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IQ SCORES ARE IN DECLINE 09/21/18
A recent report indicates that I Q scores have been in decline among those who were born since 1975 at a rate of seven points per generation. For the most part the sons are scoring less then their fathers.
The decline in newspaper reading seems to parallel the decline in IQ scores. With the loss of so many easily accessible newspapers to read, reading/writing skills have atrophied, and so has the development of the skills the IQ tests are meant to measure. If you cannot read well your IQ scores will reflect the deficiency.
IQ testing does not measure one’s ability to learn but rather what one has learned over their life time. You do not learn in a vacuum. Scores of 100-105 points are average and those who score 120-130 are judged Superior.
Immigrant teenaged children who come to Canada whose first language is not French or English may have lower IQ scores. Too often they are advised to take the College Level curriculum even though they have the innate ability to enroll in the University Level courses.
In the past people were inclined to gather their information from newspapers/ books. For males in particular the sport pages were the best way to read about their favourite teams/ scores/ players.
This good habit has all but vanished over the past 40 years. Very few teenaged males to-day turn to the newspapers to keep up with the sports news of the day.
The decline in the number of print newspapers/books hurts us all. Reading skills have been maintained by the copy editors to help us to spell; they use proper grammar/punctuation so we can better communicate with each other.
University level English is the only mandatory grade 12 credit to be accepted into the first year of university. University students have to pass the mandatory English proficiency tests to be able to complete their requirements for their degree programs.
We are at a cross roads with present day technology where young people have not learned to read or write well. They are connected to each other by simple text messaging of 100 characters or less. Hw r u doin is translated from: How are you doing? Emosis are the new technology symbols to express smiling faces or sad moods instead of the written word.
Our elementary grade children are no longer taught to use cursor writing skills to send along their birthday cards to their friends. They instead rely on computer mail messaging. Last week I counseled "Lewis", a 20 year old young man, who was unable to take notes of our session. In grade three he was able to read and write but sadly over the years he has lost the desire/ ability.
Questions. Is technology robbing our youth of the essential skills that are needed no matter which technology they use? How do we replace those skill once they have been lost?
Every time you read about another newspaper’s sad demise (closing) we have lost another pillar of learning in our social network. I have subscriptions to three newspapers that I thoroughly enjoy reading every day.
It is my sincere hope that, you the readers of the Singpost, inform your friends and neighbours of the treasure in our midst of our community newspaper.
Len Lesser is an education/career counsellor in Dorchester, Ont.
Len Lesser