For the literacy narrative assignment, I interviewed my mom. She is 45 years old, (or 45 years young, as she would probably appreciate me to say), and I was interested in learning about how she feels about today’s literacy. I also loved learning about her own literacy practices when she was growing up and when she was my age. The quote that intrigued me that I got in the interview with my mom was when she said, “It makes me sad this generation of kids will never know how to look up a book in the card catalog at the library, and then go find it. As a parent of teenagers, I have to find my kids to help me with certain things on the computer today. Computers are not going away and it is important for the younger and older generation to keep up with the times, but I also feel computers should not replace the learning experience I had and even my own kids have had.”

This quote really got me thinking. Because for starters, I really have no idea what a card catalog is, let alone do I ever really go to the library to use the books, since mostly all information I could possibly need is found online. I am certain that I have no idea how I would find a book at the library, without assistance, if I needed it. Twenty years ago college students like ourselves heavily depended on that “technology” to get through their classes, where today it is an ancient practice of literacy that really isn’t even practiced.

My mom always needs help when it comes to technology. Sometimes she makes me help her with simple things on Facebook. To us, these practices come as second nature, but to people of past generations who didn’t grow up with it, it is a foreign and difficult concept. I am usually shocked that she has trouble figuring out ideas that I find to be so simple, but then again, she is baffled that I wouldn’t be able to find a library book using a card catalog.

The last idea of the quote that intrigued me was “I also feel computers should not replace the learning experience I had and even my own kids have had.” The changes in how we learn and the advances in technology have been unthinkable in the last 10 years. The education that I received prior to college is certainly different from what a child the same ages I was would receive now. My education barely required the use of technology (besides typing papers) until I got to college. I remember being so excited to be an honors sixth grader, because we were the only class that had access to using laptops- now, that would be a necessity and a given that computers would be used in the classroom. The thought of not only the literacy behind reading and writing practices, but the way we use technology, really got me thinking.

The more I think about literacy, the more confused I become. Before, I just thought of it as the simple concepts of reading and writing, heck, I really didn’t think about it at all. This week in class we learned about the practices in and behind literacy. The part of Hamilton’s article I that got me thinking was found on page 18 and said, “…visible literacy events are just the tip of an iceberg: literacy practices can only be inferred from observable evidence because they include invisible resources, such as knowledge and feelings; they embody social purposes and values; and they are part of a constantly changing context, both spatial and temporal.”

At first I didn’t really understand what this paragraph meant. What could there possibly be behind the idea of literacy? What is there besides the obvious things we see and can directly label, such as the participants, the setting, the materials needed, and the actions performed? Literacy truly does go much deeper than this. I think what Hamilton is explaining is that the activity is much deeper than what is just being read. An example I thought about while trying to understand this was the Bible. Technically, you are reading a book full of stories and messages. But the literacy and practice of reading the bible includes spiritual practice. This could be for one’s self, or this could be in order to look or seem a certain way pleasing to God or others.

An image I found to be interesting was a bunch of young children using iPads. I found this image to be interesting because of the age of the children. The obvious practice here is that the kids are able to read and write information projected on the iPad screen. They can look up and share things with one another. The deeper literacy to this is what I found to be most interesting. I think that my generation was born right in-between the ages of not using or relying on technology, and depending on technology beginning at a young age. I am certain that if someone time traveled to when I was the age of these children with an iPad for me to use, I would have absolutely no idea what to do with it, let alone how to use it. The kids in the picture are able to operate what I would consider to be a somewhat complex machine without thinking twice about it.

This image is culturally significant because it shows the direction that our society is headed and where we are already at. A few years ago the idea of young children becoming so dependent on electronics was frowned upon. Now it is encouraged for children to be as literate and skilled when it comes to using technology as possible. Success and understanding how to use computers are going hand in hand now more than ever.

In order to more completely understand where a writer is coming from, I have found that it is often helpful to know a little about them. So, some background on me. My name is Julia Martinez, I am the oldest of three children, so I am the first of my siblings to go to college. I grew up in Modesto, California, and have lived there my whole life. Modesto is in the central valley, so smack dab middle  of California. I think it is the type of place too big to be considered a town, but too small to be just a city. Unlike the majority of people, I loved high school. This is what inspired me to become an english education major, and eventually I hope to become a high school english teacher.

I haven’t put too much thought into my literacy practices, but reading Szwed’s article really got me thinking. Our society has become pretty consumed with technology and all that encompasses it. I am no exception to that; I wake up, and the first thing that I reach for is my phone. I check my text messages, my social medias (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat), and read my emails. Growing up, reading was always my escape; however, the older I have gotten, I seem to have less and less time to read for pleasure. But then again, I have always said “you make time for things that are important to you.” A lot of the reading and writing that I do, especially for school, is academic. Unfortunately, academic reading and writing definitely doesn’t usually go with a stigma of pleasure. I think that my literacy practices reflect a lot of the people in today’s world, which I can admit is pretty pathetic.

The purpose of reading and writing seems to be to get a point across to the reader. We read and write in order to relay information, not necessarily to enrich the reader. In such a busy society, who has time for that, right? Writing has always been something that comes easy for me. I love being able to reread things that I have written and have absolutely no idea where it came from. So for me, writing is somewhat therapeutic. However, a lot of the reading I do is for pleasure and mindless (such as social media or posting from there), or in order to complete some sort of assignment.

Reading the article left me with several questions about both society as a whole, and myself. How did I so easily stray away from a practice such as reading that I once loved, without notice? Why do we put so little emphasis on the importance of literacy? I am excited to have these questions hopefully be answered throughout the next semester.