, it would already be implemented. This has turned into a rant, but I don’t know what else to say. I don’t feel as sitting in a coffee klastch would have helped Eric and Dylan; I don’t think that reading and writing are irrelevant, but I don’t know why. Overall, I suppose the article is trying to make the point that our society needs to change the way it thinks about communication, but change it to what?
“I don’t think that reading and writing are irrelevant, but I don’t know why.” And that is the very issue that Miller explores in the rest of his book. . . . I don’t think that he believes “all the reading and writing that we suffer through in public school is basically moot because no one pays attention to it anymore” but rather that it is a disconcerting feeling that sort of slithers into his (and other’s) mind at times. So, if we are committed to the language arts, what are we to do with that? That is the question he is bringing up, so I think you and he are on the same page.