Andy Rooney  On Youth


YOUNG PEOPLE GOT NOTHIN' TO SAY: OPINION WRITING

Well, I think first it is important, I think young people cannot write, mostly. And I think the reason they can't write, beginning at age six or eight or ten, but it extends up into college, quite often, and the reason that young people can't write is that they don't have anything to say. Now, the first thing is get hold, either have an opinion, or get hold of some facts. It makes it a whole lot easier to write something! [laughs] It's why the conversation on a campus is so often inane. If anyone has anything to say, he can put it down on paper in words. And if he can't put it down on paper and words, no number of times the person says, "You know what I mean, hey, you know what I mean?" No. Dammit, I do not know what you mean, put it down on paper. Chances are the person cannot put it down on paper, and that means the person does not have an idea in the first place.