On Monday, my daughter couldn't wait to show her fourth-grade teacher the replica of the Declaration of Independence that she had bought as a souvenir in Williamsburg,Virginia. As I watched her little legs carry her and her overburdened backpack to the school bus that morning, my mind's eye replayed all the images of paper and pen that we had seen while we were in Colonial Williamsburg. Every class of society had a pen, ink, and paper--from the royal governor to officers and soldiers, to children. The book maker's shop faced the printer's; even the floor of the church was inscribed with the names of worshipers and the pews were filled with prayer books.
Text was everywhere.
Literacy, it seems to me, was the best weapon in the Patriots' arsenal. Put alongside that a confidence in the ordinary person's ability to reason and respond appropriately, and you've got yourself a revolution led by words. Everything else followed. Literacy is power. It is also a great leveler; who has knowledge can bring it to bear on experience and so become wise. Neither wealth nor poverty need come between us and knowledge. Anyone can get a library card and hit the books and make life better.
Watching the bus take my daughter away, I found myself thinking about the bus itself. Each one costs a couple of hundreds of dollars a day to run. That's stunning. We build and employ these mammoth yellow things because we cherish freedom that comes from literacy. Why else develop a transportation system for the express purpose of taking children from their homes and placing them inside a school building so teachers can guide their reading?
Our government began with a single-page document that began with what it called self-evident, or obvious, facts: that we are created equal and that God has blessed us with the unalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." Governments, our founders said, exist to secure these rights. So important was the argument of this document that it was read in public venues up and down the colonies in those days that led to revolution. The text was everywhere.
About 15 years ago, I used to cover education for a small town newspaper. Whenever I needed to talk with the high school principal, I'd go up at dismissal time. Always, I had to walk through the fleet of rumbling buses to get to the building. I loved it right down to the stink of the burning diesel because all those buses represented the great public gift of education to our children and a sure belief that each of us has the potential and the right to learn well and do well.
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Text was everywhere.
Literacy, it seems to me, was the best weapon in the Patriots' arsenal. Put alongside that a confidence in the ordinary person's ability to reason and respond appropriately, and you've got yourself a revolution led by words. Everything else followed. Literacy is power. It is also a great leveler; who has knowledge can bring it to bear on experience and so become wise. Neither wealth nor poverty need come between us and knowledge. Anyone can get a library card and hit the books and make life better.
Watching the bus take my daughter away, I found myself thinking about the bus itself. Each one costs a couple of hundreds of dollars a day to run. That's stunning. We build and employ these mammoth yellow things because we cherish freedom that comes from literacy. Why else develop a transportation system for the express purpose of taking children from their homes and placing them inside a school building so teachers can guide their reading?
Our government began with a single-page document that began with what it called self-evident, or obvious, facts: that we are created equal and that God has blessed us with the unalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." Governments, our founders said, exist to secure these rights. So important was the argument of this document that it was read in public venues up and down the colonies in those days that led to revolution. The text was everywhere.
About 15 years ago, I used to cover education for a small town newspaper. Whenever I needed to talk with the high school principal, I'd go up at dismissal time. Always, I had to walk through the fleet of rumbling buses to get to the building. I loved it right down to the stink of the burning diesel because all those buses represented the great public gift of education to our children and a sure belief that each of us has the potential and the right to learn well and do well.
21 Comments
"Literacy, it seems to me, was the best weapon in the Patriots' arsenal." :) Well said.
ReplyDeleteHistory is so important for it tells us the hard work of our fore fathers in making a nation :)
ReplyDeleteSandy, did you by any chance watch on TV the series on John Adams based on David McCullough's book? It was excellent. Of course it included the writing of the Declaration of Independence in Philadelphia so long ago... :) Thank you for your post!
ReplyDeleteStopping by to say hello and wishing you a great weekend! :)
ReplyDeleteSandy, I'm tagging you for Trav's First Meme. It's fun! Don't feel compelled to do it!
ReplyDeleteHi, Sandy, I'm back again to ask if you would like to visit my main blog where I write about the story of the garden. I have not written in the one you visited (my travel blog)since 6 Aug last year.
ReplyDeleteThe latest post on my main blog is called Nature's Balance and it has three short videos. You will find it at the following link :)
http://ourlittlecornerofparadise.blogspot.com/
very nice post!
ReplyDeleteThanks for coming to My Photoblog
It's pretty amazing how much all those men knew and what they were able to do with that knowledge.
ReplyDeletethe education for our children and a sure belief that each of us has the potential and the right to learn well and do well.>>> i agree with this.
ReplyDeleteYes, education is a passport to a better future. Great stuff Sandy!
ReplyDeleteSo, the blessing of Johannes Gutenberg? :)
ReplyDeleteI'd agree...
Hi Sandy, my BYB Sunday post is online now too, and surprise we are kinda sympatico again :) Public education is truly a blessing along with all of the teachers, supporters of it :) Great post!
ReplyDeleteMine is here if you have a moment:
http://www.doubledeckerbuses.org/urbanzoo/index.php/2008/04/27/byb_sunday_you_are_a_good_man_charlie_br
What you've shared here 'resonates' to the core of my being as a teacher who devoted 34 years to promoting literacy and an individual who discovered 'reading' at a very young age and believes I was 'saved by books' quite literally.
ReplyDeleteI just discovered Blog your Blessings on Sundays and have published my 1st BYBS post at Sacred Ruminations this morning. I look forward to reading what others have shared as well.
Hugs and blessings,
Excellent post about writing as a freedom. Sometimes we take it for granted because we forget our history. Indeed a blessing for all!
ReplyDeleteI am a teacher. I find that most parents see those buses as their child's transportation to daycare. It is very refreshing when I get the few who actually take part in their children's education.
ReplyDeleteI always believe this line from the Bible..."And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free." It's true that education and literacy is the best pathway to freedom. Have a nice week-end!
ReplyDeleteBeautifully written. Too bad the children do not take advantage of the free education and the buses are not run on biodiesel.
ReplyDeleteText is also deceptive. When looking at a copy of the declaration or seeing a bus, one might think that it jumps, perfectly formed, onto the page. By itself, text is nothing (for evidence, take a look at my site :-). What it can represent are things like freedom, slavery, love, cruelty, wonder, or buses.
ReplyDeleteThe message is what is important. It represents the struggle and the thought behind it.
Wonderful post! I emphasize this with my children all the time.
ReplyDeleteHi Sandy, nice post.
ReplyDeleteThere is no denying the fact that education paves way for greater choices in life. But last week I attended a meeting wherein I saw a negative aspect of education. After I read your post I am compelled to write one on this other aspect of education. May be today or tomorrow I'll do that.
An excellent post as usual from you. Bye.
Education and literacy is truly a wonderful gift for us all Sandy.
ReplyDeleteThanks for being here.