Blog To, Too… I mean Two

“The one undisputed fact about illiteracy in America is its concentration among poor, black, elderly, and minority-language groups — groups without effective participation in our country’s economic and educational institutions (Hunter and Harman). Problems of poverty and political powerlessness are, as among some populations in developing nations, inseparably intertwined with problems of access to knowledge and levels of literacy skills.”

I can’t agree with more with this passage. I think it very accurately exemplifies our America today. I have always had a problem with those who are uneducated, not because they did not have the opportunity, but because they didn’t care enough about it to put in work. Those who have the opportunity to be literate and well educated in the form of literacy need to take full advantage, because there are those, “the poor, black, elderly, and minority-language groups” whom haven’t had the chance to enhance their literacy skills. This has been a problem for America for a very long time. I still remember my classmates in elementary school not knowing how to read and write, and at the same time, not receiving the help needed to become proficient at it.

I think the problem is awareness to how important it is to not just read, but to be proficient writer. So many jobs depend on writing and communication. If you can’t do that, you can’t move up the ranks. As a result, there is a high poverty rate. This doesn’t allude to people not working hard, it is the result of uneducated individuals who have a very limited job range.

I think you fix this problem with really stressing the importance of literacy with parents and children. Even if a parent is illiterate, that doesn’t mean the child has to be- crutching his entire future. Scribner is on point in the fact that illiteracy is a major cause, if not the largest cause, of of economic poverty.

I feel that the issue is not not wanting to learn, it is a lack of education on actual learning that is happening. The fact that I was taught how important it was to go to school, do my work, and get a good education motivated me to do well. I know that for some, school is not the important part of their life or family, thus it is not stressed, resulting in a lack of motivation. Ultimately though, I do think that the motivation to learn needs to be intrinsic, but at the same time, is anything really intrinsically motivated? As a baby you always want to know what everything is, you are so very curious. This, I believe, carries out through the rest of your life. We are always wanting to learn more and more. It may not be to be smarter than everyoneelse, but it is the reason that keeps us going. I guess what I am trying to say here is that the people who are put at a disadvantage need to be focused more on at school and at home, otherwise there is going to be the same amount of wasted brains that there are today.

This needs to be changed. Good thing I plan on becoming an English teacher!