Back to books: Reading might be schools and parents' secret weapon.

Within the next couple of weeks, Wayne County students will be heading back to class and teachers, administrators and parents will be faced with an age-old questions that does not seem to be attracting any new answers.

It is: How do we get more children to be more successful in school?

We read the statistics -- American schoolchildren are significantly behind their counterparts in a variety of fields. And we also hear the test scores and graduation rates, not to mention the laments of employers who cannot seem to find qualified applicants.

The answer to that age-old problem just might be an old-fashioned solution.

Truth is, too many children do not have any interest in reading.

Sounds simple, right? Yet, we are faced with young people who are so digitally tuned in, that they have tuned out of basic skills like communication, comprehension and writing. They do not read books.

Americans need to get serious about putting children back into reading -- and soon.

Reading is the building block upon which all future success is built. There is little you can do if you cannot read -- even if your talent lies in the sciences or math.

It won't end the debate or solve the problem completely, but encouraging, no, demanding, more book-time is a critical first step.

Published in Editorials on August 14, 2012 1:39 PM