By Susan Ciancio
Twice in the past week, people have brought a startling discovery to my attention: More and more high school and college students either have trouble reading or have not ever read an entire book cover to cover.
A recent article in The Atlantic explained, “It’s not that [students] don’t want to do the reading. It’s that they don’t know how. Middle and high schools have stopped asking them to.”
What’s even more disturbing is that a historian at Princeton “said his students arrive on campus with a narrower vocabulary and less understanding of language than they used to have.”
This, of course, translates to the inability to write and articulate their thoughts.
In our digital era, books are becoming a thing of the past. Writing is a lost art. Kids spend more time on their phones texting and watching videos than filling their minds with materials that truly matter—both to their intellect and to their souls.
Yet we cannot solely point the finger at school systems or parents. It’s a collective failure of society that has allowed this deficit and that has even promoted it. After all, people of lower intellect and limited knowledge are more easily manipulated.
When teachers and parents ignore declining literacy rates, when social media takes precedence over quality literature, and when our culture promotes individual “truths” rather than universal or scientific truths, we know we have a serious problem.
How are children supposed to know and understand the truths of history or biology if they are not taught them? How are they to appreciate literature if they never read it?
An article entitled “Home Libraries Will Save Civilization” hits the proverbial nail on the head by postulating that more homes with shelves full of books will help correct this wrong. It explained, “When books are everywhere, they distract us with their presence in a good way—they demand to be read, shaping the people around them in small but meaningful ways, moment by moment, page by page. They send us on rabbit trails to find yet more books on related topics, to ask friends for recommendations, and sometimes just to sit quietly and reflect.”
Indeed. Quality books open our minds and hearts and teach us to speak and write well. They teach us to become the hero of our own stories. They teach us to think, they give us courage to stand up for our beliefs, and they encourage us to ponder the world around us and what’s truly important in life.
This contemplation is the subject of a classic book entitled Leisure: The Basis of Culture, by Catholic philosopher Josef Pieper. In his book, Pieper explains why we must take the time to contemplate, suggesting that this will ultimately lead us to a deeper spirituality and closer to God.
Fostering this ability to think is one of the reasons that the Culture of Life Studies Program hosts an annual pro-life essay contest for both middle and high schoolers. The contest gives students a chance to research, reflect, and then articulate their pro-life beliefs.
Why is this crucial today? Because students are not taught how to think. Too often, they are taught what to think. They are inundated with what the secular world wants them to believe—that they should live for the here and now, do what feels good, and search only for immediate happiness.
But this kind of life creates a society filled with people who care very little for others. This me-first attitude is the exact opposite of a pro-life attitude where people are cared for and cherished from the very first moment of creation until their natural death.
Opportunities like the essay contest help students internalize and articulate beliefs that improve rather than tear down society. Reading and researching, then writing and defending their thoughts helps them develop the moral courage they need as they grow so they can continue defending these beliefs as adults.
Today’s students will become tomorrow’s leaders. Do we want leaders who cannot read or write? Do we want leaders who spend hours each day on TikTok, who have no idea how the world actually works, who don’t truly care for the well-being of others, or who cannot string logical and cohesive sentences together?
We can see that this travesty in education also translates to pro-life truths, as many students have no idea that a human being begins the moment the sperm fertilizes the egg. In fact, many kids think that life begins at birth. The utter failure of the education system to teach this biological truth is one of the many reasons the essay contest asks students to think and write about pro-life topics.
For instance, this year, middle school students are asked to choose one stage of a preborn baby’s development, explain the development in this stage, and address ways they can help others see the humanity of the baby. High school students are asked to choose one pro-life topic and explain what it is and why it is a threat to human beings. They must then write how they will speak out against this practice, defend the vulnerable, and teach the value of every person.
Writing about why human beings are valuable at all stages helps students understand this truth. When they understand it, they live and model it. It is only when we as a society live our pro-life values that we will truly build a culture of life where all people are protected.
But building a culture of life takes time, effort, and dedication. Yes, it’s much easier to scroll through funny videos on your phone and to allow your children to do the same. It takes less effort to let a device babysit your child rather than to pull out a book and read and learn together. But when we do this, we foster a system where we are slaves to devices rather than masters of our own lives.
Just as it takes a collective effort of society to fail in the education of our children, it takes a collective effort of society to progress. And progress will only happen when we make a conscious decision to change the trajectory of our society. We do this by educating our children in the truth, by teaching them to think, and by helping them express their beliefs through the written word. I venture to say that, when they are capable of doing these things, we will see fewer articles lamenting the lack of literacy in college students and we will see a rise in the love for and respect of their fellow human beings and for God. That is, in fact, what we were created for.
This article first appeared in Mercator at mercatornet.com/education_is_crucial_for_building_a_culture_of_life.
