Appreciating Reading

We in North America don't always appreciate our free, compulsory education - the fact that education is our right... And it costs parents nothing! In fact, they are required by law to send their children to school to learn "the three Rs." (And hopefully a lot more!)

It isn't that way everywhere in the world. I have taught immigrants from many countries who tell me that the poor in their home country do not have the opportunity to go to school. Perhaps the parents don't value education, or they don't have enough money for school "fees." Sometimes they can only afford to educate some of their children, so they naturally select the sons (who will be responsible for caring for them in their old age).

Sometimes we assume that free education has always been a "right" in North America, but it wasn't always so. In Canada, compulsory education only came into being in the 1800s. (This online government document gives the history of compulsory education in Canada and its impact on earnings, for those who are interested.)

We also don't always appreciate how instrumental the church was in creating the concept of free education for all. I recently came across the following quote by John Wesley (a theologian - and free thinker - who lived in Britain in the 1700s.) He definitely thought "outside the box"! At a time when slavery was viewed as normal, he was an abolitionist. At a time when poor people were deprived of education, he saw a connection between reading and religious faith:

"It cannot be that people should grow in grace unless they give themselves to reading. A reading people will always be a knowing people. A people who talk much will know little... You can never be deep... without [reading]... fix some part of every day for private exercises. Whether you like it or not, read and pray daily. It is your life; there is no other way; else you will be a trifler all your days." (quoted in Benedict's Way, p. 84)

Is it a co-incidence that several decades later saw the establishment of Sunday schools - where the poor were taught reading, writing and basic math, as well as basic religion (the catechism)? And that in the 1800s Canadian immigrants lobbied for free, compulsory education?

(Again, here is more information from an online McGill University Library document that summarizes the influence of Sunday Schools in Britain in the early 1800s.)

So, if you haven't thought about it for a while... BE THANKFUL that you can read and write! The alternative is pretty awful.














And if you have a hard time remembering what not knowing how to read (illiteracy) feels like, try reading something...


















... in a language you don't know!