Hidden Literacy constraints in schools
By: Brandon J Beck
The amount of “constraints” that are placed on students in regards to literacy in the school system is concerning. Girls and Boys are both “stereotyped” into their choice of text by their background and gender. In Just Girls Dottie who is a tough cookie wants to learn about Baseball into more detail but she ultimately becomes shunned by her peers for trying to escape the role that she has been giving.
Dottie should have felt empowered to want to embrace reading different informational text. She should be applauded for her efforts to “want to learn more”. According to UN online literacy has an empowering effect on women. Women in many third world country view literacy as a means to escape the harsh realities of their uncertain world (Nations, 20101). While this example may be a strong in regards to life for an eighth grader. The tough cookies that were located in Just Girls had a rough life compared to many of their peers. There school was diverse but it included a majority of upper middle class families.
By being able to choose to text that are not only for “girls” or “boys” students have the freedom to explorer and get interested in reading. According to Time Magazine the main cause of the decline in reading is due to technological advances (Alter, 2012). Many people also view education as a large factor. While time makes some interesting point they fail to mention young people interest in reading. My practicum at Greenville Middle School has allowed me the opportunity to see what kinds of books the students like to read. My experience might be an outlier but many of the kids read a wide variety of texts. Some girls read Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, while others have read texts such as Anamorphous. These texts gauge the interest of readers in many different areas. However, they give students the opportunity to explore and move beyond the constraints that they are placed on them by their peers.
According to a 2007 study that has been conducted by the National endowment acts for the arts young adults have seen a decline in voluntary reading rates (Baurenstein, 2012). The lack of reading has led to a gradual worsening in reading skills amongst older teens. This alarming statistic has led me to worry about the state of “predetermined” reading choices for young adults. In Just Girls the teacher that held the class that the tough cookies and the plastics were pulled from, made the assumptions based on the texts that his students read he determined their interest and their social standing. The “good” girls choose to read a variety of texts but were deemed good because they followed instructions and constantly read during designated reading time. The
idea that the teacher predetermined his students interest and possible role in the social hierarchy of middle school on the choice of text is concerning. However, it is important to note that the teacher only got this idea of determining the social hierarchy by “judging a book by its cover” from the system that had already been in place. As seen on page 38 of Just Girls, Jocks read Sports Illustrated, Techies read Computer Manuals, Plastics read Babysitters club, and the tough cookies read the classics.
When Dottie decided to move outside the box and tried to move across the aisle and embrace someone outside of her comfort zone is often overlooked. It was one of the most important points in the novel Just girls due to the reaction that was given by her peers. She was quickly shut down and ridiculed by her peers. She tried to escape the chains that her school’s social hierarchy had placed on her. Now her confidence is shot and she will not take the initiative to escape that boundary again. These limitations continue to the problem that persist in this country, until we are able to allow students to be themselves and allow them to embrace their interest we will not see change.
References
Alter, C. (2012, May 12). Time . Retrieved from Study: The number of Teens Reading for Fun keeps declining : http://time.com/94794/common-sense-media-reading-report-never-read/
Baurenstein, M. (2012, Febuary 2). Pbs.org. Retrieved from Front Line: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/digitalnation/learning/literacy/reading-more-learning-less.html?play
Nations, U. (20101, September 8). Literacy has empowering effect on women. Retrieved from UN Centre News: http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=35859#.V_PlafArI2w
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