Anthony, I'm sorry to hear about the challenges your facing with your school. Please understand though that not everyone taking this course is coming from schools with a great deal of time and highly educated students-I for one have worked with limited time and populations similar to yours. I think we are all trying to do the best we can with what we have. In answer to your question about conveying the importance of the written word, I think your best bet is to track down examples of this you find online-most particularly stories of those who came from little and achieved much..draw the most relevant comparisons you can to make your point. Elizabeth Kemler