If the schools don't teach children to walk and talk, how can we be certain they will learn these important skills?

Teachers love to point out the importance of literacy as proof of the value of their work. Their arguments only make sense if you embrace the idea that schooling is vital to literacy. The truth is that even within a schooled society, literacy is primarily developed outside the classroom.


Teachers refuse to accept reality on this issue. Without their intervention, they worry about an illiterate society. If they don't take responsibility, who will teach our kids to read and write?

What if parents took that responsibility? Better yet, what if the kids themselves take responsibility? Just because teachers currently take responsibility for developing literacy, that doesn't mean that children wouldn't learn without them. It doesn't even mean that the kids will learn worse without them.

What if teachers took responsibility for teaching children to walk and talk? I already put together a corny storyline that make fun of teachers for how they overvalue their role in learning. If the schools took over more of what kids are already learning without them, teachers would make the same argument. Without their intervention, how could we be certain that they will learn such important skills? How could we ensure that all children learn how to walk and talk?