Youth and Literacy

Written by Denise L. Peroune

Illiteracy isn’t a childhood illness to be eradicated like measles or polio. Literacy is a life-long journey. So what we need is a change in perspective. As the landscape changes we must change with it. But when does it start? Is there a time when we are beyond hope, when, if we haven’t acquired the skill, then it’s too late?

The truth is that it’s never too late; but it is more of a challenge the longer we wait.

Consider the following national and state statistics:

·   Approximately 30 million Americans over the age of 16 read no better than the average elementary school child

·   17% of Georgia’s population lacks basic prose literacy skills

·   800,000 metro-Atlantans read at the lowest level possible

·   225,000 low-literate employees in metro-Atlanta cost employers $840 million annually in remedial training, lost time, poor performance

·   Low-literate workers in metro-Atlanta incur medical expenses four times higher than literate workers

(Literacy Volunteers of Atlanta, 2010)

We know that reading and writing are the foundation for all other education. We also know that illiteracy is costly, not only for the individual, but also for our communities. Most important however, illiteracy renders the individual incapable of reaching his or her full potential. Learning to read must begin, not when a child enters school, but at home as parents read to their children and encourage them to read.

In the early days, weeks and months of a child’s life, concerned parents and other adults ensure that every measure is taken to begin the process of lifelong health for that child. Maybe it is time we pay similar attention to reading. Maybe it is time that, just as we ensure that the child achieves preset health benchmarks that we ensure that preset literacy benchmarks are being achieved.

Until such time, the onus is on each of us to do our part in raising the literacy levels of those children around us. One step in that direction could be to take the Million Book Read Pledge to read to a child.

What are you already doing to raise the literacy levels of the youth around you?