Illiteracy

R

Rose65

Well-known Member
Location
United Kingdom
I happened to find out that one in five kids leave primary school without being able to read and write - surely this can't be the case? Whyever not? It must be the saddest and hardest thing for a person to emerge into adulthood and be so disadvantaged, miss out on so much life. Yet there are among us people who have slipped through the education system like that. Perhaps we never notice and they have learned how to hide it.

I grew up in a house where there were always books, visits to the library and our parents encouraged us to study hard at school. I haven't got a degree but I have always been an avid reader on my own. Life without books is unthinkable and my home is full of books as well as my kindle. Apart from all that, an illiterate person surely cannot function in today's world?
 

I've mentioned this before...

Millennials have difficulty reading cursive writing and standard clocks that aren't digital...stuff that was ingrained in us by our teachers in grade 3.
 

gram read books when I was very young and I started school already reading, map reading clock reading all taught at home before formal education. avid reader of books handwriting is poor so what
 
deaver said:
gram read books when I was very young and I started school already reading, map reading clock reading all taught at home before formal education. avid reader of books handwriting is poor so what
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Actually I tend to scribble, so my handwriting is not easy for others to read. But I can read it!
 
One of my grandfathers only went to school for three years (he grew up in the mountains). He was one of the smartest people I've ever known. He could read well, do pretty complex math and devoured the newspaper every day.

None of my other grandparents ever got beyond the 8th grade (both grandmothers graduated from 8th grade, which was standard education for girls back then).

They were all highly intelligent people who apparently learned on their own.
 
Public education has been in very bad shape for a long time now and it got much, much worse during the pandemic while schools were shut down or online only.

Are you aware that the very large Los Angeles city school district is on strike now? It was announced as a 3 day strike and this would be the 3rd day.
 
I'm beginning to wonder if it is even necessary? The ability to read and write. When I stand back and look at what is happening around me, everything is done for me. At least all of the mundane things that used to require basic reading and writing skills and a bit of arithmetic.

Is it possible our society is undergoing a paradigm shift away from, what for people our age, were basic survival skills in society and embracing graphics as a way of communicating? Perhaps it is not illiteracy, but a new way of interacting that is leaving us (me) behind?

Dunno. Do know there is a disconnect somewhere. Paraphrasing a 1960s tune, "Something is happening here, not sure what it is." Somebody smarter than me will have to figure that out.
 
ArnoldC said:
I'm beginning to wonder if it is even necessary? The ability to read and write. When I stand back and look at what is happening around me, everything is done for me. At least all of the mundane things that used to require basic reading and writing skills and a bit of arithmetic.

Is it possible our society is undergoing a paradigm shift away from, what for people our age, were basic survival skills in society and embracing graphics as a way of communicating? Perhaps it is not illiteracy, but a new way of interacting that is leaving us (me) behind?

Dunno. Do know there is a disconnect somewhere. Paraphrasing a 1960s tune, "Something is happening here, not sure what it is." Somebody smarter than me will have to figure that out.
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If you couldn't read, you would have a lot of trouble with this forum for starters
 
My paternal grandfather was pretty much illiterate. Yet he was one of the most intelligent people I have known, and pretty successful in life. He was born in 1890 and the local school house burned after he finished the first grade, he never went back to school.

Instead he taught himself diesel mechanics, pretty high tech at the turn of the century. Then he went to work for Layne Drillers who put him to work adapting the diesel engine to well drilling. He became a master driller and several times set records for the deepest well drilled. He worked all over the world. Yet never learned to read... Not sure that would be possible today.

He spoke little but enjoyed playing dominos. When I'd visit I'd always win the first domino game, and either win or come close in the second, but never won again... If my grandmother joined us for a hand she always won. If my father or others joined same story, they would win one or two hands at first, but not again. It seems a simple game, I am still impressed when I think of how he had mastered it and could control the play. He'd never admit to anything but luck.

My maternal grandfather graduated from the University of Georgia in 1914, BS in agriculture. He was also a smart man, and much better spoken, but I am sure not a smart as my illiterate paternal grandfather.
 
NorthernLight said:
I think most people, including those my age, are functionally illiterate. They seem to manage though. I happen to love reading, but not everyone does.
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Maybe I misunderstood. You think most people are functionally illiterate? I've only met one person in my life who didn't know how to read or write, so my experience has been very different than yours, I guess.
 
caroln said:
Maybe I misunderstood. You think most people are functionally illiterate? I've only met one person in my life who didn't know how to read or write, so my experience has been very different than yours, I guess.
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I mean people who don't bother reading necessary information. They can read, but they don't. Or they hold a map upside down. These are regular people, not handicapped.

