On the importance of literacy

September 2024

Since 1967, the annual celebrations of International Literacy Day has taken place on September 8 to remind policy-makers, practitioners, and the public of the critical importance of literacy for creating more literate, just, peaceful, and sustainable society.. In honor of this event, we asked our writers to reflect on the role of literacy in our world, and how is it meaningful to our everyday lives and professions.

What’s in reading?
  
Gracie Smith
MSMU Class of 2027

Reading as a form of entertainment has been made almost irrelevant given the technological advancements of social media. The fact cannot be disputed that people are more attracted to visual actions that can be watched rather than visual actions through words where you are forced to imagine. Due to this fact, I fear that the joy of reading will eventually be lost in time.

That said, why is reading important? Beyond the means of old-fashioned entertainment, reading is essential for basic communication. We have emails, texting, media, and yes, books. As technology furthers in development, our young learners across the nation continue to struggle. Something has to be done about this.

According to the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), two-thirds of US children cannot read proficiently, and 40% are nonreaders. One of the first things we teach our children is the alphabet so they can learn how to read and write. Why do we do this? Is it because everyone does it? Is it because it’s part of the curriculum? Or is it because society is shaped for those who are literate, and to be successful you must know how to read and write? Let’s ponder this.

Most people begin introducing their children to the alphabet between the ages of 2 and 3. Preschool helps in solidifying their recognition of the letters so that by kindergarten (around ages 5 or 6) children can almost completely identify every letter of the alphabet. However,… why do we do this? Most toddler toys revolve around learning. Whether it be colors, numbers, shapes, and yes, letters, a decent chunk of toddler toys are centered around expanding their horizons. I find it interesting that this concept fades the older a child gets. By the time a child is 5 or 6, toys for that audience are less targeted to teach them and more prone to entertain. For instance, Hot Wheels, LEGOs, dolls, and Nerf guns. Is this to say that strengthening the concept of reading as a child grows older becomes obsolete? What does that say about us as a society? Should we not be striving to ensure that our future generations are properly equipped with everything they need to succeed? If that is true, reading and writing must continue to be strengthened as children age.

We must ask, what is considered "essential" in today’s society to be successful? Is it money? Is it fame? Is it security? One thing that all of these have in common is the basic need of being literate. You cannot be rich if you are unable to communicate by writing. You cannot be famous without being able to read and interact with social media. Lastly, you cannot be safe if you have no way of knowing what is all around you.

I remember my parents being very persistent in my education, and they still are today. I especially remember my mom drilling me with flashcards and helping me pronounce words properly. I hated every second of it, but I remember being one of the top readers in my class because of it. As a kid, that confidence really pushed me to try my best in everything because I didn’t want to disappoint them. I loved being able to come home and make my parents proud, and that still stands today.

Reflecting on everything I’ve done to help myself succeed thus far, I cannot think of one thing that didn’t require me to be literate. From my first job to my college application and then to writing this article, reading and writing have contributed so much to my overall happiness because I am slowly achieving my dream.

Literacy provides so much more than just a "step ahead" in our modern world. In a society created for the educated, being literate is essential to even have a chance at success. What that "success" is can be determined in countless ways. Through reading and writing, we get our news; we communicate with others; we research; we learn; we navigate; and so so SO much more.

For all of these reasons and more, being able to read and write is crucial. Nevertheless, reading and writing have always had a special place in my heart. Hence why I’m writing to you from a newspaper. From a young age, I grew very attached to books. I remember ordering a book while on vacation and reading the entire thing in one afternoon. It’s not something I am particularly proud of, as that book scarred me for life - thank you, John Green. But that said, reading has always consoled me when I needed it. Reading has always helped me to grow and recognize things that I would not have otherwise recognized. Reading has given me second-hand embarrassment that, thank God, I will never have to experience having learned from others. Most importantly, reading has taught me very important life lessons without having to personally face the consequences that they bring.

I could sit here and write a novel informing you all on why reading is important. However, that isn’t what I’m doing here today. What I am doing today is informing you all on why reading is essential. The number of children who are unable to read and write is frightening. The success of our future generations starts with us. Without our support, the future generations lie in the hands of technology. While helpful at times, I am not convinced technology is advanced enough to be teaching children something so critical. By supporting our children, we are ultimately supporting their classmates, their teachers, and all their futures. While not everything we do will have a lasting impact, teaching a child to read and write will have an impact that can only better their lives. Even if they don’t know it. September 8th, International Literacy Day, should be celebrated as a day we recognize our greatest strength and share that strength with others.

