An interesting article in yesterday's Washington Post titled "Clauses and Commas Make a Comeback" announces that the teaching of proper grammar and punctuation is being taught once again in some Northern Virginia schools. You can read the story online at http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/22/AR2006102201135.html.

When I was in grade school and high school in the late 1950's and 1960's, I hated grammar lessons. I hated diagramming sentences, detested punctuation, abhorred spelling, and dreaded the homework assignments on those ghastly topics. It was always with trepidation that I awaited the return of my hard-done homework papers with their expected liberal wash of red ink. I was a typical kid of my generation.

But that was then, and this is now. With the wisdom that 20-20 hindsight gives us, I can see the value of the drudgery of learning proper grammar, punctuation, and writing skills. Hardly a day goes by that I don't see at least one example of the written word that, because of its poor structure, spelling, and/or grammar, reflects poorly on the writer and, by extension, on his ideas. I strongly believe that the ability to present one's ideas clearly and persuasively, orally and in writing, is one of the most important skills a young person can master, a skill that will pay huge dividends throughout life. I don't claim to have perfect grammar and punctuation skills, but I do think I'm far ahead of many of my peers as an effective writer, and those skills have been of immense value to me more times than I can count.

Most young people today (and by this, I mean, "most people under 40") have trouble writing a coherent sentence, and the problem is getting worse. Part of the cause is a lack of emphasis on teaching grammar, punctuation, spelling, and effective writing in schools; another part is the proliferation of e-mail and of text messaging on mobile phones, which reduces words and sentences to fragments and emoticons bereft of structure and organization.

So I applaud the return of that instruction I hated so much in my childhood. Even if it only helps high-school students squeeze past the writing sample of the SAT exams, it's a start toward recovering our lost literacy and educating new generations of people able to read, write and - most important - think effectively.

Have a good day. Write something...perhaps even a comment to this post. More thoughts coming.

Bilbo