Illiteracy in Today's Society
According to the United Nations Children’s Fund, approximately one billion people in the world today have trouble reading, writing or performing computations ("The State of the World's Children 1999"). Illiteracy is a condition in which a person does not have the knowledge or education necessary to be able to read, write, or figure simple computations. Although this is becoming an internationally widespread problem, “illiteracy is an affliction that can be cured” ("Printing=literacy=knowledge"). Illiteracy is becoming such a problem in the world that it is preventing many people from achieving success; therefore, the situation needs to be solved, possibly through general reading programs for adults and older children, literacy integration programs at work and in businesses, and early action by correctly teaching children to read at an early age.
Although illiteracy is becoming an increasingly important problem in today’s society, it often goes unnoticed as people fail to identify it as an “affliction” and therefore disregard its significant impact on society. The problem has gotten out of hand considering about 39% of adults have trouble with everyday literacy tests (“Literacy by the Numbers”). Despite the necessity for literacy in the large majority of careers and occupations in today’s world, there is a shortage of programs in place to try and reduce the problem. Furthermore, the programs that are set up do not even reach enough people to make much of a difference since “all of the programs now in progress are reaching little more than five percent of the millions needing help” ("Printing=literacy=knowledge"). This shocking statistic only further suggests the seeming indifference of society towards illiteracy. Hopefully if more of the public realizes the dire consequences of illiteracy and create more programs, their efforts will be able to reach and help a much higher percentage of illiterate people. Therefore, a number of solutions could be tried in order to better the current situation of illiteracy.
One possible solution would be establishing general reading programs for adults and older children. This idea is probably the most common type of program attempted in which teenagers and adults attend special classes where they are taught to read all over again. Although many people disagree with this method claiming that the “students” are too old and their brains are not able to learn something so complex as how to read and write an entire language, many adults are capable of achieving at least part of this goal. Even a partial literacy can be useful enough to boost success in the workforce and make people applicable for a much wider variety of jobs. As a result, if funded and properly maintained, adult literacy programs can be quite effective. For example, the state of Missouri recently passed literacy programs designed to improve the literacy of adults in the state. These programs were made possible by an “agreement between State and Federal Governments under the Adult Education and Family Literacy Act [and] will be administered in accordance with applicable Federal laws and regulations” ("Missouri Adult Education and Literacy State Plan, 2000-2004.") Programs such as these could turn out to be quite successful as a last resort; however, more convenient and all-encompassing programs may work better if given the chance.
A solution that may be more effective would be programs set up in the workforce. This situation is ideal since the main objective of the adults is to reach the literacy levels necessary to strive in their occupation. Therefore, if programs and videos accompany the everyday tasks they have become used to, the adults may be more likely to pick up the simple knowledge that they need. For example, at Domino’s Pizza, the management created an “interactive videodisc (IVD) to teach production members to make pizza dough and improve their literacy skills at the same time” (Franklin and Washburn). This way, employers kill two birds with one stone as they teach both literacy and productivity with the same video. The government can also fund these programs so that they are better maintained, for example the “Workplace Literacy Partnership Act (WLPA), passed in 1988, [which] allows the Department of Education to allocate federal money to businesses and educational institutions that form partnerships to provide basic education in the workplace” (Franklin and Washburn). Programs in the work place such as this motivate workers to become literate and learn their trade all at once. Some may argue that this is a conflict of interests and businesses should only be focused on having their employers work and do their jobs, but in reality, the programs are actually teaching employees the literacy skills required to accurately and efficiently perform the tasks their jobs require. Consequently, businesses that invest in these types of programs would benefit from the increased efficiency. Due to this solution’s convenience and double purpose, the programs should be expected to have very successful outcomes. Despite the seemingly possible success of both of the aforementioned program types, the best solution to illiteracy would most likely be to start teaching children at a young age. When children are younger, near the toddler stage, their brains have more capacity to absorb knowledge. Therefore, the solution would be to begin reading to children from the very beginning and, once they reach preschool level, teach them to read and write phonetically. If children do not start learning these skills at the earliest age possible, they will not be able to fully develop the techniques later on since “children who fall behind in early-literacy skills often do not catch up to their peers in elementary school” (Sawchuk). However fool-proof the idea sounds, there could be problems if the children are taught the wrong way. Adults must teach children to read words phonetically rather than as whole words because “[t]hat long-ago switch in reading methods is the primary reason for America's catastrophic educational predicament” (Wood). According to Wood, teaching children to read with solely entire words confuses them and can lead to more illiteracy. If the children are taught to break down words with phonics, however, reading and writing become easier for them and they gradually become literate. Therefore, the best possible solution to illiteracy would be to start teaching children at an early age and break the cycle. If children are literate, they will automatically have more available opportunities when they are ready to attend college or apply for a more challenging job. They will also remain literate and increase their literacy skills throughout the course of their education, eliminating the need to catch up illiterate children later on in their career. Due to this reasoning, it would seem that early-start education programs to teach young children fundamental literacy skills would be the best solution to illiteracy in today’s society.
Although illiteracy has become an increasingly significant problem in today’s workforce and general public, the problem could possibly be solved quite easily through a series of programs: adult and teen, work-sponsored, or ideally, younger children. The programs for adults and older teenagers would simply be the standard literacy programs in which people attend extra classes in order to learn how to read and write. A possibly better solution would be to set up literacy programs with the jobs of adults. Companies could set up instructional video systems to teach reading and writing skills as the employees learn how to complete their jobs more efficiently. Although both solutions seem probably, the best possibility would be to start off early by reading to children and teaching young children to read and write phonetically at an early age. In conclusion, if more people recognize the severity of the situation and take efforts to support educational literacy programs, the programs may be able to reach more people. Ideally, the percentage of illiterate people in today’s society would drastically decrease, creating a more efficient work force and a generally better educated society.
Works Cited
Franklin, Geralyn McClure, and Susan Z. Washburn. "A modern workplace in the face of an age-old problem: illiteracy." Industrial Management Jan.-Feb. 1992: 2+. Gale Power Search. Web. 3 Nov. 2011.
"Literacy by the numbers." Publishers Weekly 27 June 2005: 6. General OneFile. Web. 30 Nov. 2011.
"Missouri Adult Education and Literacy State Plan, 2000-2004." ERIC: Reports. U.S. Department of Education, 2010. Gale Power Search. Web. 29 Nov. 2011.
"Printing=literacy=knowledge." Graphic Arts Monthly May 1989: 143+. General OneFile. Web. 30 Nov. 2011.
Sawchuk, Stephen. "Early-Childhood Literacy; America's Early-Childhood Literacy Gap." Education Week 23 Sept. 2009: 5. Gale Power Search. Web. 20 Oct. 2011.
"The State of the World's Children 1999." UNICEF Home. UNICEF. Web. 03 Nov. 2011. <http://www.unicef.org/sowc99/index.html>.
Wood, Regina Lee. "Our golden road to illiteracy: in the name of helping the disadvantaged, are we consigning them to permanent illiteracy?" National Review 18 Oct. 1993: 54+. Gale Power Search. Web. 20 Oct. 2011.
