In the beginning was the word.

Words

“How we use words, and how words use us, greatly determines the quality of our everyday lives.”

                 Philip Zaleski and Paul Kaufman

“As soon as one… comes face to face with the nature of language, one also finds himself face to face with the nature of man.”

                          Walker Percy

“All words are spiritual—nothing is more spiritual than words.”

                          Walt Whitman

         An article in the Birmingham News last week confirmed that some forty-six of the area’s high schools graduated children who were functionally illiterate, who could not read well enough to succeed in college.  Some schools had low percentages, but for some, sixty-eight percent of graduates would require remedial courses at college level.  I saw this clearly when I taught in a career college here in Birmingham.  Two-thirds of my students struggled with reading, and most of those who could at least sound out words, had no comprehension of their meaning.

         Being able to use language well is a critical skill in all areas of life.  It is the very thing that makes us human.  Words are intimately connected to thought—if we don’t understand language, we cannot think clearly.  We are unable to grasp even simple concepts if the language surrounding them is even moderately complex.  I am appalled that all levels of government are locked in combat over philosophical differences while generations of children are being shuffled to the back of the line.  What has happened to our priorities?

         We can take the position that this doesn’t affect us and therefore is unimportant, however I believe it underpins the widening gap between those at the top of the income ladder and those as the bottom.  The top grows richer and the bottom grows ever poorer, and soon that will affect us all.  For a child who cannot read, there is no chance of climbing the ladder no matter how much money we invest in financial aid or free lunches.  We are fundamentally failing our nation’s future by side-stepping this issue as someone else’s problem.

         We who have reaped the benefits of educational systems that worked, who came through public schools at a time when a quality education was a top priority, must get involved.  We must do what is necessary to help our children succeed—ALL of our children—because to fail them is to fail ourselves.

                                   Keeping the faith,

                                  Jane