I guess it all began when I was just starting grade school. It was the early 1960s, and teachers were actually encouraging students to use phonics - they thought it would help us learn to read. We were ALL a lot more innocent back then. I quickly began to use phonics on a daily basis. Dipthongs became some of my favorite things to use. I guess I just liked the way they sounded.
True, I did learn to read. Most of us did, at that young age. But at what a cost! The thing is, no one ever thought there would ever be any adverse effects. I’ll never forget the day my mother found my set of flash cards. I had tucked them into one of my dresser drawers, and when she went to put my clean socks away, there they were. I can only imagine the shock she must have gone through. Her little boy, with flash cards, for crissake! What were they thinking? I’ll never forget the spanking I got when my dad came home.
I remember as a high school student, trying to learn to type. I sat down and there right in front of me - all those letters, numbers, symbols. It was like being in a candy store! I overdosed and had to be carried out on a stretcher. I eventually got better, but it’s not something that you can ever fully recover from. I enrolled in a Phonics 12-Step Program. That’s why I’m here today, and I know I can never ever go back to the way things were before. And maybe the weirdest thing is - have you ever tried to sound out the word Phonics?
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