ENDANGERED SPECIES

I've noticed something alarming in recent years. Reading skills appear to be suffering a gradual erosion. As a high school teacher, one becomes familiar with the rotating panoply of buzz words and phrases used to emphasize both district and state-wide goals. It would take far longer to list and decipher said acronyms, but suffice it to say that literacy dominates most discussions. It sounds simple -- just teach all students to read. For a variety of reasons progress remains sluggish, and as a lifelong beneficiary of the aforementioned skill, I find that sad. I realize my bias (advance apologies to all math and science teachers), however reading opens the lock to knowledge, enjoyment, and ambition. It's the key to any future. Before any young lad or lass achieves success in math or science, reading proficiency qualifies as the prerequisite.

With each passing year I frequently ruminate about my past -- upbringing, family, living conditions, entertainment, and education. It's impossible to compare eras, something each generation eventually realizes. We remain products of our time. Babe Ruth vs. Barry Bonds -- impossible and irrelevant. But the major carryover from one era to the next has always been reading skill. Technology boggles the mind. It offers a million tools to enhance our lives and futures, but no computer or machine has yet been invented to infuse the population with the ability to read. That must be taught and developed the old-fashioned way. Why the downturn? What are the causes?

It took a few hundred years for me to understand the generation gap. It's catching up to me now, seeing blank looks on my students' faces when I bring up famous names or events from the 60s and 70s. The Vietnam War and Ted Williams are too far removed from sight and sound for registering with the vast majority of today's youth. I'm not criticizing, but information can be obtained in seconds on the 'net, and depth hardly matters. Somehow, the patience, solitude, and time formerly allocated to a meaningful reading session has given way to the text message, iPod format. Translated, that means no reading unless one's favorite musical mix or text talk co-habitates with the printed word. Hard to compartmentalize and concentrate in unison.

The word "time" seems big here. In simpler, pre-high tech days, reading doubled as both teaching tool and entertainment. Before the remote control appeared, changing TV channels involved manual exertion. Fingertip knowledge was yet to arrive, and the printed word had little competition. One other change has contributed to the subject. During my growth years, I had the privilege of my mother's daily company. In the 50s, most married women stayed home to raise their kiddies. The economy allowed for a one income household. I learned to read from my mother, who read to me, instructed me, and listened to me. My first book wasn't Dr. Seuss, but J.G. Taylor Spink's Official Baseball Guide, and mom helped me navigate both prose and fine print. I was hooked and have been since. When I was stationed overseas, boredom enveloped my situation. My mother solved the problem. In addition to the welcomed batches of cookies, she also mailed me boxes of books that she had scrounged from various locales. They became my outlet, and I haven't stopped yet. I can't sleep unless I read to relax.

By nature I'm not a cynical person, yet I worry about reading's future. Will parents have time to read with their offspring? Will technology come full circle and place an emphasis on the skill? One can only hope.
Must get some sleep.. I only have 75 pages left in my latest choice -- ROME, 1960 -- by David Maraniss. Fascinating, but it takes a little patience.

MM