In our current society, there are many attacks upon our primary, secondary, and college educational systems, book banning, library closings, and pushing social conformity through a constant onslaught of media influence. We should ensure that kids learn to read at the highest level they can achieve.
To ensure their well-being, they need to think critically for themselves. Children and adults must learn to question if what they are being told is true or false. To build a loving or at least respectful community, literacy turns the world in the right direction. One cannot express an idea or concept, or even think, without the words to do so.
Here are some statistics that I culled from data found at the National Literature Institute in various categories:
In Schools:
Approximately 40% of students nationwide cannot read at a basic level.
Almost 70% of low-income fourth-grade students cannot read at a basic level. In North Carolina, 49% of upper-income students can’t read better.
60% of the behavioral problems occur during reading assignments—group or independently.
50% of the unemployed between the ages of 16 and 21 cannot read well enough to be considered functionally literate
Among Adults:
21% of adults in the U.S. are illiterate in 2022
54% of adults have literacy below the 6th-grade level
20% of Americans read below the level needed to earn a living wage
130 million adults now cannot read a simple story to their children
Approximately 50% of Americans read so poorly that they cannot perform simple tasks such as reading prescription drug labels
45 million are functionally illiterate and read below a 5th-grade level
3 out of 4 people on welfare can’t read
Being literate is the only thing that allowed me to escape from a life I would not have liked. I have had three careers that required education through the graduate degree level. This has given me financial security and allowed me to have many beautiful thoughts, ideas, and experiences.
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