It seems like young people (particularly the 15-20 year-old range) are so much smarter and better informed than decades ago or even just 10 years ago. The fear about the US falling behind seems unfounded. Then again, I have to remind myself that Reddit and NH is not reality...these sites are probably only representative of the top 20% or so of ability. The bottom 50% are either less active online or more inclined to major social networks.
What makes you believe they are better informed?
From my experience of:
1. being a not-quite-old person (33)
2. step son (16)
3. step daughter (15)
4. having a step mother teaching elementary school
5. my mother teaching middle and high school
I see kids as overly exposed to dramatic information. Both of my kids thought they were gay prior to hitting puberty and realizing they weren't. Both of my kids have taken political extremist positions, one identifying as communist and the other identifying as a libertarian. Most of the children I know are participating in very adult discussions without giving any hint of their age. Children are exposed much earlier to sex and pornography and fringe groups.
In addition to this, reading and writing skills have anecdotally declined considerably. When I was 16, I read at least one book per month, usually one per week. Most of the children I've had experience with will never read a book unless ordered to, and have no desire to read one either. Children are unable to write coherently; they pump out barely understandable slang prose, throw it through grammarly, and assume that it's good.
Hell, for one other anecdote, my wife is in college right now and I've been reading her peers' essays for English and History class and I can't imagine how these people are capable of operating in society with their absolute bottom of the barrel writing ability. Professors are having to give passing grades to what could be considered 6th grade writing levels in order to not fail the entire class.
Maybe things were the same when I was a child and I just wasn't exposed to it, but I don't have a lot of hope in the education of the future generations with access to social media. I do feel a lot of job security, however.
The question I have is how much of that is actually different and how much is worse? I knew lots of communist/libertarian high schoolers. Teenagers get extreme views.
Also regarding the rate of book reading - could it be that your childhood was not the norm? I too read a lot, but I was the only one on the school bus home who did, and it was so remarkable I was picked on for it. And complaining about a lack of book reading could be like lamenting we aren't all reading the newspaper anymore either - does that mean our reading and writing is worse? Is the general essay writing of this decade actually provably that much worse than a decade or three ago? Is the general population actually less literate or can we not remember decades past?
I'm not saying you're entirely wrong, but there's some "old man yells at cloud" vibes here too.
I agree with your general skepticism - I believe there is evidence of every generation claiming that the younger cohorts are no longer up to par. Still, even without specific evidence to back up my claims, I can't imagine that childhood exposure to the internet and video games hasn't had a profound effect on our youth.
I am limited in my ability to only experience my immediate surroundings, and statistics are limited by sample sizes, bias, and reporting techniques. I can tell you, however, that the children I have direct experience with are generally worse at writing, reading, focus, and the ability to troubleshoot and critically think.
It is difficult to make comparisons to childhoods other than my own experience, but I was not an exceptional child. I made poor grades in high school and college, and was generally considered average in most subjects, and yet when I compare my skills and abilities at a similar age to the children I see now (most who are in exceptional private schools), I feel as though my toolbox was much more robust.
Granted, I was not nearly as good at memes and youtube and online social etiquette as children are these days. They are still learning quite a bit. I just worry that what they are learning does not prepare them to live a life in which they have to participate in society.
