There are lots of good, bad, high and low events in the 2007 bunch of cnuts Big Brother inmates.
But the saddest thing by far has been exposed by the requirement that housemates read aloud portions of text printed on cards.
Sam and Tracey;Â they’re at the lowest end of literacy.
Neither of them is a competent, confident, fluid reader.
They stumble over the simplest words.
They are unable to pronounce common words and phrases.
And this, my friends, is the saddest thing about Big Brother 8.
That our schools – and the teachers in those schools and the parents of these children who attend these schools – are happy to produce young adults to a standard of education that third-world countries surpased a decade ago.
That’s the really sad thing about Big Brother 8.
B.
I am constantly amazed by how little general knowledge ‘young people’ have these days. On BB8, Brian didn’t know who Shakespeare was, and the twins didn’t know whether Leonardo da Vinci was still alive or not. And they’re at uni, apparently.
In Sainsbury’s today there was a girl about 18 or so who was looking at toothbrushes and saying to her mate, “what are cavities?”
I am sure I wasn’t that ignorant at 18. Why do (some) people of that age seem not to know ANYTHING?! Do you really think it is to do with schools? Do you think they’ve change that much since I left school in 1991?
Tracey I find particularly irritating. On the rare occasions I have seen bits of Big Brother 8, she never seems to be able to speak without filling sentences with the same “catchphrases” (such as “Deal with it”), seemingly to disguise their lack of substance.
But the saddest thing about BB8 for me was when some of the inmates had to press their faces into a trough of manure to bob for apples, and if they didn’t they wouldn’t be given enough food for the next week. There’s just something deeply, deeply wrong with that.
Can’t watch Big Brother from here – probably a good thing too, it would just wind me up. There’s a French version on at the moment – it’s called Secret Story. My French isn’t fantastic but I get the general gist – the international language of mouth-breathers needs little translation.
Mya x
Ginny, I’m with you about Tracey. Her behaviour tonight (and all because she can’t have a fag) is shocking and scary in equal measures. Surely, if one is an addict to a substance one wouldn’t even consider going in to the house in the first place?
Mya, I’ve read about Secret Story. Perhaps I should have a look for it on the web, just to experience the full horror, erm, glory.
SG, I read your comments out to The Lovely Soph and her jaw dropped to the floor quicker than a female chav’s thong on a Saturday night.
🙂