Last month, I read an editorial focusing on education and employability that has never left my craw. Regarding the frequent cry that students aren’t learning what they need to compete for the jobs that do exist, Washington Post Columnist Kathleen Parker also observed “the common experience of employers who can’t find applicants who can express themselves grammatically.”
While Parker’s statement trumpets truth, employers, in turn, have been quick to shift the unemployment blame to the educational system for its lack of technical skill preparedness. But what purpose does technical competence serve when basic communication skills are absent? I mean, how far can one go if unable to articulate his or her thoughts effectively?
Instead of books, parents today are supplying the latest gadgets to their techno-obsessed youth with Twitterspeed. Textersations lined with mistakes have replaced old-fashioned conversations, and what passes youthful muster as music contains lyrics egregious enough grammatically to render an English professor punch drunk. Technology deserves ample applause, but there’s the potential to be both friend and foe. After all, the “Keeping up with the Joneses” electronic premium erodes in value when a simple sentence cannot be crafted. Spoken in the Rodney King vein, can we please get back to the communication basics!?
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