If you're going to write a column on the decline of reading, you probably shouldn't make it so painful to read.

The great irony of the article in the link is that nearly every comment after it contains at least one-- if not multiple-- spelling errors.

I find it simultaneously sad and hilarious that a group of adults who don't seem to be very good at grammar or spelling are arguing over the quality of education for kids these days. "The education system is failing our children!" they say. "Programs are being cut back!" they say.

From the looks of it, the education system failed the adults doing the complaining, too.

Equally as sad in a hilarious way is the one comment that states that texting like a Prince fan and relying on lazy grammar/spelling is fine because it accomplishes what communication is meant to do and gets the message across.

Well, sure, I can get the message across by saying "I h8 ur stoopid face." but I could equally get that message across by punching you in the face and laughing menacingly. However, neither method of communication would make a good novel.

I admit it: I weep a little (inside) when I see YouTube or Facebook comments.

But then, I'm an author. I cringe when people send me texts that are comprised of txting shorthand. If you can type "ur" then you can type "you're" or "your" (depending on your intentions). I don't care that it saves time. All I care about is that I'm not hanging around with idiots.

Don't get me wrong-- A truncated, badly-spelled text message every once in a while when you're in a hurry is acceptable. Whole conversations like that, though... That sort of thing makes me want to scream.

Ultimately, I guess the point is that the kids are only as dumb as the adults allow them to be.

. "Guess what we stopped doing about 15 years ago? We pulled all the spelling books off the shelves and stopped teaching spelling -or at least we put it on the back burner."

I disagree. We continue to shift from authentic literature towards leveled readers for the previous decade at least. This causes the reading of lower quality literature which has several implications. First, leveled readers avoid words which might be too challenging for the reading level, thus less exposure to vocabulary. Second, students do not engage with uninteresting reading or are frequently pulled from the book by stilted phrases and sentence composition for the sake of reading level. Last, there is nothing to draw from the books in terms of themes; no deep comprehension to share amongst a class or great message to share with peers.

Granted, I do not feel spelling is too important, but I would say emphasis on authentic literature to build a host of skills would be preferable to spelling workbooks which are tedious and extremely limited in scope.

ZeroCorpse: I find it simultaneously sad and hilarious that a group of adults who don't seem to be very good at grammar or spelling are arguing over the quality of education for kids these days. "The education system is failing our children!" they say. "Programs are being cut back!" they say.

From the looks of it, the education system failed the adults doing the complaining, too.

Maybe the adults are lamenting what they thought would be a better educational environment for their kids. Neither of my parents attended college. My grandfather quit school in his teens to run his family's corner store. But there was an expectation that we would take every opportunity to become educated. My grandparents asked me a few times if I thought I would be better off going to a private school - they would help my parents with the cost. If my sister and I wanted to attend college, then that was in the cards, too. My great-grandfather never turned on a computer in his life, but he made sure we had one at the house.

It helped that we were in one of the wealthier towns in the state, hence one of the better-regarded school districts. We weren't wealthy by any means! But my parents, grandparents, and great-grandparents were interested in giving us every opportunity they could provide. If they thought something was in our best interest - a teacher they wanted us to have, or one they wanted us to avoid - they did what they could to make it happen.

So I can only imagine the frustrations of today's parents. Some, like my parents, don't have a college education but still want the best for their kids; others are educated and have that past experience to draw from. But for either side, it must be frustrating to see constant reports of substandard achievement, when they know the whole point is to educate the current cohort of children to do better than the last. (And I'll admit that I question a teacher's intellect when she replies to my "thanks" with "your welcome.")

ZeroCorpse: But then, I'm an author. I cringe when people send me texts that are comprised of txting shorthand. If you can type "ur" then you can type "you're" or "your" (depending on your intentions). I don't care that it saves time. All I care about is that I'm not hanging around with idiots.

See the problem is that you've bought into the romantic idea that what you do is important. It's not really, at least not any more important than what any other schlub does. It's (hopefully) interesting to you, so that's great and you should continue pursuing what you enjoy, just don't pretend like anyone else should give a crap about you, or your work, or any other work that you admire.

And yes, I spelled "txting shorthand" that way intentionally.

Nemo's Brother: dahmers love zombie: Kymry: Spelling: Teach it, but don't freak out over it.

That's my motto.

Spell checkers have been invented. Welcome to the digital age.

Fumbling fingers are one thing, but if I have to grade one more paper in which the word "ludicrous" is spelled "ludacris", or in which the adjective "prejudiced" is repeatedly (though consistently -- I'll give them that) spelled without the -ed suffix, I'm going to go on some sort of very low-energy, couch-based rampage.

I hate 'rediculous'. I see it in Fark all the time.

Heh...Another common one is substituting 'then' for 'than' and vice versa.

Example: "I'd rather see him retire then stay in the race."


Makes me wince every time.

The thing I hate about spelling bees is that it's a stupid farking thing to spend 6-11 hours a day practicing, as the national champions usually do.