Read other articles by Gracie Smith

Let’s talk literacy

Devin Owen
MSMU Class of 2026

The definition of the term literacy is as follows: "the ability to read and write." It is a concept that, for many, seems to be second nature, however; that is not the case for everyone and most times we seem to forget just how important literacy really is to our daily lives. Considering that literacy isn’t something that many of us are hyper-fixated on, I’m sure there are some of us that were unaware of International Literacy Day, which takes place on September 8th each year. When I was told about our topic for this month’s article, I was even surprised because this was a day I hadn’t known about before, but I’m glad to know about it now!

After doing some research I found out that International Literacy Day is an international observance day which was declared by the group UNESCO in October 1966 as a way to raise awareness and concern for problems in regard to literacy that may exist either within the local communities or more widespread around the globe; and it was first celebrated on September 8th, 1967. The day provides an opportunity to recognize the power in which literacy holds, especially in our everyday lives.

As someone who grew up with reading and writing as my favorite subjects in school, literacy is something I find to be critically important. When I was younger, I was taught to write letters to my grandparents, aunts, uncles, and other family members who lived in different states. Sending and receiving letters was a huge part of my childhood, it became one of my absolute favorite things to do and frankly, I believe that it was the reason in which I grew to love writing as much as I do. This was the period of my life that I learned how much literacy carries beyond just words on a page; it carries emotion, memories, history, communication, peace and so much more. Think of how we communicated from far distances before cell phones and the internet; it was mostly by writing letters.

Our history has been taught to us through the power of literacy as well. Without the written documents from the past, we would not have much to go on in deciphering the happenings of those days. A huge add-on to that as well though is the concept of handwriting. In today’s society, our newer generations have such a difficult time reading and writing cursive lettering because it isn’t taught much anymore. Personally, I grew up writing and reading in cursive constantly because that was how my family writes (aside from my dad and his dad). When I write, it is usually a mix between cursive and print. My little brother on the other hand, can’t read or write cursive because they stopped teaching it a year after I learned, and he is only two years younger than I am. It makes understanding works of the past incredibly difficult because almost all of them are written in cursive—just look at the Declaration of Independence!

Literacy is a cornerstone of personal and societal development as it affects almost every aspect of life itself. This includes concepts such as forming communities, education, the economy, communication, employment, health (both mental and physical), access to information, and so much more! Communication is such a crucial part of a functioning society and literacy helps to make it as effective as possible. It allows for people to clearly and effectively express themselves, while also having the ability to understand others as they express themselves—whether that be through writing or words spoken aloud. All of these aspects kind of go hand-in-hand with one another though; communication is a part of the foundation of forming a community and functional society, which offers employment opportunities, healthcare, education, access to information, etc. Having access to information allows one to make informed decisions when necessary, and those who are literate can use that skill to access and interpret information presented to them or researched through books, newspapers, and the internet to make said decisions. This can all be applied to the aspects listed above as well, especially in the categories of health and education: areas that you want to have all of the information you need prior to making decisions.

In regard to education, I find literacy to be a crucial teaching point for people of all ages. It’s funny, my older sister and I went to dinner a few nights ago so that we could catch up and hangout without the looming presence of the reality of our lives (i.e. children, work, and school), and one of the things we discussed was public school education. My sister had shown me a video from Instagram that depicted why someone refused to enroll her child in kindergarten as a 5-year-old. One of the key points of that video claimed that people have their whole lives to learn how to read, so why start teaching the basics at such a young age? I can see the point there: yes, we have all the time in the world to learn to read and write but, at the same point, the society we live in today makes it crucial for us to understand how to read and write for the sake of proper communication. Personally, I find it to be important to learn literacy at any age as long as you take the time to learn it because that is a skill that seems to be a must in our society.

The overall takeaway from this is the following: literacy is so incredibly important and powerful! It is a skill that shapes the way that we function both as a society and individually. By means of communication and understanding, to employment and our health, literacy holds the power to make these aspects of life both easier to preform and understand. Frankly, without literacy I’m not exactly sure what our society would look like; would it still function as it does now? Or would we be struggling to live peacefully with those around us? I know one thing is certain, without literacy you most definitely wouldn’t be reading this edition of the News Journal right now!

Read other articles by Devin Owen

Literacy to me

Dolores Hans
MSMU class of 2025

"Literacy is, finally, the road to human progress
and the means through which every man, woman and child
can realize his or her full potential" - Kofi Annan.

