International Literacy Day has once again passed me, but it brought to mind something that really gets me down: the literacy crisis we’re facing with kids, teens, and young adults today.
Literacy is something we often take for granted. Being able to read, understand information, write clearly, and communicate confidently impacts almost every aspect of our lives. Yet, so many young people are struggling with skills that should have been honed years ago. What worries me most is that these aren’t just numbers. These are real people my age and younger who are trying to navigate school, work, relationships, technology, and adulthood without the literacy foundation they deserve.
In my view, the education system has let a lot of kids down. Programs like No Child Left Behind were created with the goal of improving education and ensuring students weren’t forgotten. However, I believe the focus on standardized testing and accountability sometimes made the problem worse. When schools are pressured to focus heavily on test scores, teaching can become more about passing an exam than developing a lifelong understanding and appreciation of reading and writing.
And when students fall behind, they don’t simply stop being behind as they get older. Those gaps can follow them into middle school, high school, college, and the workplace. Eventually, some young people may feel embarrassed to ask for help because everyone assumes they should already know how to read, write, or communicate effectively.
That’s why International Literacy Day matters to me. It should be more than just a day we mention once a year. It should remind us that literacy is a basic foundation for opportunity, independence, and participation in society.
I wish we would stop asking, “Why can’t this student keep up?” and start asking, “Why didn’t we give this student the support they needed?” Instead of blaming young people for falling behind, we need to look honestly at the systems that allowed them to fall through the cracks in the first place.
Literacy should never be treated as something only certain people are entitled to master. Every child and young person deserves the opportunity to read, write, learn, communicate, and feelconfident in their own voice. International Literacy Day is a reminder of that responsibility—and it’sa reminder that we still have a lot of work to do.
