Why "Readicide" Should be in the Dictionary

     Within " Readicide" by Kelly Gallagher you find that this word has much more impact in the world then we had ever realized. Readicide meaning: " noun, the systematic killing of the love for reading, often exacerbated by the inane, mind-numbing practices found in schools". Of course this exact definition made by Gallagher may never actually make it in any official print because it probably would be viewed as an offensive description for the cause of this "killing" of reading.

     Although it is particularly hard to blame one problem for student's lack of interest, the majority of the reason does follow behind teacher expectations, and then school board expectation, and so on. So in the long run we could point it out and relate it back to a group of people responsible for student learning. The problem then is, what does student learning mean? Student learning can mean a variety of things depending on what the outcome should look like. Take current events for example, as schools show a increase in state funded testing, the number of students with frequent or avid reading skills decreases. Why you may ask? Well lets just say that test taking skills do not correlate with comprehensive reading skills. Meaning that the more time students spend preparing for tests or scoring , the less time there is in the classroom for reading.

      According to " Readicide"  about 16 percent of adults are actually avid readers of literary text, and in addition to that about 27 percent of adults admitted to not reading a single book in 2007! that's almost 30 percent of people who DO NOT read. If this isn't a reading genocide i don't know what is. Of course we could all blame it on the new generation of technology that is also in the race for your child's attention and time, but what about the real need for cover to cover experience? Does this also die? There is something magical about reading a physical copy of a favorite book that can take your breathe away. The experience of turning the pages and loosing yourself in time with the images of warriors dancing in your head is something one can never replace. This experience is crucial for students to enhance their own relationship with reading.

   If students are no longer reading then how do we expect them to become good writers? I would say these to things are somewhat tied together. If we begin to have a generation of students who do not know how to read or write in a sophisticated manner then how can we expect them to generate exquisite scores on their SAT's or state testing? If God prevent them from leaving high school with any real literacy skill then what is to say about their college experience? Don't we all need to have mastered these skills in order to become proactive college students? I would say HELL YES. Setting up a student with no real skills in reading and writing is like asking the student to fail. Fail in school, but also fail in many other ways that could damage the student's overall learning for a lifetime! We as parents, teachers, and community members should stand up and fight this battle through school board initiatives, home experiences, and teaching methods. This "readicide" cannot continue to damage our children and future leaders.