In my attempt to become an interesting person with views and opinions on things NON-child related, I have failed miserably. I have spent the last couple of days reveling in the many amenities of my boys’ new stroller (Baby Jogger Double City Elite). I love it. I love it. Did I tell you how much I love the stroller? Then, realizing that it will be too big to take when we attempt our first road trip this summer, I began the internet hunt for two single strollers that will be comfortable for the twins, compact and easy on me and my dear husband. Oh, and the other super exciting news is the fact that my boys, who have shunned rice cereal as starter foods, will eat homemade organic sweet potato puree that I make.
I turned to Yahoo to inform me of what is going on outside of my home while listening to the local news and found out about this:
- 3 out of 4 students failed the writing portion of the Florida FCAT. which is a statewide assessment test. The state’s response is to lower the standards for the test so that students more students can pass. Granted that they raised the test standards this year, but really – is this the solution?
- University of Texas made a major typo on their commencement pamphlet. (Random fact – I received a full scholarship to attend UT and turned it down to go to another orange school, Syracuse University, in which I had only a partial scholarship.) Students graduating from the School of Public Affairs learned that they were in fact graduating from the School of Pubic Affairs.
Are these incidents in separate states at all connected? Sadly, I believe that they are. In today’s need-it-yesterday age where texting, messaging and emailing are the normal modes of communication English skills are obviously on the decline. When I say English skills I mean writing and speaking. Shame on Florida for giving the excuse that the students did so poorly because they were not properly prepared for the test. The state is doing a disservice to its students by not teaching them and by letting them know that if they do not know the answers, well, that’s okay too because the state will still pass the students. ‘I’ before ‘E’, except after ‘C’! Use ‘an’ before words that begin with vowels! I could go on and on. Today’s youth culture has everybody using abbreviations, short cuts, any easy way to just get it done fast. People no longer write letters which would give them an opportunity to flex heir writing chops. Fast is not necessarily better. Honestly, everybody knows that a potato baked in the oven for an hour tastes way better than one that was nuked in the microwave for 6 minutes. SMH.
IDK what else to say so I will move onto the Longhorns. The University of Texas debacle would be something that I would normally LMAO about and then move on, but it is just so sad that laughing is the only activity that will prevent my tears from falling. Grammar and spell-check features are standard on all software programs that I know of. I am absolutely certain that the University of Texas uses an up to date software system that contains spell-check. Why didn’t they use it? Why didn’t anyone catch this error before it went to print?
As a former court reporter and the current daughter of a minister and an English teacher this casual approach to syntax rubs me the wrong way. If this lackadaisical view of the English language will make it possible for more and more pubic errors– err, I mean public errors to occur both in print and during conversations. Are we getting closer to the fictional tale of Idiocracy the movie coming to fruition?
Disclaimer: If there are any spelling/grammar errors in this post, please, forgive me. I am operating on only four hours of sleep. I have not had a full nights sleep since I was five months pregnant and my boys will be five months old tomorrow and both have started teething. I would, however, be able to pass the Florida FCAT and would never send out something to print without using spell-check even in my sleep deprived state.
Fast is fine, but accuracy is everything.
Wyatt Earp
(Wanna Be) Hot Mom On The Block 