The fact that parents have failed to realize their children were not learning phonics (and all the resulting complications from the use of these cue based "reading" systems) has been SO alarming to me. There is a podcast series called "Sold A Story" that explains more about how this happens, but it doesn't really have a response as to how we can fix the lifelong problem the children (some of which are already adults) who never learned how to read fluently. My daughter learned phonics and reading both at home and at school and it wasn't until we got to middle school we realized just how far behind most of her classmates were. Part of the problem is that kids can and do somehow make fairly decent grades even when they are functionally illiterate. This leads parents to think their kids can read because obviously if their kid couldn't read they wouldn't have As and Bs, right? It really is a huge problem and for all the reasons you list. Reading is really the only activity that can allow someone to experience what it feels like from the perspective of the other, any other. Watching TV, movies, video games, none of these things are using your whole mind and imagination in the same way. It isn't as complete as reading is at putting yourself into the eyes of someone else. It is absolutely necessary to develop empathy. Reading is also a temporary respite from unpleasant realities and I think because of this there are still kids who somehow manage to teach themselves to read simply because they must to survive their childhoods. But now instead most of those kids are just on their phones, learning who knows.
Thanks for writing this. This is one of those problems so big and pervasive it’s hard to see. It also gave me a new appreciation for my mother, who is a retired librarian, author of adult literacy books, and who has tutored ESL students—all things I have shamefully thought of as ‘boring’ for too long. The truth is, she has been fighting quietly on the frontlines all along.
I was very excited when children started to read again when Harry Potter came out..... that was until I read some of it and then attempted to watch the movies....
I felt that the messages contained were occultist, vacuous and selfish.... So sad that this opportunity was lost to the predictive programming propaganda machine.
"What Orwell feared were those who would ban books. What Huxley feared was that there would be no reason to ban a book, for there would be no one who wanted to read one. Orwell feared those who would deprive us of information. Huxley feared those who would give us so much that we would be reduced to passivity and egoism. Orwell feared that the truth would be concealed from us. Huxley feared the truth would be drowned in a sea of irrelevance. Orwell feared we would become a captive culture. Huxley feared we would become a trivial culture. In 1984, Huxley added, "people are controlled by inflicting pain. In Brave New World, they are controlled by inflicting pleasure. In short, Orwell feared that what we hate will ruin us. Huxley feared that what we love will ruin us". ~Neil Postman
The fact that parents have failed to realize their children were not learning phonics (and all the resulting complications from the use of these cue based "reading" systems) has been SO alarming to me. There is a podcast series called "Sold A Story" that explains more about how this happens, but it doesn't really have a response as to how we can fix the lifelong problem the children (some of which are already adults) who never learned how to read fluently. My daughter learned phonics and reading both at home and at school and it wasn't until we got to middle school we realized just how far behind most of her classmates were. Part of the problem is that kids can and do somehow make fairly decent grades even when they are functionally illiterate. This leads parents to think their kids can read because obviously if their kid couldn't read they wouldn't have As and Bs, right? It really is a huge problem and for all the reasons you list. Reading is really the only activity that can allow someone to experience what it feels like from the perspective of the other, any other. Watching TV, movies, video games, none of these things are using your whole mind and imagination in the same way. It isn't as complete as reading is at putting yourself into the eyes of someone else. It is absolutely necessary to develop empathy. Reading is also a temporary respite from unpleasant realities and I think because of this there are still kids who somehow manage to teach themselves to read simply because they must to survive their childhoods. But now instead most of those kids are just on their phones, learning who knows.
Thanks for writing this. This is one of those problems so big and pervasive it’s hard to see. It also gave me a new appreciation for my mother, who is a retired librarian, author of adult literacy books, and who has tutored ESL students—all things I have shamefully thought of as ‘boring’ for too long. The truth is, she has been fighting quietly on the frontlines all along.
I was very excited when children started to read again when Harry Potter came out..... that was until I read some of it and then attempted to watch the movies....
I felt that the messages contained were occultist, vacuous and selfish.... So sad that this opportunity was lost to the predictive programming propaganda machine.
"What Orwell feared were those who would ban books. What Huxley feared was that there would be no reason to ban a book, for there would be no one who wanted to read one. Orwell feared those who would deprive us of information. Huxley feared those who would give us so much that we would be reduced to passivity and egoism. Orwell feared that the truth would be concealed from us. Huxley feared the truth would be drowned in a sea of irrelevance. Orwell feared we would become a captive culture. Huxley feared we would become a trivial culture. In 1984, Huxley added, "people are controlled by inflicting pain. In Brave New World, they are controlled by inflicting pleasure. In short, Orwell feared that what we hate will ruin us. Huxley feared that what we love will ruin us". ~Neil Postman
The cell phone is a source of great information or great waste of time.