EFFIE BATEMAN | Lifestyle | CONTACT
Schools across the country are being urged to modernise their reading curriculum in a bid to engage younger readers and address declining literacy rates.
Teachers at several public schools in Tasmania – often seen as the nation’s guinea pig state – are reportedly among the first to receive a list of revised book titles from the Australian Literacy Educators’ Union (ALEU).
Among the changes: To Kill A Mockingbird has become To Unalive A Mockingbird, Death of a Salesman is now Self-Deletion of a Salesman, and Picnic at Hanging Rock has been rebranded as Picnic at Rope Necklace Rock.
The updates come as ‘algospeak’, a form of coded language that emerged in response to TikTok’s strict content moderation begins creeping into everyday speech. Words like ‘kill’, ‘death’, and ‘suicide’ are often censored on the platform, prompting users to get a little creative.
While critics say the shift sounds like something out of 1984, the ALEU maintains that language is always evolving so it’s better to work with it, instead of against it.
ALEU director, Jamie Knight, says he believes making these small changes will encourage kids to pick up a book again, as they won’t be so confronted by startling language.
“Some people might say it’s censorship gone too far or criticise us for dumbing down language, but the same can be said for every generation”, says Knight.
“So why not get with the times?”
Knight says initial tests with revised titles have improved reading rates by up to 30% – or he thinks so anyway. The numeracy rates have also taken a nosedive.
“We’re just not sure what to do about ‘Grapes of Wrath.’
“Might just leave that one off the curriculum entirely.”
More to come.