Think back to your childhood. What is the first book you ever read independently? Who was your kindergarten teacher? What was your first word? Think about your children if you’ve been blessed with them. How many times did you sing them the alphabet, or repeatedly over-enunciate "ma-ma" or "da-da"? Think about your parents. Did they write you notes or tell you bedtime stories?

Literacy is critical to the development of children. Sometimes we don’t even recognize the ways in which we are witnessing or implementing literacy skills every single day. I have learned a lot about childhood development, psychology, literacy skills and resources, and educating the human brain, and I would like to share some of the things I’ve learned.

Someone once asked me what my earliest memory of learning literacy was. Yes, that person was my elementary education professor, but it was still a good question. It got me thinking: a vision of my beautiful mother crouched on the floor with her child laid out in front of her giggling and cooing as she sings cute little songs, points to letters and says their sounds, or reads a book like "Moo, Baa, La La La" or "Chicka Chicka Boom Boom". She is a nurturer, the epitome of a devoted mother, and an educator. Before I even entered a classroom, I had a teacher. And knowing my mother, I had a teacher before I even entered the world. Did you know literacy begins in the womb? She probably sang to me and told me stories before she got to meet me. All because she knew how important literacy is. My mother is also an early childhood teacher.

Studies show that talking to your unborn child, playing music for them or reading them books increases their literacy skills as emergent readers.

literacy is so much more than reading a novel or writing a paper. Its importance cannot be neglected. It is also fascinating! It can be broken down into thousands of different parts and each one is dependent on the next. How many times have you, as an adult, seen a word you’ve never seen before and sound out the letters or chunk the word into smaller parts in order to figure out what the word is or how to pronounce it, or you were filing at work and can’t remember if the letter G is before H or if Q comes after S, so you sing the alphabet? These are all important foundational skills in literacy development called decoding, phonemic awareness, and alphabetic principle. A phoneme is the smallest unit of sound (i.e. the sound the letter A makes.

At this point in my education at The Mount, I have begun my last semester student teaching. Every day I go to an elementary school in the area and work with my mentor to help special education students. In a world where we could see children fall behind because their brains operate differently than their peers, or because they miss out on learning to have their needs met, it is an honor to meet so many men and women who devote their professional lives to knowing, loving, and teaching children who require as much as a person can give. Compassion, fortitude, gentility, wisdom. This is what it takes to be a special education teacher. This is also what it takes to change the world. It’s no secret that I believe children are the greatest thing this world has to offer. They are a gift. They provide us with joy and innocence, and in return we should provide them with the tools they need to grow their tiny, adorable minds so they can reach their full potential. And their success begins with literacy.

Literacy is the foundation that all other skills are based off of. I have gone back and forth for a long time about if I really want to be a teacher, and if I do what my options are. But at the end of the day, I think about my student’s smiles and about how my own education has shaped me, and it keeps me going back to them every morning.

Even at its most basic form, a novel, literacy is still so exciting. I remember being young and watching The Princess Bride over and over again. My brothers hated it (at least that's what they said). But I loved the story. And when the grandpa in the movie describes the book to his grandson, it stuck with me. He said the story had a little bit of everything, "Fencing, fighting, torture, revenge, giants, monsters, chases, escapes, true love…". Quite the adventure. It is what made me want to read what is now my favorite book. The Count of Monte Cristo. It has a little bit of everything, just like The Princess Bride, only it is a little less fantastical and a little more historical. It takes place in France after Napoleon's exile. A kind young man who has it all is betrayed by a jealous friend, as well as someone who abuses their power to save their own reputation, and suffers in jail for years until he escapes, becomes rich, and seeks his revenge. The story is full of plot twists, reveals, drama, romance.. oh and there’s fencing too. This book is my annual spring to autumn read. I love getting to enjoy the outdoors and just explore a time in history that I was not around for, in a place I’ve never been, living out the plot of a story.

Literacy is good for kids, good for adults, and good for humanity.

Read other articles by Dolores Hans

My journey through literacy

Claire Doll
MSMU Class of 2024

The age-old debate: math or reading?

Which subject is more useful? Which provides the most enrichment, inspires the most passion? Although I’m an English teacher, I can be convinced that mathematics plays a more vital role in our society. Through the identification of relationships, pattern comprehension, and problem-solving skills, math impacts pretty much each mere detail in our everyday lives. From the moment you wake up to your alarm clock (time management) to filling your tank with gas (conversion) to cooking dinner (measurements), it can be pretty much concluded that life is a series of calculations—a stream of numbers being factored and multiplied and derived.

