As I was going through my regular reading of the news, I came upon an article that discussed the illiteracy problem in America. It is estimated that approximately 1 in 7 American adults are illiterate. That means we have a higher portion of the population who can’t read than we do of a gay population. It’s outrageous. However, I am not surprised.
Did you know that you can even get a picture menu at Burger King? I had noticed awhile back that at the bottom of the Drive-Thru menu there was a sign that said, “Picture Menus Available Upon Request.” Granted, if someone could read that then they really wouldn’t have much use for a picture menu, but that’s neither here nor there.
I spent a good portion of my childhood living in the suburbs of Baltimore (Yep, I’ve lived in Maryland twice) and attended an elementary school where many of my fellow classmates had difficulties with reading. Being that my school served a population that bordered with Baltimore City, the plight of poverty was seen on a daily basis. I was one of the few students who did not eat lunch thanks to meal tickets. Where there is poverty, there is illiteracy. Some of my classmates went home to parents who were illiterate. In fact, the illiteracy problem was so rampant, even in the 80’s, that a campaign which pushed for higher literacy rates was created. All park benches in Baltimore were inscribed with the motto of: “Baltimore, The City That Reads.”
The motto wasn’t a permanent feature, as after being away from the area for eight years, Baltimore had moved onto a different motto. Perhaps it’s due to the fact that Baltimore had a 38% illiteracy rate even in 2002. The motto was changed to “The Greatest City in America.” I’ve caught onto the fact that the mottos are more of wishful thinking for the city.
The point is, however, that illiteracy was addressed quite heavily even as a child on a local level and I have been reminded of the problem between the article and a news segment that aired on CBS. I even dug it up for your viewing pleasure. (You’re welcome).
I do believe that more programs need to be funded and put into place in order to raise the literacy rate in this country. However, once we shouldn’t stop with that. I have noticed how ADDish our society has become. Many people prefer the television to sitting down and reading a book and we are suffering because of it.
Now I was raised in a family of readers. All of us in my family have our bookcases filled with all sorts of reading material. My books range from Jane Goodall, to American History, to politics (of course), to the works of Maya Angelou and Edgar Allen Poe with quite a bit in between. I have my Bill Bryson for when I need a laugh and I have books on existentialism for when I want to confuse the hell out of myself. I enjoy reading. Yet, I am at a bit of a disadvantage in that I am not a visual person. So, unlike many of you who have movies playing in your head when you read, I don’t see anything, but I still enjoy it.
Now, just how are we suffering due to lacking the desire of picking up a good book? Listen to how other people speak. Pay attention to emails and letters that you receive. Now, dig up a couple letters written during the Civil War era and you’ll notice something: Our vocabulary of today is in the shitter.
The soldiers and the loved ones that were left behind were no more intelligent than us. Nor did many of them obtain University level education. Yet, the letters that were exchanged were far more articulate and descriptive than what many of us compose today.
Part of the problem of selecting a television show over a book is that much of our youth might know how to read. However, many of them are functional illiterates.
As stated in Wikipedia, “When illiterate, one cannot read or write at all. In contrast, one who is functionally illiterate has a basic grasp of literacy (reading and writing text in his or her native language), but with a variable degree of grammatical correctness and style. In short, when confronted with printed materials, functionally illiterate adults cannot function effectively in modern society and cannot adequately perform fundamental tasks such as filling out an application for employment, understanding a legally binding contract, following written instructions, reading a newspaper article, reading traffic signs, consulting a dictionary, or understanding a bus schedule.”
What’s scary is that as our relationship with technology grows, and we become a society that is much more dependent on multimedia, we could potentially turn the hypothetical society that is known as a post-literate society into a reality. Critical thinking, in itself does not seem to be at the forefront of the educational experience in many schools today. For example, my mom is a teacher at a public school in New England and has told me the horror stories of how students are no longer writing papers that analyze, but they write papers in which they are asked to state their reaction. (Yep, there’s a different between analyzing and reacting.) She has also shared a few other horror stories of the public school system that have me in complete disbelief.
I am not a person who really digs Sci-Fi. However, I was exposed to Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 while in elementary school. (After I had moved out of Maryland). I really do fear that eventually, as our dependency of technology continues to increase to the point that we no longer use pen and paper to compose our grocery lists, that the ideas that Mr. Bradbury spoke of will come into being. That, or, our descendants will end up like the movie, Idiocracy. Either concept scares the hell out of me.
Functional literacy and the push for recreational reading is a major issue that is glossed over quite a bit these days. I realize that many of us are busy. However, I still manage to find time to read. Granted, I might only get through ten pages of a book before falling asleep on a busy day, but I still make time to read. Now, if I can manage to make time to read, anyone else who is literate can as well and should give it a shot. Sadly, those who really aren’t into reading aren’t the sorts of people who come across this page. Well, not those who have come here without looking for ugly dog photos… Yes, my page is still popping up on those searches and bringing in a bit of web traffic.
