Some Words on Literacy

Literacy is a subject that comes up every now and again, especially when educational standards are in the news or if a school is poorly graded. It is clear that levels of literacy vary enormously from one area to another and there are many factors that decide a person's ability to write, spell and express themselves effectively in words.
There is no doubt that instant messaging has encouraged its own diction to develop. There is a new language amongst those who text and use instant messaging frequently. Words are shortened and numbers are used in place of letters. This truncated form of writing has for the most part passed me by. I could never get on with text messaging. On the few occasions I felt it necessary to text, I would write in the same way I would compose an email message. To do otherwise just felt wrong.
I do know people for whom writing is a challenge. They tend not to use long words and punctuation is rarely if ever used. Sentences can be excessively long with no break making the making the process of reading very difficult and uncomfortable.
I do wonder if it is the fault of the individual or the education system. There is certainly evidence to suggest there is less emphasis today on good grammar and diction. Perhaps as teachers become younger and their own skills and knowledge begin to vary, then maybe their own grasp of spelling, punctuation and diction falls below what many would consider an acceptable standard.
I don't consider myself as gifted. I had no special education and paid less and less attention to my studies the nearer I got to being able to leave. I didn't want to further myself, I'd had enough and soon found work at a local supermarket. When I did leave school, I had the skills which enabled me to read and write. I knew the meaning of words and I could write a letter if I needed to. In fact I possessed many of these skills before I entered secondary education. When I try to think why this was the case, I can only really put it down to memories of lessons where we were taught to write. Of all the lessons I can remember, these are the most prominent. In these lessons, I was also taught to punctuate though this was certainly bolstered by certain schools and colleges TV programmes such as 'Look and Read', 'Words and Pictures' and 'Middle English'.
All this combined to give me the skills to write confidently and though I wasn't the world's best at spelling, I would always look up a word if I was unsure.
I those halcyon days, my mother was employed as a secretary at a local electrical contractor and I would like to think she corrected me whenever I went wrong.
I'm inclined to think we live in a world where there is less need for good literacy skills. We write less, emails are sent in preference to a written or typed letter. Messages can be sent instantly and a new type of shorthand has developed as a result. We do indeed live in the age of the instant message and never before has it been easier to communicate and express ourselves. This is of course progress but are we in danger of losing altogether the ability to use fully our wonderful language?