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Can Our Teens Read and Write?by Deborah Smyth If you’re reading this with ease, literacy is probably something you take for granted. That isn’t the case for one in three young Canadians. Two years ago, Joe (not his real name), a grade 9 student, didn’t know the alphabet and couldn’t tell time. "He didn’t know a D was a D. He couldn’t read anything, not a word," says his tutor, Dave Page, Frontier College’s Family Literacy Coordinator. Joe isn’t alone. According to Statistics Canada, 37 percent of Canadians between the ages of 16 and 25 possess very limited literacy skills (meaning they can’t read at all, or struggle with printed text). This happens for many reasons, says Page: "With some kids, it’s dyslexia, with some it’s about abuse going on in the home, other kids it’s because they’ve had a series of moves, or maybe they’ve never had a teacher who’s helped them with their learning style." When these students fall behind in the early grades, it gets harder for them to catch up later on. "Most reading failure is in that early stage where we’re pushing them too fast and expecting everybody to be at the same level," says Vera Goodman, an Alberta education consultant and author of the book, Reading is More Than Phonics. "We start them at the same age and give them the same expectations and of course they see other children who are succeeding and discouragement starts to set in. There’s a myth that reading is learned in grades 1 and 2 and then we’re fine." Dave Page agrees: "Joe went through some challenges when he was young so he wasn’t concentrating on school. If you haven’t learned to read by the end of grade 2 or 3, I think you’re behind the eight-ball. Everybody is assuming you’re reading." You may wonder how someone who doesn’t know the alphabet made it to grade 7. Like many teens, Joe, 14, became adept at keeping his difficulty with reading to himself. "Joe hides that he can’t read so well to everybody," says Page. "He has this briefcase full of fancy pens and he walks around school like he’s a professor. I imagine there were all sorts of teachers who didn’t realize how profound his challenge was because it took me a long time before it became apparent." In their early sessions, the two worked on Joe’s own stories. "He’s a good storyteller," says Dave, "that was one of the first strengths I really noticed about him. I’d write them down and we’d read them together right after we’d written them." Joe’s made so much progress that, this spring, for the first time, he was able to read his optometrist’s regular eye chart (instead of the symbol chart designed for small children). His violent outbursts in class have stopped, "and he’s a lot more confident and outgoing," says Page. "He keeps saying ‘in another year I’ll be able to read anything.’ He never talked like that before." Joe’s experience isn’t unique, according to Vera Goodman. "By the time a child reaches adolescence, if they’ve had a lot of failure around reading, they feel the reason they’ve failed is because they’re inferior and dumb and disabled and all the other labels that have been placed on them," she explains. "They have to start to realize that they do have strengths. They have to label themselves competent." Francis Lopez, 18, is trying to do just that. Francis and his family moved to Canada from the Philippines when he was eight years old. "In the Philippines, school was too expensive, so I didn’t get to go," he explains. Francis speaks English fluently, but reading and writing have always been more difficult for him. "Since the beginning, I couldn’t read," he says. Francis struggled through school and tried to get extra help from his teachers. "But they were usually so busy with the other kids they had no time for me," he says. He dropped out in grade 12, got a part-time job at a fitness club and eventually turned to Frontier College for help. They found a tutor for Francis — Jennifer Khurana, 24, a second-year law student at the University of Toronto — and the two started working together last July. They meet once or twice a week in the relaxed atmosphere of a local coffee shop and work on material of interest to Francis. "He’ll bring fashion or entertainment magazines, or sometimes we’ll read the newspaper if there’s an article about a singer or someone I know he really wants to read about," explains Jennifer. This one-on-one, student-centred approach is helping Francis move closer toward his goal. "I want to go back to high school, finish, get my diploma and go to fashion design school," he says. "That’s my dream." Experts agree that teen "literacy learners" often respond more positively to tutors in university or high school because, even though they may be a few years older, they consider them peers. Consequently, where funding is available, peer-tutoring programs are growing in number in schools, community groups and literacy organizations across the country. Jennifer McKay, 16, of Dryden, Ontario, now looks forward to graduating from high school thanks to her peer tutor. Three years ago, both Jennifer and her mother sought help from their local Community Literacy of Ontario office. Jennifer was getting Ds and Fs and was being teased by the other students because of her reading problem. Her mother, Beverly, wanted to obtain her high school diploma but also had difficulty reading and writing. Watching her mother focus on her own goal inspired Jennifer to work hard with her tutor, Jessica, a grade 12 student. Jessica, now in university, became a mentor for Jennifer and the two still keep in touch — by writing letters. Beverly is now a high school graduate, and the Northwest representative for the Ontario Literacy Coalition’s Learners’ Council. Jennifer, in grade 11, is bringing home As and Bs and has renewed enthusiasm for school. "I like getting good grades and passing," she says. Many teens are also volunteering their time to improve the literacy skills of younger children. Mary Rose, 18, of Toronto, is one such volunteer. Inspired by tutors she’d had when she was younger, the Malvern Collegiate OAC student decided to organize a homework club at a nearby grade school. She enlisted 15 of her fellow students and organized their training through Frontier College. Now, the Crescent Town School Homework Club is up and running and considered a huge success by parents, teachers, and the kids themselves. Once a week, grades 4, 5, and 6 students receive one-on-one study time — with an emphasis on reading and math — from the grade 12 and OAC tutors. "Teachers tell us that the kids are getting better grades already and they’re showing more confidence in class," says Mary. "That’s by far the best reward for me and I think the tutors would feel the same way." Deborah Smyth is a Toronto freelance writer whose articles have appeared in Cottage Life, Chatelaine, and TV Guide magazines. This story was originally published in Teen Tribute Magazine. For more information on finding a tutor or becoming one:
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