Dessert Before Spinach?! Yes. When Serving Digital Literacy, Start with Dessert

[Commentary] When it comes to literacy, it may be time to force our children to eat their dessert with, or even before, their spinach.

No one can doubt America has a literacy problem. Too many of us cannot read well. Fourteen percent of the United States' adult population, or 30 million people, read at a "below basic" literacy level while 63 million Americans are just at basic. For many children, the hard work of learning to read and write was like eating spinach -- evil-tasting drudgery one suffered through before being allowed to bite into the tasty dessert. In a way that may seem to make matters worse on the literacy front, some now argue that that with the pervasive use of digital media throughout our economy and culture, we also have to confront a digital literacy problem. If our people lack the skills for using digital tools, this complaint says, our economy and society will suffer. The response by some in the education community is that we shouldn't spend resources on digital literacy until we solve the literacy problem; the ABCs and the 123s must come first. Learn to read a book and do basic math before going on Google, joining Facebook, or playing a multi-player video game. Above all, they say, kids must know how to write to express ideas, and that means mastering the structure and grammar and spelling of their language.

This, in our view, ignores the opportunity created by how children are now growing up. With today's social media, using literacy skills is like a dessert that can motivate kids to go on to the spinach. Why? Children today learn to read and write through games and social media before anything else. Their digital engagement is a reality we should leverage.