United Stubborn States of America

"There are over 42 million American adults, 20 percent of whom hold high school diplomas, who cannot read, as well as the 50 million who read at a fourth- or fifth-grade level. Nearly a third of the nation’s population is illiterate or barely literate. And their numbers are growing by an estimated 2 million a year. But even those who are supposedly literate retreat in huge numbers into this image-based existence. A third of high school graduates, along with 42 percent of college graduates, never read a book after they finish school. Eighty percent of the families in the United States last year did not buy a book." (America the Illiterate, Chris Hedges) After reading this article, it baffles me to think that the people in our country won't take the time to try and educate themselves; however, I do understand that sometimes they are embarrassed to speak up about their inabilities. I remember when I was in the second grade, my friend Brian would always get the lowest grades on our spelling tests and would never want to read out loud. One day, my teacher pulled me aside and asked if I would mind helping Brian during our reading time. Each day I worked with him on practicing his pronunciation and reading, reading books like Danny the Dinosaur. It's not that Brian wasn't intelligent, it's just that he never was really taught how to read. The problem with the schooling in U.S. is that some students are not given as many opportunities or the chances to develop their reading skills. I feel that if people took the time to make sure that all students were on the same level, the statistics that are seen above would not be such an issue.

This past fall semester I studied in Florence, Italy, where I studied marketing and Italian. I was really nervous about the language barrier since I had no prior experience with Italian and didn't want to feel out of place; however, I learned very quickly that I in fact would feel out of place, but not because I didn't speak Italian. In every country I went, from Greece to Germany, everybody had some knowledge of English. Whether they were seven or seventy, nearly everybody I came across was able to communicate with me in some form. I was amazed - how is it possible that they can understand multiple languages while people in America, whose native tongue is English, have trouble with just one?

"For everywhere we look, there is work to be done. The state of the economy calls for action, bold and swift, and we will act -- not only to create new jobs, but to lay a new foundation for growth. We will build the roads and bridges, the electric grids and digital lines that feed our commerce and bind us together. We will restore science to its rightful place, and wield technology's wonders to raise health care's quality and lower its cost. We will harness the sun and the winds and the soil to fuel our cars and run our factories. And we will transform our schools and colleges and universities to meet the demands of a new age. All this we can do. And all this we will do." (Barack Obama, inaugural speech) Although they don't have the same exact message in the article by Hedges and Obama's speech, I feel that the same general outcome is wanted. Hedges' article really makes people think about the fact that not everybody is at the same level of education, and I feel that a goal of Obama's speech is to show that he wants there to be a change for the school systems as well.