This article was written by one of the Stepping Stone Tutors Reading Tutors. If you know of anyone who might be interested in reading tuition, please do get in contact.

Illiteracy, according to the United Nations, is the inability to read and write simple sentences in any language. In 1998, figures showed that 16 per cent of the world population is illiterate (Using the UN definition)

 

In 2009, 14% of Americans were illiterate. That’s 1 in 7. In a country as rich as ours, with a huge amount of wealth that overshadows the rest of the world, this figure is inconceivable. That is, inconceivable, but true. True, but horrifying.

  • Imagine not being able to count the dollar bills in your hand
  • Imagine having such little comprehension of safety, and hygiene, as you’ve never been able to understand those signs and warnings we see everywhere
  • Imagine not ever being able to express yourself clearly
  • Imaging never truly understanding the benefits that come through education so that you may pass this down to your child
  • Imagine not being able to sign you name
  • Imagine never being able to read the news, or check for dangerous ingredients in your food

These are just some of the effects that span from illiteracy, which feed into deeper issues such as;

  • Low self-esteem
  • Low self-worth
  • Criminality
  • Violence
  • Drug Abuse
  • Prostitution

Granted, not all people who cannot read suffer from any of all of the above, but there’s a massively strong trend. A trend that we must work hard in order to halt so as to bring those who were needlessly thrust into a lesser life than they hoped for as a child into a life that they are more fully able to live.

“The poor and the affluent are not communicating because they do not have the same words. When we talk of the millions who are culturally deprived, we refer not to those who do not have access to good libraries and bookstores, or to museums and centers for the performing arts, but those deprived of the words with which everything else is built, the words that open doors. Children without words are licked before they start. The legion of the young wordless in urban and rural slums, eight to ten years old, do not know the meaning of hundreds of words which most middle-class people assume to be familiar to much younger children. Most of them have never seen their parents read a book or a magazine, or heard words used in other than rudimentary ways related to physical needs and functions. Thus is cultural fallout caused, the vicious circle of ignorance and poverty reinforced and perpetuated. Children deprived of words become school dropouts; dropouts deprived of hope behave delinquently. Amateur censors blame delinquency on reading immoral books and magazines, when in fact, the inability to read anything is the basic trouble.”  Peter S. Jennison

 

We at Stepping Stone Tutors would love to talk to you or anyone else who may be unable to read to a standard they are happy with. We have online and offline tutors who’re dedicated to helping you read at any level, and for any age. If you think we might be able to help you, please, get in touch.