I'm no expert. I've just had lots of experiences where someone seemed to live in a word where the written word was irrelevant.

When I worked in housekeeping, I'd put up simple signs. For example, the compost had a sign on the lid, "Please do not put [something] in the compost," with a short sentence about why it was a problem. And they did it anyway.

When I complained to a couple of friends, they just started singing that "Everywhere a Sign" song.

Illiterate and functionally illiterate are not the same:

https://www.ascento.co.uk/blog/are-you-aware-of-how-literate-your-employees-are#:~:text=The National Literacy Trust estimates,short texts on familiar topics.
 
When "phonics" was taught in the schools, seems everyone could read and write.
The art of handwriting (penmanship) is no more either.
"Grammar" seems a thing of the past.
 
NorthernLight said:
I mean people who don't bother reading necessary information. They can read, but they don't. Or they hold a map upside down. These are regular people, not handicapped.

I'm no expert. I've just had lots of experiences where someone seemed to live in a word where the written word was irrelevant.

When I worked in housekeeping, I'd put up simple signs. For example, the compost had a sign on the lid, "Please do not put [something] in the compost," with a short sentence about why it was a problem. And they did it anyway.

When I complained to a couple of friends, they just started singing that "Everywhere a Sign" song.

Illiterate and functionally illiterate are not the same:

https://www.ascento.co.uk/blog/are-you-aware-of-how-literate-your-employees-are#:~:text=The National Literacy Trust estimates,short texts on familiar topics.
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Okay, I see the difference. The functionally illiterate are operating at a much lower level but can still read. It seems they have a problem with understanding the written word, such as your signs about compost. It would be like me reading some complicated scientific article...I can read the words but haven't a clue what they're talking about!
 
Looks like the area where this is happening are the deprived areas of the UK....

The latest available data from the Department of Education shows 27 per cent of children – 173,765 pupils – had not met the expected reading standard by the end of Key Stage 2 in 2019. This was two per cent – or 19,596 pupils – higher than the previous year.


In response to a written parliamentary question submitted in February by Munira Wilson, the Liberal Democrats’ spokesperson for Education, schools minister Robin Walker provided figures that showed 40 per cent of pupils were below standard in the constituencies of Leeds Central, Peterborough and Dudley North.


The figures revealed that the local authorities of Peterborough and Bedford had the highest percentage of students struggling to learn to read, with 36 and 34 per cent respectively. Rotherham and Dudley were also greatly affected with figures of 34 and 33 per cent respectively.

Mr Walker also said that data was not recorded for the academic years 2019/20 or 2020/21 due to the impact of the Covid-19 outbreak - when schools were forced to shut and lessons moved online during national lockdowns.


Those areas also have much larger than average population of immigrants which also could account for the inability to read or write in English..

Teachers are under tremendous pressure. In those high immigrant towns and cities, teachers are reporting that in a class of 35 children, it's common for their to be 15 different languages being spoken, and only 2 British English speaking children. Horrendous situation. How are Teachers supposed to cope with that ?

The real concern, aside from the government allowing such mass migration without the infrastructure in place to cope with it.. is that left unchecked and it sounds for the most part it is... then we're going to end up with 10 million or more children in the next 10 years leaving school with no chance of any kind of job. Apart from the potential for huge increases in crime, it's also going to put a massive strain on the government purse ( already strained to breaking point) in the way of Benefits.. and also the NHS because ill health and poverty goes hand in hand
 
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I was a bookworm and geek in school, but I played sports and was a member of the Varsity club, so I was accepted with the other jocks. After high school, I spent 6 years in college and then did my time in the military. I never felt like a brainiac, like my wife used to call me. My wife couldn’t have kids, which we didn’t know until after we were married, so we adopted a brother and sister that were 2 years apart. It was a great family. Plenty of good times.
 
Lewkat said:
I am beginning to think that teachers rely on the internet to teach our kids, instead of the old fashioned way. Take the lap tops and tablets out of the classroom.
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It won't be long before schools start using robots to teach students. I'm not sure that's such a bad thing if they can make the material interesting, but it will put a lot of teachers out of work.
 
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