Literacy can be an act of civil responsibility

“We don’t read and write poetry because it’s cute. We read and write poetry because we are members of the human race. And the human race is filled with passion. And medicine, law, business, engineering; these are noble pursuits and necessary to sustain life. But poetry, beauty, romance, love; these are what we stay alive for,” Robin Williams said.

To take a page from Dead Poets Society, one of my favorite movies, teaching literature should inspire students to create and to reflect on the abstract concepts of life. Reading and writing are critical creative outlets for a world increasingly less invested in the humanities. Even at the elementary level, students are taught the basics of phonics and decoding in reading and not much more. At the middle and high school levels, teachers are more concerned with teaching canon literature than with fostering curiosity and enjoyment, the true foundations of reading.

Reading comprehension, grammatical understanding and overall enjoyment are at an all- time low. Children are increasingly less likely to read leisurely and are performing significantly worse on standardized tests. Though I am not particularly an advocate for standardized tests, since I do not believe it is necessarily an accurate indicator of intelligence, I see it as one marker to measure how society values literature.

When was the last time you picked up a book for fun? If you answered sometime in the last year, you are in the minority. As college students, we are more immersed in academia than most of us will ever be again. The idea of picking up a book outside of homework might seem daunting and pointless, but it is crucial to build those habits now. Life will get busier post-grad, some of us continuing our education, others joining the workforce, maybe starting families of our own. Making time for creative outlets and fruitful hobbies will make all the difference in leading balanced and fulfilled lives.

Beyond our community, American society’s lack of emphasis on literature is hurting us on a global scale; we are falling behind other countries in academics. The United States is currently ranked 38th in literacy, according to the National Literacy Institute. And if that is not appalling enough, around 54% of American adults read below a sixth-grade level – the level described as functional literacy, according to the National Center for Education Statistics.

What most people fail to realize is that literacy is power, and reading is actually an act of civil responsibility. An illiterate society is a vulnerable one; to be less informed than your government is an act of radical and unfounded trust in the system.

On the other hand, the people who can decode and comprehend complex ideas are more equipped for daily life and more informed when it comes to electing government officials and making financial decisions. Literacy is necessary to be a civic-minded citizen, and to be one who sees the world not just for what it is, but for what it could be.