Why Can’t These Children Read?
February 26, 2010 by Brian Jenkins
Filed under Be Risen, Featured
There is a lot that is going on in America right now, both positive and negative, but what we can’t deny is that people are out here struggling. If that is the case, then why do I keep bumping into these kids that can not read? I mean it is almost amazing to me to see these kids not know their sound blends, or their letter sounds. It makes me wonder what the parents are doing.
I can take this moment to brag that I taught my daughter to read when she was three years old. Call me what you want to, but it is time to ask what other job do you have as a parent? I don’t even really know where to go with this. All I know is that I am angry right now at this ridiculous laissez-faire (look it up) attitude towards raising children.
It can’t be hard to read to your children everyday. That is how they learn the association between how words look, and how they sound. Then, you can start having them point out certain words that they recognize. The ultimate effect will be your child reading you to sleep. It is that simple, and anytime you start to feel like the school, or television will do that for you, you have lost another piece of your child.
There are entire agencies that you can look to for help on this. Like The National Institute for Literacy, a federal agency that gives leadership on literacy issues. Check them out at http://www.nifl.gov/ and see if you can get anything from them that will help on the mission to get these children reading.
We can not blame poverty for this either because poor children do pretty well in terms of literacy. Well, as long as those poor children don’t live in America. Former U.S. Education Secretary Rod Paige would commonly point out that all of the generally impoverished English-speaking nations of the Caribbean have higher literacy rates than America’s. Also, studies of poor children in Africa show levels of English literacy that would make any American city just look, well, ignorant.
I think it is just time to be parents, and teachers, and advisors. It has gone on for far too long, and now children are just looking bad because of it. What a horrible time for this when we have to raise children to compete in a new global economy. Everybody in the world has the same information now, so why not at least arm the children with the ability to read and comprehend on a high level. This is just flat out bad!
- Brian Jenkins
Twitter: @Brian_Jenkins
We all have to do our part to change this now by first turning off the tv and buying books for our children instead of video games.