But while this is a convincing argument, and one that certainly makes sense, it still does not explain the compassion, the persuasiveness, the wisdom of the human mind. How ideas grow from abstract concepts to concrete proofs, and how logic can be explained, and how views are exchanged. In fact, this entire debate would be nonexistent without the words, the literacy, with which to argue.

Reading is one of my favorite things in the world—exploring a new bookstore, or browsing the library, or even roaming around Target just to look at the book prices. I find joy in words, in sentences, in reading beautiful prose. If there’s one thing that you’ve learned about me over these years, it’s that there’s nothing else I’d rather do. I believe everyone deserves a strong, foundational literacy education. If mathematics is the brain of our society, then literacy is the heart pumping blood, keeping us alive, keeping us human.

International Literacy Day celebrates how literacy "opens the door to the enjoyment of other human rights, greater freedoms, and global citizenship" (UNESCO). Although recognized on September 8th, literacy is a gift that should be celebrated every single day. It is a gift to know how to read. It is a gift to attend school, to receive an education, to grow into an opinionated individual with the capacity to understand, differentiate, compare, and think critically.

Growing up, I’ve discovered how much I love literacy, beginning in high school creative writing class. I can paint you the room: a wall of windows overlooking the bus drop-off, with trees that flourished in the spring and summer; a morning sunrise so gold that it bathed our desks and papers in a honey glow; poetry books lining shelves, with creased and frayed spines; blurred sounds of laughter and typing and ballpoint pens hitting paper; student chapbooks displayed in the back, revealing years and years of creative talent. To me, creative writing class was four years of freedom. I could write whatever I wanted, workshop with my peers, present my poems and fiction. I was my absolute happiest sitting with my best friends, a composition book, and a Sharpie pen, editing the literary magazine or sketching a poem.

In creative writing I learned how to manipulate words: how to show and not tell, how to structure sentences, how to say more with less. It is an art, to not only grasp literacy and but also bend it, make it fit your ideas. When someone reads my work and says that they cried or laughed or smiled, I am complete; my writing evoked emotion, and I have communicated exactly how I felt.

In college, between writing for the News-Journal and editing Lighted Corners, I student taught language arts to some amazing eighth-graders. From breaking down a sentence and placing punctuation to writing full-length paragraphs and essays, I saw first-hand how literacy is implemented and developed. How understanding and explaining connect to form a complete thought. How texts like "The Outsiders" instill skills of analysis while revealing a beautiful, emotional narrative. Literacy is crucial for cognitive growth. Without pillars of reading, writing, speaking, and listening, students would never attain their lifelong goals, including college, the work force, the military, and more.

But literacy does not stop in the classroom. Take our world today: a society swarmed with politics, a nation divided on core values and beliefs. We have seen leaders that express their values aggressively, using hatred and bigotry to convince others of their views; likewise, we have seen leaders with class, approaching political topics with confidence, peace, and charisma. As our nation draws near the presidential election this November, we recognize more and more that a leader is defined by their literacy, and that a vote is discerned through a candidate’s competence in speaking and writing and listening. How Americans want to be spoken to matters. And sometimes, how a belief is conveyed holds more weight than the belief itself.

This is why literacy matters. This is why starting from birth, even before birth, you must read to your children. Why you need floor-to-ceiling bookshelves in your house. Why schools should allow students to read and celebrate all books, and why teachers should be provided unlimited literacy resources. This is why we debate, why we interview, why we speak in any shape or form, and this is why we vote. Literacy is the cornerstone of our society, the heart of our world, and each well-spoken word is a heartbeat bringing us closer to understanding, to truth, to peace.

Could mathematics do all that?

As my last Four Years at the Mount article concludes, I find it timely how International Literacy Day is the final prompt. Literacy has brought me so many gifts, and the Emmitsburg and Woodsboro-Walkersville News-Journals are the most meaningful, priceless gifts ever. By writing for this community, I feel like I have gotten to know so many of you: small business owners and retired firemen, public servants and authors, musicians and more, making up this beautiful part of northern Frederick County. Thank you for the greatest gift of all, for reading my writing, for giving my words your time. I am excited to continue writing for the News-Journals with my new teaching column, but I will miss being and writing as a Mount St. Mary’s student.

I will treasure my last four years at the Mount forever.

Read other articles by Claire Doll

Read Past Editions of Four Years at the Mount