I say this as someone who made it to the Scripps semifinals. The total amount of time I spent studying was maybe a couple of hours. That was all it was worth to me. There is maybe, some tiny benefit to being able to put "National Spelling Bee champion" on your application to Harvard, and now there's $30,000 cash (it was a lot less when I was competing.) Beyond that, it's just working on a skill that is guaranteed to never get you laid, isn't fun, and isn't even academically useful.

My attitude toward it is, this prize is always won by those who are willing to sacrifice the most just to win for the sake of winning. That's not me, and I'm ok with that. Let them have it.

Says the guy who only writes single sentence paragraphs and has trouble writing a train of uninterrupted thought.

/just because spelling and grammar are correct doesn't mean it's readable.

Kymry: Spelling: Teach it, but don't freak out over it.

That's my motto.

Spell checkers have been invented. Welcome to the digital age.

There are essay questions on the SAT and ACT now and the essays are handwritten. Spellcheckers don't work well on handwritten essays. If the student lacks spelling skills then he'll be at a disadvantage when taking college placement tests.

"USA Today ran a front-page story about the spelling and how it's still an important skill for credibility."

What about the grammar? Isn't the grammar also important?

pwn3d781: When I was dating, I tended to date a fair number of teachers or women otherwise involved in education. It stunned me that so many of them had poor spelling and writing abilities. Sure, you can't judge everyone by an e-mail or a text...but then, you also can, when you expect that someone who's involved in education will be educated themselves, hence a bit ashamed to write poorly. My girlfriend, also a teacher, is a lot more fanatical about her own writing, which I like, because I suffer from the same affliction. But if the teachers can't be bothered to care, then how can they instruct their students to spell or write effectively?

Not to mention the world around them doesn't seem to care, either. I see so many spelling and proofreading errors in articles online, and it shocks me that an editor didn't call them out right away. Of course, there's that "get it out before the next guy" pressure in journalism, but does it matter if the article is sloppy and riddled with misspellings?

Of course, back when I was a freshman in high school, my English teacher had one piece of advice for us (among many) that stuck with me: "Make your first draft good enough to be your final draft. Don't plan on going back to fix that spelling error; you may not have time, or you may not remember." And especially when our drafts are digital, it makes sense; proofreading means correcting, not just identifying, those little errors.

Then again, when I'm caught with a misspelling, I get called on the carpet for it because of my usual perfectionism, and I feel ashamed. Maybe that lack of shame, or a lack of pride, is the difference. I'm not saying writing should cause anxiety, just that you should be proud of what you write, and accountable for whether or not it's correct.

I had a group of teachers that would come into the bar where I worked for Friday happy hour. One 5th grade teacher admitted she thought Alaska was an island because it was shown next to Hawaii on maps.

I am not the smartest man in the world, but I am a reasonably intelligent human being. The state of literacy and general intelligence in this country is disheartening. I can't even type incorrectly in text messages (u for you, r for are). But ignorance is celebrated. Any time you think differently, consider the fact that Kim Kardashian has 14.5 million Twitter followers.

A lot of modern teachers lack basic spelling and grammar skills. The bottom of the barrel fall back teaching when they were too slow to get that Hotel Management degree.

/there are a lot of good teachers too

When I was dating, I tended to date a fair number of teachers or women otherwise involved in education. It stunned me that so many of them had poor spelling and writing abilities. Sure, you can't judge everyone by an e-mail or a text...but then, you also can, when you expect that someone who's involved in education will be educated themselves, hence a bit ashamed to write poorly. My girlfriend, also a teacher, is a lot more fanatical about her own writing, which I like, because I suffer from the same affliction. But if the teachers can't be bothered to care, then how can they instruct their students to spell or write effectively?

Not to mention the world around them doesn't seem to care, either. I see so many spelling and proofreading errors in articles online, and it shocks me that an editor didn't call them out right away. Of course, there's that "get it out before the next guy" pressure in journalism, but does it matter if the article is sloppy and riddled with misspellings?

Of course, back when I was a freshman in high school, my English teacher had one piece of advice for us (among many) that stuck with me: "Make your first draft good enough to be your final draft. Don't plan on going back to fix that spelling error; you may not have time, or you may not remember." And especially when our drafts are digital, it makes sense; proofreading means correcting, not just identifying, those little errors.

Then again, when I'm caught with a misspelling, I get called on the carpet for it because of my usual perfectionism, and I feel ashamed. Maybe that lack of shame, or a lack of pride, is the difference. I'm not saying writing should cause anxiety, just that you should be proud of what you write, and accountable for whether or not it's correct.

A friend of mine has a kid in 2nd grade and gets constant praises from her teacher for her writing when the handwriting and spelling is so bad that the mother has to translate it to anyone that looks at it. (seriously, not one word in a 3 page story will be spelled correctly)

The actual stories do have imagination and whatnot, but what does that matter is no one will be able to read it?

We don't need two worry so much about correct spelling anymore, since we have auto-correct and spell-check too fix everything for us.

That bar was set long ago!

This Lemmon fella is a bit of a sourpuss.

De speling Nazies loast de war. Its our rite to do wat we want. Fredum isnt fre.

Hey, when presidential candidates' aides spell their country's name "Amercia" and nobody seems to care, why should anyone else worry?