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are not fundame ntally a teacher's
responsibility. These must be
taught at borne. Here, then is what
teachers wish
parents
wou ld teach
their chi ld ren to help them do bet–
ter in school.
Teach Your Chi ld re n to Value
Education
Come for a moment to the streets
of a provincial town in Haiti-one
of the world's poorest countries.
Nigh t has fallen, and the town
engineers have once again managed
to coax a creaky old diese! genera–
tor into life. It isn't powerful, but
that doesn't matter- most houses
aren't wired for e lectricity anyway.
There are a few lamps on the main
street trying to pierce the g loom
with hesitant light. Beneath those
lamps, squatting on the sidewalk
and sitting on the potholed road,
are dozens of students. They are
reading and studying- taking ad–
vantage of the precious hours of
light before the generator breaks
down once again.
These young people value educa–
tion. They know that learning is a
way out of the endless cycle of pov–
erty that has gripped their families
for generations.
Thankfully, most of our read–
ers aren't in t his s itu at io n .
Schools for our chi ldren are read-
ily available, and our homes can be
flooded with light at the touch of a
switch. But do those who live in
such homes value education as
much as those poor Haitians? All
too often the answer is no. Teach–
ers today say that many students
simply lack the interest and moti–
vation to learn.
Do you realize how easy it is to
make your home an environment
tbat can
poison
your children's
desire to become educated? So
often, our own educational experi–
ences were negative. Perhaps your
parents carne up in the school of
hard knocks and therefore had little
use for book learning. Maybe you
are a high school dropout and there
was never enough money to send
you to college or to help you get
professional training. And so today
you are locked into a job that is
boring and dead end. You are
e mbar rassed and frustrated as
younger people get the promotions
and opportunities for which you
cannot qualify.
People like this often hide their
inferiority by showing a contempt
fo r education. Cer tain ly it is
e mba rrassing w hen you can't
unde rs ta nd the questions you r
teenage son o r daughter has to
answer for homework. It 's easier to
bury your ignorance in the sports
Taking
Off
the Rose-Colored
GlassesAbout llliteracy
page or a soap opera or make sorne
disparaging comment s like,
"Where do you think tbat stuff is
going to get you?" That is also the
best way to demonstrate to your
c hildren that education doesn 't
matter to you. So why should it
matter to them?
Teachers wisb parents would
keep learning. Tbey wish their stu–
dents could see Mom and Dad si t
down and study something from
time to time. They wish that you
had a few books in the house, or a
set of children's encyclopedias, so
that you could show your young–
sters how to get answers. Or if you
can' t afford books, teachers would
like you to take the children to the
library occasionally.
If
you don't
know how to use it, most librarians
would be delighted to show you.
They won't make you feel foolish
for asking.
They
value education
too much.
But tragically, many adults have
stopped learning. T hey hardly ever
read a book or a worthwhile maga–
zine. T hei r cu riosity and sense of
wonder have died, and the child ren
never see them learn anytbjng. As a
sixth grader told us, " It's no use
asking Dad-he
never
has any
ideas."
We were made to grow through–
(Continued on page 41}
D
espite the optimistic
forecasts of the 1960s
by the U.N., the nagging
problem of illiteracy worldwide
is still with us. Today, fully one
third of mankind is illilerate.
And the numbers are growing.
at between 10 and 15
million-and 23 million in the
Uniled States.
illiterales in lhe Uniled
States at $6,000,000,000
annually.
Mankind has made
awesome progress-bul only
in certain areas. The
compuler age promises a
hosl of jobs. Bul unless a
literate population is there
from which to draw
employees, lhe compuler
boom may be a bust.
Normally, we comfortably
attribute illiteracy to
populations in desperalely
poor
areas. But whal is
lrightening is thal thousands ol
unmolivated young people
leave schools in the wealthier
areas of lhe world wilh barely
adequale or inadequale
reading and writing skills.
Eslimates pul the number
ol illiterates in Western Europe
6
The profile of the average
illiterate in lhe industrial world
is also the familiar pattern of
poverty. Minorities are
affected more than majority
populations, women more
than men and rural more than
urban residents.
The economic cosls of
illiteracy are high. Many
illiterales resign themselves to
low-paying jobs. Others simply
opt for government
assistance. One estímate fixes
the cost of welfare and
unemployment programs for
The toll, in human terms,
can be equally costly. The
feelings of inadequacy and
inferiority often become a
driving force behind an
illiterate's desire lo cover up
his handicap. Sorne who read
or write inadequately are
always " forgetting their
glasses" or " getting a nasty
cut on their writing hand" in
order to avoid exposing
themselves lo possible
ridicule. Their fear
promises a lite filled wilh
anxiety.
Those young functionally
illiterate "graduales" and
dropouts soon discover that
lile is not one party alter
another or a football game.
They too resign themselves lo
low-paying jobs and poverty.
Unless more parents becorne
active in their child's
education, lo motívate their
child and teach him lo
appreciate educalion, we may
very well see a whole
generation that is always
"forgetting their glasses."
-Dan Tay/or
The
PLAIN TRUTH