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Now It’s ‘Why Johnny Can’t Write’

You have been hearing for years why he can’t read, so it is no surprise to learn he can’t write either

“Educators acknowledge that much student writing ranges from mediocre to hideous.” So reported “U.S. News & World Report” last year. Some professors point to a rising incidence of what they call “straight-A illiteracy.”

Blame for this inability to write is put on the telephone, which has replaced the personal letter for many, and on television, which many use as a substitute for reading. Leon Botstein, president of Bard College, however, does not think these outside influences relieve the schools of responsibility. “To complain about the environment outside the classroom,” he said, “is not the solution. We have kids within four walls for extensive periods of time.”

How well do the schools make use of those extensive periods of time? Not well at all as far as the basic skills are concerned. Modern innovations have crowded them out. Samuel Halperin, an educator at George Washington University, says: “Schools can’t teach drug abuse, sex education, driver’s education and still teach reading, writing and arithmetic well.”

Many schools have not taught any of these subjects well. They have gobbled up huge chunks of time from basic skills to make these forays into other fields, and have not succeeded there either. Drug use has skyrocketed. Venereal disease, pregnancies and abortions have mushroomed. Nor has any increase in the expertise of youthful drivers been noticeable.

Then there is the faddish program called “values development.” In schoolroom discussions, thousands of American children are asked such questions as, “If you are a teenage girl, should you go to bed with your boyfriend if he asks you to?” Do morally upright teachers assist students to correct answers? No, they are not to influence the children. The students are “to make up their own minds about how to feel and act.” Sidney Simon, education professor and leader of the values movement, reflects the approved teacher attitude: “No adult knows all the answers, and the children’s responses are never judged right or wrong.”

Critics of this ‘values education’ say students should not be led to believe that their own opinions are always right. Teachers, these critics contend, should exert their own moral influence. This is questionable, however, in view of the values of some of today’s teachers. One of the leading newsmagazines of the United States ran a picture of a teacher conducting such a class. He was perched on a stool, slovenly dressed in plaid shirt, jeans and moccasins. Two students were pictured with him. One had on a T-shirt and short skirt; the other a floppy shirt, tight slacks and was barefooted.

More and more companies are offering employees courses in remedial English. Four years ago 35 percent of 800 companies surveyed were instructing employees in subjects they should have been taught in school. Today even more companies are doing so.

Some companies, however, say that these are only stopgap measures. JLG Industries is one of them. “We’re adding robots as fast as the technology is allowing us to,” their spokesman said. “Once a robot is in place, it’s very productive day in and day out, and produces high-quality work.” General Motors expects to use more robots. “That should be a warning to schools,” their director of employee relations said, “that students are going to have to be better educated.”

Businesses are not charities. For them to give Johnny a job, and for Johnny to hold that job, Johnny must know how to read and write and do arithmetic. Otherwise, he may be replaced by a robot!