Media
Illiteracy
Giant steps must be taken to erase this threat to
society's progress
Ready for a come-down? Almost half — 47 percent — of America's
191 million adults can't read, write or compute well enough to adequately
perform everyday tasks or to do jobs that require the ability to decipher complex
information.
That isn't good for the people or the country. It makes it difficult for both to meet their social, political and economic goals.
A study by the U.S. Department of Education, reveals that 90 million U.S. adults possess only rudimentary literacy skills. And almost 40 million of them have only the lowest level of skills. The next group, 61 million adults, have middle-level skill, while 34-40 million fall into the two highest proficiency levels.
In case either younger or older adults are feeling smug, check these survey results: Those 21 to 25 years old scored 11 to 14 percentage points lower than those in the same age group did in 1985. And older adults were more likely than middle-aged and younger adults to show limited literacy skills.
The first National Adult Literacy Survey does show Hoosier adults ranking slightly above the national and Midwestern averages in reading comprehension and math skills; however, the Education Department estimates that 700,000 Indiana adults are functionally illiterate. Also, another 850,000 Hoosiers over the age of 25 do not have a high school diploma.
The moral of these statistics is that many many adults need to take responsibility of finding ways to increase their knowledge — if they want to keep steady jobs and make decent salaries. (According to the study, people with the lowest level skills averaged only 18 to 19 weeks of work in 1991 at an average of $230 to $245 per week. Those in the highest three levels averaged 34 to 44 weeks of work at a $620 to $680 weekly salary.) And businesses and government need to help by making sure the ways are there — if they want a competitive economy to thrive.
Indiana kicked off a program this week, "READ INDIANA," that is designed to assist adults in upgrading their reading and comprehension abilities. The dedicated volunteers with the Northwest Indiana Literacy Coalition have worked for years to give Americans a second chance at developing their potential and to help immigrants learn to read and write English.
These kinds of programs could work even better if more educated people volunteered to market the need for people to improve their skills and then helped them to do it. That would mean a better life for everyone.
We'd love to hear from you! You may call us at 800.348.7798 or use the Contact Form to send us an email.
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Northwest Indiana Literacy Coalition
P.O. Box 3386
Munster, IN 46321