Filed under: Droppings Tagged: | critical thinking, Fahrenheit 451, Idiocracy, illiteracy, literacy
That man in Buffalo- what a moving story. I think education really is the key to saving ourselves.
As a college composition teacher this is a very important topic close to both my teaching and my scholarship.
Teaching reading is one thing; teaching critical reading is another. The same is true for writing. The current trend in HS writing education is a reaction to a process-model of writing education combined with the so-called expressivist movement. Students are given “agency,” “voice,” and sense of their own position before they (should be) are asked to perform more complex writing analyses and compose argument driven prose using credible sources.
Students are reluctant for many reasons to literacy. The consumerist model of education is very prevalent so students think “I’m here. Fill me with knowledge.” Except most of them don’t seem to understand that learning doesn’t work that way.
I always take a day early each semester to talk about the history of written communication in the Western world (we travel from 12,000 BC to the present day in 50 minutes (aided by a power-point, of course).
We are in the midst of a third-wave literate culture, greatly complicated by economics, access, and pressures from many areas to get things done as fast as possible with the least work necessary.
As a teacher, I don’t know what the answer is; all I do is my small part to help my students see that they actually DO think and that writing is more than a mere transcription of those thoughts into written text. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t.
But that’s pretty much how life is anyway right?
Great post– sorry to ramble.
Happy Sunday.
Sky-
You did not rant.
I’m curious as to the caliber of students you receive in your classes. I took my college composition classes back in high school (thanks to a dual-credit program) and I absolutely loved the course! Typically, I sign up for courses that are a bit writing intensive and I look forward to it. Other students, normally the younger ones, end up groaning when they hear about how much writing is involved. I make my grades based upon my papers. I’ve never been one for exams, however I am always delighted to see essay questions because I can quantify my logic behind an answer much more than a multiple choice exam. I’m a highly analytical person, as if one couldn’t tell reading some of my posts on here and being able to think critically is second nature to me. It’s so sad to see how much of a hard time kids have with it.
Don’t you think there is too much emphasis on memorization rather than critical thinking. By the time that they get to college, the necessary analytical skills are undeveloped. But I am no expert, I just see that in the newbie associates that we hire. What do you think?
Catherine-
I actually have a horrible time with memorization. I’m not sure if that’s part of my dyslexia or what. That’s part of the reason why I prefer essay questions on a test than filling out something that I had to try and memorize. I think there’s a lot of teaching to react vs. think that takes place in today’s schools. There seems to be less emphasis on education and more on training.
Love my books..I try to sit down every weekday with my tea and a book around 2:00pm for at least an hour.
My parents were readers and so is most of my family.
We trade books all the time.
Great post…I put critical thinking high on the list of things kids need to learn…it is such an important life skill and reading is such an integral part of keeping the skill alive as you age and grow…a lifelong process. Education is key to it all, and as you can see from the video, we are missing the boat somewhere along the line. It’s gotta be on our list!!!!!!
Great post, D…I saw that article and I was horrified. I am a volunteer ESL tutor and I’ve worked with a couple of people who couldn’t read or write in their native language, either…I also grew up in a family of readers and I’ve always taken it for granted that I can read and write.
Until the tutoring, anyhow.
I do not go anywhere without a book. Even if I have not had time to go the library or the book store (or my mom hasn’t been to visit in a while) I will grab a book off the shelf to re-read. I don’t read while driving, but I do read while in line at the bank, at the doctor’s office, anytime there is a wait for more than 30 seconds. I can’t imagine my life without books.
My son reads, but only if it is something very interesting to him.
My 14 yo stepson is functionally illiterate. Neither of his parents would admit it, but it is true. He can’t spell soap. And we don’t live in the inner city. He has had the best education money can buy in NW Florida. Private school for most of his education and he just squanders it. And his mother constantly buys him more video game crap.
Somewhere we’ve lost our love of learning and it is only going to hurt all of our society in the end.
LeftLeaningLady hit on something, I think. Video games. Violence aside, I think the overabundance of these things has been seriously detrimental to recent generations. We never had a game console in our house until just this year (my 18 YO bought a Wii). We didn’t have the disposable income to spare for any kind of system and moreover weren’t really too keen on the whole idea. Youngest (said 18 YO) was a bit on the ADD side as a youngster and we had no illusions on what would happen if we got a game console.
Their friends all mostly had systems and I’ve noticed a serious lack of critical thinking skills and cultural literacy among them. We read in our household. We have a saying (stolen from a friend): “Of course you’re out of shelf space. Everyone’s out of shelf space. If you’re not out of shelf space, you’re doing something wrong.”
Correction. The quote should be: “Of course you don’t have enough bookshelf space. No one has enough bookshelf space. If you have enough bookshelf space then you aren’t worth knowing.”
Why is it whenever I try to actually write down one of these “sayings” I can’t remember them correctly? Must be incipient senility.