"Engage Me or Enrage Me"

"Engage Me or Enrage Me" was simply an article of extremes, saying a teacher will either fully have the attention of a new 21st century student or drive them to angst at the teacher's outdated teaching style. I fully understand, and moreover agree, that much needs to be done to hold the attention and interest of the 21st century classroom, but I wholeheartedly disagree that the outcome is going to be simply one or the other: interest or rage. It is most certainly true that the outdated classroom of the 20th century will bore many students who are used to instant engagement, but rather than try and modify the classroom to the point where its essentially a videogame is bogus. Rather, students shouldn't have instant engagement anywhere. It is unneccessary for a third grader to be online often, let alone have multiple email addresses. Get out of your chair and go outside, kid. Go find some weird looking bugs, get hurt climbing trees and learn from your mistakes. Technology here is the issue, not simply just the classroom. True, the classroom should have more to offer in that it should include more relevence to a child's life. But parents, and moreover society as a whole, should be making some changes as well, curbing these kids demands.