Literacy Matters -- Including Quotes by Mark Twain, Groucho Marx and Two Presidents

“The relative decline of American education is untenable for our economy, unsustainable for our democracy, and unacceptable for our children, and we cannot afford to let it continue.”
--President Barack Obama

“All skills begin with the basics of reading and math, which are supposed to be learned in the early grades of our schools. Yet for too long, for too many children, those skills were never mastered.”
--President George W. Bush

* * * *
My career as a marketing professional commenced three decades ago, though there's a sense in which even before that I was marketing as a self-employed entrepreneur. There's no question that over the past thirty years there has been sea change due to the emerging Internet that has left few untouched.

One of the changes I've noticed (as a marketing person) is the burgeoning belief that visual media (specifically YouTube and Instagram, Snapchat and Pinterest) is an increasingly essential vehicle for reaching people. As a writer I myself have attempted to dismiss this, barricading myself against the encroachment of non-literary communication. Over time, however, I have had to accept to a certain degree that things have not only been changing in how we communicate (face-to-face vs. texting) but also in how we use language. That is, evidence seems to support the notion that our literary skills -- ability to read and write -- have been in decline. 

Reading, writing and 'rithmetic have historically been the essential foundations necessary to an educated citizenry. What happens when people cease from obtaining these basic foundation stones?

When I began to look into it I quickly found the following, repeated on several websites: "2/3 of children who cannot read with proficiency by end of the 4th grade will end up in jail or on welfare."

No, this lack of basic reading proficiency does not guarantee failure, but it does suggest that there is a basis for alarming concern.

Here is just one of the many such articles I stumbled upon:

Early Warning! Why Reading by the End of Third Grade Matters
A KIDS COUNT Special Report from the Annie E. Casey Foundation

Reading proficiently by the end of third grade (as measured by NAEP at the beginning of fourth grade) can be a make-or-break benchmark in a child’s educational development. Up until the end of third grade, most children are learning to read. Beginning in fourth grade, however, they are reading to learn, using their skills to gain more information in subjects such as math and science, to solve problems, to think critically about what they are learning, and to act upon and share that knowledge in the world around them.

I don't recall when the book was written but Why Johnny Can't Read (Rudolph Flesch) was another powerful indictment of our public education system and an alternate approach to teaching literacy.

Here's yet another article about the Top Ten Reasons Kids Can't Read. What's apparent is that this is not solely a U.S. problem. Canada, England and elsewhere have experienced similar declines in reading proficiency.

Can this decline in literacy be one of the reasons we see marketers push branding so heavily? The Nike "swoosh" has become an international symbol of the brand that needs no language whatsoever. The sad thing is that civilization has been progressing century after century, from cave man to modern times. The driving force behind the Reformation was to place the Word of God (Bible) into the hands of the people in their own language, which meant that the people would learn to read so they could have direct access to the holy words of their sacred texts. But now, in the Internet age, we see a shift away from words, from written communication, to images, videos, Instagram and symbols.

This can't be good. And as a writer, and a believer in the power of the written word, I revolt.

* * * *

One government report on this matter made this statement: Low achievement in reading has important long-term consequences in terms of individual earning potential, global competitiveness, and general productivity.

And here's another:

“[C]urrently, most children experience a wide range of disparate experiences that jumble together and end up requiring our youngest learners to figure them out on their own. Our children are not failing to learn. Our schools are failing to teach them effectively. To reverse this trend and provide children with the skills necessary for life-long learning, all Americans must take responsibility for guaranteeing a high-quality PreK–3rd education to this and future generations.” FROM “America’s Vanishing Potential: The Case for PreK–3rd Education,” by the Foundation for Child Development (2008).

Marketers are making the observation that fewer people are reading. My question is this... Is the problem today that people don't read, won't Read or can't read?

Of adults with the lowest literacy levels, 43 percent live in poverty, and 70% of adult welfare recipients have low literacy levels. There is a clear correlation between more education and higher earnings, and between higher educational scores and higher earnings.

Many of the problems in our country today are directly related to illiteracy.

Rather than take more surveys to stack up more evidence that there's a problem, it would seem it's time to take action. I like what Groucho Marx said: “I find television very educating. Every time somebody turns on the set, I go into the other room and read a book.”

I wrote my book Writing Exercises out of a conviction that knowing how to write well was an essential skill that young people should master in order to succeed. It's now apparent to me that reading well is even more foundational. I have one more selfish reason for having more readers. People who don't read won't read my books. Alas. 

“Those who don't read good books have no advantage over those who can't.” -- Mark Twain