Title: Hollowed Out
Author: Jeremy S. Adams
Info: Copyright 2021: Regnery
Rating (on a scale of 1-4 stars): ✮✮
Category (ies) - Recommended reads(?):
This book was a suggested read by the president of the university where I'm employed. The author visited campus and gave a lecture based on the book on April 24, 2025.
Synopsis: Adams, a high school and postsecondary educator, documents both academic research and his own empirical data showing the decline, or "hollowing out" as he terms it, of the current generation. From phone addiction precluding learning to unwarranted and unsupported anti-American sentiment (usually fueled by social media), Adams fears that children who choose to remain in the "hollow" state will be a detriment to the future of education as well as the country. He assigns educators with the task of minimizing and/or undoing the damage.
Select Favorite Quotes:
I didn't have any specific quotes of interest. However, Adams mentions a government report outlining a brief history of the founding of the country and the signing of the Declaration of Independence. This "1776 Report" also includes a few tips on accurately teaching history, such as training students to use as many primary sources and firsthand accounts to research historical people and events. It is not a sugar-coated version of history, neither is it a maligning of the founding fathers. I appreciate Adams including it since I'd not heard of it.
The good, the bad, and the ugly:
I had a difficult time finding anything positive about this book. While much of Adams' information was accurately related, his approach was quite offputting. More importantly, the information did not (and does not) apply to all children. As I said in my First Line Friday post about this book, "I'm afraid that this may be what this author is going to do [be prejudiced against the younger generation or write them off as incorrigible] while blaming teachers--rather than parents--for the state of the children." Unfortunately, this is the tone of the book (i.e. the attitude of "the sky is falling" and "tell the kids to get out of my yard."). My trepidation was the main reason I wanted to hear the author's presentation before sharing my opinion of the book.
Mr. Adams' presentation clarified a few things for me. First, this book was written during the throes of the pandemic. During that time, teachers were struggling even more with many student's apathetic attitudes and the additional distractions that come with online classrooms, in addition to inattentive parents. The book came across as overly negative because negativity was all that could be seen during that time. I do understand that. Sometimes seeing so much negativity can blind many to any good that is around them. The good news, according to Adams, is that the tide is turning and the hopelessness brought on by the situation is starting to wane. It would have been nice if some of that could have been included in the book.
Conclusion/Takeaway:
The one question/statement I wish I could have posed to Adams (there was a Q&A, but the participants were most likely prescreened) concerned the younger generation and sexuality. While I understand the ramifications of sexual confusion, promiscuity, and the irrational fear of marriage and/or intimacy because of bad examples or trauma, the harping on younger people waiting longer to marry and have children as if it is a felony does the same amount of damage--especially to females.
In my family, many of the girls of the younger generation were raised in single parent homes. Rather than perpetuating the accompanying struggles of poverty and bringing up children without a father in the home, they made the decision to get their educations, have careers, and work on themselves so that if they do marry and have children, their family will be built on a more solid financial, emotional, and relational foundation.
Tell me again, Mr. Adams, what's wrong with that? You just got through talking about how entitled and self-centered this generation is. Do you really want them having children and exacerbating the problem? Or, would you rather have them wait until they are more mature and understand more about how the world works (especially that it doesn't revolve around them)?
I also didn't get much clarity on how he expects teachers to correct all these issues. "Just keep doing what your doing" is not helpful. Besides, the majority of the correction lies at the feet of parents. Teachers have enough to deal with. Sorry (not sorry), but I've taught preschoolers, tutored K-6 children after school, and currently teach undergraduate adult students, and gracefully handling the inattentive parents of the children and/or parents who are inattentive students themselves is hard enough without being blamed for their lack of effort. We educators can read all the books, offer help, make instructional videos, call people, pray, and use all the other techniques in the book, but if a student does not want to be a participant in his own education, the effort is useless!
On a (hopefully) brighter note Adams has a new book along the same lines (but reported to have a much more positive tone) called Lessons in Liberty, My workplace is considering reading this one together and bringing back Mr. Adams. Even if this doesn't come to fruition, I'm curious enough to read this one on my own in the future.
