Let's play "did you know"

It's marking season, which means it's also howling season. I don't usually blog about the silly things students write in their essays --- after all, they're writing under considerable duress --- but in order to keep my resolution not to be snarky in the margins, I've got to have an outlet somewhere.

So. Did you know that according to students (who are the "leaders of tomorrow", if you believe the propaganda):

• "With the increase in the prevalence of pornographic websites, there has been a sharp jump in the number of rape cases in America."
• "The mass media, the information and recreational portal, have evolved to encompass almost everything in the universe."
• "Imprisonment or rehabilitation would put a greater strain on the country's resources as compared to the death penalty, as more land would have to be cleared to build prisons. Taxpayers' money would also be wasted on prison manpower, which could otherwise be put to more beneficial uses such as improving health care as well as for research and development."

There are plenty of other examples, but these were just the most horrifying ones that made me stop in my tracks and howl at the ceiling.

Oh, and I've cleaned up the grammatical mistakes too.

The sad thing is that because students were writing under examination conditions, they probably didn't have the time to stop and realise exactly what they were saying. (At least, I hope so...) They had just enough time to spit out everything they know onto the page and hope for the best, while I have to sift through the morass to find something worth rewarding.

*howl*