Illiteracy in the Interwebs

Ok, so the last post was a post made out of frustration of a reading, but it seems that this time, we read the opposite side of the debate.  I found I agreed with most of everything that was said in these articles, and I wish I could have just skipped the other two altogether.

Lunsford's article Our Semi-literate Youth? Not So Fast was probably my favorite of the two.  I defiantly that although we may not be reading "formal" writings as much, our literacy hasn't degraded, but evolved.  Take that, Hedges!  I completely agree that the biggest problem facing our generation's literacy is using the wrong word (people dropping the second P in rapping is very common), but also the internet is a resource.  There are tons and tons of resources that point out the common issues, and generally help improve literacy.

Literacy in Three Metaphors by Scribner made me think of a good point involving literacy that I want to bring up.  It was sparked by the quote, "At one time, ability to write one's name was a hallmark of literacy."  This made me remember that public schools weren't always a given.  Publicly funded schools were only started being used to any significant degree during the industrial revolution where education of the working class benefited the companies.  Before that, education was a luxury, and only the wealthy families would send their children to school to become literate.  Today, with a mandatory 10-12 years of education, it's incredibly difficult to find someone who completely cannot read or write.  Since nearly everybody (in America) can read and write, maybe the definition of literacy should be changed to apply to something that not everybody can do.  For example, when my mom joined her current job, the office was loosing a lot of employees because they were unable to learn the new computer system.  Computer literacy is a term used, yes, but the key is that computer literacy is becoming a central part of what makes a person able to fit in to modern society, and that's what should make literacy what it is.

So that's my two cents worth.  Maybe sometime I'll give you my rant on why I believe the current education system needs a reform (something I wanted to say, but ran out of time and space), but for now, these are my thoughts on literacy.