I recently conducted some research on juvenile literacy for National Reading Month, and one sobering statistic popped out at me. One in four children in the U.S grow up without learning how to read.
Imagine not knowing the single most important skill when it comes to communicating with the outside world. Imagine not being employable in any significant capacity. Imagine a lifetime of being filtered through the prison system.
For anyone who grew up in the comfort of middle class suburbia – that’s just not fathomable. But from there, the statistics become worse. Life doesn’t offer a lot of options or opportunity for those who don’t know how to read.
Here are some more statistics on illiteracy:
- 66 percent of those who cannot read by the end of fourth grade end up in jail or on welfare.
- Students who don’t know how to read by the end of 3rd grade are four times more likely to drop out of school.
- 75 percent of those on food stamps perform at the lowest two levels of literacy.
- 90 percent of all high school dropouts are on welfare.
With the direct tie to incarceration, literacy is a taxpayer issue. 70 percent of the inmates who receive no literacy help end up back in jail. Detained juveniles can cost the American taxpayer nearly $50,000 per year per inmate.
When you couple these statistics with the fact that many American adults are losing touch with books, it’s troubling. About 26 percent of American adults have not opened a book in a year, according to the Pew Research Center.
It’s been scientifically proven that people who read books live longer. They improve our concentration and enhance our ability to focus. In today’s social media culture, that’s no small feat. Books can also make you a more creative and open-minded person.
The benefits to literacy are staggering – especially for today’s youth.
Take Action
March is National Reading Month. Send your soft cover adult non-fiction, young adult, teen or juvenile books to the P.O box listed on the below graphic, and they will be sent to the Illinois Youth Center in St. Charles, Illinois.
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