Illiteracy: from children to adults
We are down to some serious business today. Writing about books and reading is nonsense if not also admitting to the growing reality that is illiteracy among children and adults in the US. Research has shown that literacy rates for young children in the US have been declining in the recent years, a serious and timely problem to be addressed by public health leaders and legislators. Additionally, adult illiteracy is just as troublesome.
According to James Causey for The Health Divide, addressing the public education system might be the first step (especially if thinking in the future generations), but illiterate adults need more support right now. This is not only a "reading-for-leisure" issue, but navigating daily-life tasks. There are multiple resources, such as community colleges, libraries and non-profit organizations that help improve literacy for adults; however, reports have found that most people in need of these services do not know they exist, or simply do not have the time, transportation or, truthfully, the energy to attend.
Similar research has shown that the Manufacturing Industry in the US is now seeking workers that can interpret and comprehend more detailed, intricate processes, with nearly 38% of manufacturing companies demanding advanced skills.
I am feeling very Lisa Simpson right now, so I am going to say it: First the industry overworks their employees with (extreme) physical labor, making them so tired there is no time, nor energy, for studying; then now the same industry simply needs them to "step-up" and know how to read AND comprehend complex instructions.
Let's remember Upton Sinclair's words: "The great packing machine ground on remorselessly, without thinking of green fields; and the men and women and children who were part of it never saw any green thing, not even a flower. Four or five miles to the east of them lay the blue waters of Lake Michigan; but for all the good it did them it might have been as far away as the Pacific Ocean. They had only Sundays, and then they were too tired to walk. They were tied to the great packing machine, and tied to it for life." (The Jungle)Now pivoting to the younger reading challenges: for children and young adults, reading is no longer fun enough to captivate their attention. There are so many other options, so much content online, and infinite movies and TV Shows to freely choose from at all times - and I am not even going to mention dopamine levels here.
The Harvard Gazette (Harvard Thinking) had a podcast episode published last year, where multiple specialists discussed possible outcomes of the decline in literacy among children. According to Martin West (from the transcript of the Harvard Thinking episode): "One of the trends that I’ve been struck by is the really dramatic decline in the share of students who report that they read for fun on their own time. So among 13-year-olds, the share of students who report that they read for fun on their own time, almost every day, fell almost by half from 27 percent in 2012 to 14 percent in 2023. The share who say they never or hardly ever read for fun on their own jumped from 22 percent to 31 percent over that same period. And what could be driving that trend? I don’t think we have smoking-gun evidence that the rise of screen-based childhood is a direct contributor to the literacy trends that we’re seeing. But I’m willing to put it very high on my list of potential suspects."
The other possible issue? Children might not see adults around them reading. In schools, when reading time is happening, teachers are catching up on grading. At home, if quiet time is a non-negotiable, parents might be doing the same, using the time to catch up with other chores. If adults do not model what they wish to see from children, children are not going to understand the why of being asked to do it on the first place. Now from Pamela Mason: "I would encourage and always have encouraged reading aloud. I know that sounds very old-fashioned, but we all like podcasts here. We all like e-books. We like people reading to us. So, our young people really still enjoy having a significant adult read aloud to them, whether it’s before bedtime or just some quiet time when everybody just needs to decompress from our very hurried lives. Just reading aloud and even reading aloud the same book over and over again."
As someone that has worked with children of all ages (quite literally from 2-month-olds to 13-year-olds), reading aloud was a very repeated activity. Every day, multiple times a day. During meals to keep two 5-year-olds at the table; reading to a 6-month-old during tummy-time; quiet time reading to the only sibling that couldn't read on their own yet. To then taking kids to the library to pick books and play at the playground area (or indoor playroom when the weather was not favorable). It was doomed to happen but slowly I had many of these children start to correct me if I made a mistake, if my English was not perfect enough to pronounce a specific word. Do not get me wrong, this made me annoyed at times; but honestly, now I think about how right they were to be paying attention, to be following the words on the page as I read them, to see I had skipped something or mispronounced. Now, those two 5-year-olds are 8 years old and read to me at bedtime when I see them, sporadically. They were learning from me, with me.
Key takeaway: Read. Read something you like. Read anything that makes you feel joy. Read romantasy. Read the "BookTok" recommendations. Listen to audiobooks. It does not matter. With the decline in literacy among adults, it is more important each day to open a book, e-book, phone app, even if to read 2 pages at a time.
And just as important, support your local library and non-profit organizations around you. These are the places making an impact in people's lives. Advocate for better public transportation, for cheaper childcare options, even if you do not depend on it. Don't only come out of your shell to 'post' during elections, if your candidate is elected, great, now keep the communication going, demand actions. Literacy is about all of this and much more.
Remember: reading is activism.
Here are the sources I used for this post:
- Johnny can read. Jane can read. But they may not fully comprehend | Harvard Gazette
- Podcast: What’s driving decline in U.S. literacy rates? | Harvard Gazette
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