There is a literacy crisis happening in America, but what is the cause and how can we fix it?
By: Gianna Liantonio
When I was 12 years old, I walked into Barnes and Noble with a mission: get the book Harry Potter and the Sorcerers Stone. I immediately became enveloped with the sights of people browsing for their next read, the smell of ink and paper with a mix of coffee, and the whirring of the escalator going up and down like a portal to different worlds. I stepped onto the escalator, waited until it reached the top and headed to the table with a huge sign that read: Harry Potter. I picked up the book and finished it that same day. I did not realize then that that was my gateway to reading.
Reading is a skill that transcends time, relevant inside the classroom and out in the real world. However, 47% of adults read below the sixth grade level. Reading is everywhere, not only within literature, but on signs, menus, applications and so much more. Books teach critical thinking, communication, vocabulary, memory retention and many more skills that are essential in adulthood. Reading forces you to absorb the words you are reading while doomscrolling allows you to forget what you watched the second it leaves your sight. Kids have increasingly short attention spans, especially in the age of iPads, when many are exposed to short-form content rather than reading from an early age.
According to National University, 54% of U.S. adults read below a sixth grade proficiency level and 21-28% of American adults are functionally illiterate. Literacy skills are relevant in any setting, whether you’re in a restaurant and need to read the menu, or need to read an email at your job. If these skills are not enforced and strengthened, it can lead to poor performance in school and in the workplace. The last National Assessment for Adult Literacy took place in 2003, meaning there has been little to no new information since then.
The evolution of AI is a major cause for concern that may be exacberating this crisis as it gives students the answers to everything, not looking on whether they are right or wrong. Need to read a book? Ask Chatgpt the summary so you don’t need to read a single page. This prohibits the ability to think cognitively, figuring out the answers and analyzing the text with your own mind. Students will even go as far as asking it to write their entire essay for them, making them disengaged from the writing process and disallowing them to connect to their words.
Now that we know the cause, how can we fix it?
AI is never going away, and will only evolve with time. However, if we use it primarily as just a tool, while enforcing more pen and paper usage in the classroom, then we could get on the right track to improve literacy in children and teens. Recently, Sweden has cut back on the use of digital learning in the classroom. This caused an uproar as Sweden has been considered one of Europe’s most tech savvy societies, according to the BBC. Laptops became a prominent part of classrooms starting in the early 2000s, but they agreed that for children it is not necessary for technology to be in the classroom that early. According to the BBC, “screenfree lessons create better conditions for children to concentrate and develop their writing and reading skills.” They even received more funds for new textbooks to continue this way of learning.
Some American schools are following this same blueprint, such as the Los Angeles Unified School District. According to ABC 11, they are working to limit the usage of screens in elementary and middle schools, eliminate the use of screens until second grade, and limit the amount of time older kids use their devices.
COVID was a major factor for the increase in screens and technology in schools, as that was the only way to learn during a time where meeting in person seemed little to impossible. However, schools such as the ones in Sweden and even here in America are slowly working at reversing the effects that technology has had on students.
The literacy crisis is not permanent. It can be reversed and even prevented with the enforcement of physical books. Reading opens up a whole new world of knowledge that will benefit you greatly for life, whether it’s a novel where you are able to feel the story through your eyes or looking up words in a dictionary. The act of opening up a dictionary to look for the meaning of a word compared to searching it up allows you to slow down, process the words you are reading, and truly understand the meaning.
Let’s work to focus on the meaning of words.
