From January 22nd to the 26th, the Florida Department of Education is celebrating literacy week! This year’s theme is “Believe in your Shelf.” The purpose of this week is to remind students and families about the importance of reading and incorporating reading into your daily routine.

Monday will start the annual “Mystery Reader Contest,” where the morning announcements will read a famous quote in literature, and the students get to guess which staff member is reading the quote for the rest of the week. Prizes are available for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place classes. And for the last ten minutes of 7th and 4th period (not including Wednesday), students will be encouraged to read a book before they are dismissed. And on Friday, we have a “Read My Shirt Day,” where students will be able to show off their wordy (but school appropriate) shirts.

With a generational decline in literacy rates, it is urgent that kids pick up a book, and tone up their reading skills. Reading is often taught and tested in schools, and unfortunately for Gen Alpha, they are growing up in an age of incredible technology that makes them destined for illiteracy. A 2020 study done by Sheri Madigan and Brae Anne McArthur show that there is clear association between high screen time and high illiteracy rates. But reading doesn’t only affect a child’s ability to read, but their ability to speak as well. Reading influences language, so if kids are only hearing the words “Skibidi toilet” and “Rizz,” chances are they aren’t going to be good communicators, let alone writers, in adulthood.

Ms. Swann, the schools AP Literature teacher, describes the illiteracy epidemic as “really upsetting. I think that it falls on the parents and teachers together. Students are actively engaged in reading, enjoy reading, find books that they actually like. Not just stuff that they have to read, so that way they can build a lifelong readership.”

So, feel free to pick up a book, flip some pages, and expand your reading skills. Now is the time to do it!