1 in 3 kids can't read, who is to blame?

My 7 year old has a reading problem. Last year when he was in first grade we did all the homework assignments and did his daily reading. In March his teacher called me in because she said he could not read and would not pass first grade. The whole year his report cards showed he was on the high honor roll, we had no idea there was a problem. After talking to several other parents I found out that more than half of the students in her class were having a problem. This was the teachers first year teaching and she did not want to upset the parents so during the reading test she was helping them and giving them the answers. So of course the papers we were getting were high grades. The only way that the problem was found was when the school did their standardized testing and she could not help them. We ended up having to send him to a tutor during the summer so that he would be able to move up. This cost us $55.00 per hour, 2 times a week, for 6 months(he just now finished). There are other parents in the same class also having to go through tutoring with their children. So in this case I do blame the teacher.

I have to say that I am one who would also blame the parents. There is only so much a school system can do. It should also be parents that recognize problems their children have first. After all, they should be spending more time with them (especially in the early years) then the school system. Additionally...school systems have a hard time handling those with disabilities. My brother was diagnosed with dyslexia and was still often labeled a trouble maker and a lazy student. When we pulled him out of school and started working with him one on one without the other kids picking on him about his problems, his reading improved, his understanding improved, and his confidence improved. He is an adult now and not afraid of doing research to learn what he wants to know or reading on subjects of interest.

I am a primary school teacher and so I am interested in education. I watched a program about a school that had low standards in Literacy. A specialist teacher was enlisted and she set about putting all the children in to ability groups which had nothing to do with age. Some 11 year olds were learning along side five year olds. Some of the teachers were not keen on the methods of teaching but eventually the were won over. It is far better that problems are diagnosed as early as possible then help can be given. A child needs to be confident at reading and writing before joining secondary school. Parents can be made more confident in helping with homework. I know that when children move around a lot it does affect their education. A child that becomes more confident at reading and writing can then access more of the curriculum. For now each child struggling should get immediate remedial help.

People have long blamed the school system for anything and everything and while there are some schools that I am sure are less than stellar ultimately it is the parents responsibility. Kids today don't like to read as much as kids in the past partly because they have tv, video games, ipods, everything is fast and high speed so sitting and reading seems dull. It is up to the parents to instill some values of learning within their children. Just my opinion.

If a Kid cant read. First and for most, I would blame the parents. It is their responsibility to teach their kids to read at a young age. I see it in my own family. My nephew had trouble reading. This is because she never spend the time with him to teach him to read. Now that he is in school he is struggling to understand simple words like them, they and also potato. I believe it start at home and then the school.

well my brother in law is 17 and can't read past a 4th grade level because his parents took him out of school to try to home teach him and they gave up on him and never re-enter him back into school so now the last grade he ever completed was 4th and now he can't get a job. in a sence it is his parrents fault but i think it is his fault to cuz he chose not to learn. sarah

I think it's an easy answer to a simple question. Parents!!! Parents are a child's first teachers. And more and more parents are relying on schools to do all the work for them. It isn't fair to put that type of responsiblity on a school system. I feel it's the parents who need to start the process and the school and teaches to expand on it. I am currently teaching my 2 year old his alphabet, numbers and colors. Soon we will move onto shapes and words. I expect my son to be able to read simple kindergarten words by the time he is 3 and a half. That isn't me being strick on him, I'm being strick on myself. If I'm not able to teach the basics to my son, then I feel I would have failed him as a parent. I know I am making a good life for him and giving him every opportunity to suceed where most of his class mates will fail, because of their own parents. I am competitive and success driven, by being that way I know that my son will have little difficulty in school.

I think it depends on the situation the child is in. However, in a full functional two parent family, I think the parents should have the responsibility of teaching their kids to read. The school system can only do so much. Parents must make their kids practice to make perfect their skills.