Love and Literacy

Happy to report that I have partied through my last Valentine's Day of my teaching career.

 I  usually steer clear of doom-filled sentiments about how teaching used to be dreamy delightful, and today verges on nightmare, but sometimes facts must be faced.

Valentine's Day in the elementary classroom has taken a concerning plummet down the tubes.

Its whole purpose in years past centered on the cards. Passing them out.  Reading each goofy line of love while munching on candy hearts.   Kids called  out sweet comments across the room like, "Thanks, Scott.  You know I love cats" and "This is so funny, Ally!" If a card was more on the lovey-dovey side, you would see kids smiling, huddling with friends to whisper about possible implications of that simple missive, "BE MINE."

The card meant something back in the day but today's valentine is merely a piece of trash connected to a ring pop  or a package of  "fun dip." Cards, if they exist at all, get gathered up with the candy wrappers and tossed in the recycling bin even though I've told them thousands of times that food wrappings can not be recycled. 

I told #1 Son that I was thinking about writing about this decline.  He said, "You can begin with the title, 'The Day Our Children Forgot How to Love.'"

That's extreme. Which may have been his point. But let's not scoff at the significance of this cultural shift. If we all work together, we might be able to reverse this troubling trend. My message is simple. Let's bring literacy back to the Day of Love.  It's not too late.