Literacy-complete with works cited page

Essay by JanChaffinsA+, July 2002

download word file, 3 pages 4.6 2 reviews

Downloaded 73 times

I work in the school system everyday. I am still amazed at the lack of our families' ability to read. I feel that we have moved on from this issue and it has been forgotten. We have experienced such a growth in the educational field that now I feel that we have backslidden, leaving the literacy problem behind.

Working in Johnson and Magoffin Counties I get the chance to meet a lot of families. We do a lot of in-home therapy and have lots of paperwork to be signed. I have been so surprised by the majority of the home visits. I see so many families that are still illiterate. Many of them can't sign their names or read. We are in one of the greatest technological eras that the world has seen. We have forgotten that everyone doesn't have access to computers. Many of the children in our schools are so far behind in the basics that I fear we are backtracking in history.

There was such a rush toward education from the sixties (60s) up to the eighties (80s). It seemed as though every commercial had something about someone being taught to read or helping teach someone to read. President Lyndon Johnson was quoted that the war on poverty had to be declared and that education was the answer to everything. (The Great Society) From President Johnson to President George Bush we have heard the message but the subjects are still unable to read and write in many of our rural areas.

We now are waging war for a greater education for all. It is hard to get the children better educated when they are still not getting their basics. I believe we need to approach this from the family viewpoint. I wish we had door-to-door teachers that...