Do you remember all of those anti-smoking commercials? I don't know if they're still on anymore, but boy did they leave a lasting impression.
What about all those "It's 10 pm. Do you know where your children are" commercials? Those were unforgettable too, weren't they?
As part of the introduction of The Read-Aloud Handbook, Jim Trelease suggests that the most powerful way to get the read-aloud message across is to adopt a similar campaign for literacy. It makes perfect sense to me.
Why hasn't any such campaign ever been sponsored, however? Well, according to the author:
"Politicians have been reluctant to hold parents accountable because they're afraid of losing the parent vote, which is far larger than the teacher vote." (page xviii of The Read-Aloud Handbook, by Jim Trelease)
Well, they're not doing any of us any favors. That's for sure.
One of the major reasons why I walked away from public education is that many teachers feel that there is no time to read aloud in class anymore. The testing culture has taken its toll. Classroom and school libraries, and the simple joy of reading, are slowly becoming extinct in many schools.
To further exacerbate the problem, parents have little time to read aloud to their children these days, either. Not only that, but many of them do not realize how vitally important it is that they do.
School libraries are in jeopardy. Public libraries are in jeopardy.
In a world which depends upon literacy to fuel its success, especially now that it's the age of the Internet, something has to change.
The change has to come from all of us. Parents, teachers, school librarians, public librarians, authors, publishers, book store owners, university professors, CEO's...everyone.
Well, now you have a chance to make your voice heard! You can help the nonprofit literacy organization, Everybody Wins, launch a National "Read to Kids" Campaign, by voting for the cause at Change.org. Only the 10 most popular ideas will be presented to members of the Obama administration, so your support is so desperately needed. You can cast your vote up until 5 pm EST on Thursday.
Your vote is your voice.
There are many causes to support, I know. Here are some articles/photos which should help to put things into perspective:
- Huffington Post's photos of The Most Amazing Libraries in the World
- Denverpost.com's A troubling chapter (found via @JensBookPage and @RascofromRIF on Twitter)
Ultimately, it's your choice.
Thanks for reading!
