It is a well-known fact that literacy is a key factor of success. Every educated person has a good writing and reading command of the language. Moreover, there is no respectful person that does not know at least one or even more foreign languages, which is now a necessity. Literacy nowadays plays an extremely important role in the up-to-day society.
In the article Why Adolescent Literacy Matters Now written by Jacy Ippolito, Jennifer L. Steele, and Jennifer F. Samson the importance of literacy, namely adolescent literacy is discussed. Why adolescent literacy? Mainly because the basics of adult literacy lies in the adolescent literacy. If children were taught how to write and read in the early childhood, they are very unlikely to forget these principal skills.
Learning and literacy are two interrelated topics. Learning is the main, and maybe the only way of becoming literate. I am more than convinced that literacy begins in the primary school. Children should be fostered the love and desire to study; they should constantly acquire new knowledge which will definitely help them to get to know the world around. But what even more important is to begin teaching children from the very early ages by demonstrating them one’s own degree of literacy and giving them the opportunity to understand that literacy is very important skill.
Ippolito et. al. state that “if knowledge is power, then literacy is the key to the kingdom”. Though today the access to the libraries and the necessary books is more open than ever before, people do not use this great opportunity to grow professionally. They are satisfied with what they have at a particular moment. Every society depends on its citizens and mainly on its literate citizens. They are a certain prerequisite to the economic development of every country. Moreover, literacy is a basis of our freedom and freedom of the society as a whole.
Nowadays we meet with the necessity of literacy everywhere. Let us take the process of job seeking. Every person wants to have a good, promising job, with a competitive salary, the job that will bring satisfaction and will not be just an obligation. The first step in job seeking is reading the job advertisements. Reading. A skill, which is characteristic of the literate people. The next step, which will be awaiting you, is filling the application form, which requires writing skills. As you can see, being illiterate you will not even be able to apply for a position. If you nevertheless managed to do that, you will have to be interviewed by you potential employer. It should be stressed that serious employers are not willing to have illiterate persons in their team. They will benefit neither employer nor the company itself. In 2003, adults who were highly literate were more disposed to obtaining a full-time job than those people who were poorly literate. As a rule, highly literate people also tend to earn more money (Kutner et al. 8).
The most demanded employees in the United States of America graduated from college, which is impossible without being literate, or at least finished two-year college study. All employees must be able to read in order other co-employees be safe at work, as it is very often necessary to read different warnings and regulations. Moreover, they must socialize effectively ("Literacy Council of Buncombe County - Importance Of Literacy" n.p.).
According to Mark Kutner, Elizabeth Greenberg, Ying Jin, Bridget Boyle, Yung-chen Hsu, and Eric Dunleavy, there are three types of literacy; they are prose literacy, document literacy and quantitative literacy (Kutner et al. 5). They state that in 1992-2003 the quantitative literacy raised. Quantitative literacy comprises the appropriate skills, which are necessary to perform computations (Kutner et al. 6).
What is the major reason for the increase of people’s illiteracy? I believe this is due to the fact that people began to read less. We are not talking about different blogs, forums, or social media. We are talking about books. The things that is thought to be old-fashioned in the today’s society. Internet opened many doors for personal development but it widened the gap between literacy and illiteracy as well.
Being literate also benefits you as a parent. The report made by the US Department of Education in 2007 shows that literate parents more often read their children to sleep that certainly promotes children’s development and their psychological health. Moreover, literate parents are more likely to help their children with homework (Kutner et al. 10). Besides, learning to read is a skill that should be taught by parents long before entering a school. This learning process initiates when parents read their children to sleep and in such a way inspire children to read by themselves or at least to encourage them to the desire for knowledge ("Literacy Council of Buncombe County - Importance of Literacy" n.p.).
The studying process at schools is organized in such a way that it is based on the ability to write and to read effectively. School curricula depend on the texts, as they convey meaning and communicate knowledge (Ippolito, Steele and Samson n.p.). That is why it is extremely important not to miss the moment when the child is to learn these basic skills, the skills that are an integral part of any civilized society. However, in the United States of America students graduate from secondary schools with low literacy skills.
Literacy, as it has already been mentioned, is a factor that helps people get a better-paid job and consequently get out of poverty and help one’s families ("Literacy Council of Buncombe County - Importance of Literacy" n.p.). It is a great chance to change completely not only your life, but also the life of your parents, spouse and children. It is never too late to study and improve oneself. So, not only adolescent literacy should be discussed but also adult literacy.
One more factor that contributes to the importance of literacy is the ability to keep yourself and your family healthy. This is mainly because patients must strictly follow doctor’s advice in order to recover, but this is impossible without having basic literate skills. Patients need to be able to read the instructions to the medicines and to calculate correctly the doses ("Literacy Council of Buncombe County - Importance of Literacy" n.p.).
Literacy will also help people to avoid crime. If people are highly educated and know their rights and duties, they know state laws and are aware of the responsibilities they might take for committing a crime. “More than 75 percent in state facilities, and 59 percent in federal corrections institutions did not graduate from high school or can be classified as low-literate” ("Literacy Council Of Buncombe County - Importance Of Literacy" n.p.).
Being literate, people are active citizens of their community. In 2000 American presidential elections voter turnout of adults with high literacy was better than that of adults with low literacy (Kutner et al. 8). Voters with lower level of literacy cannot read the appropriate sources to gain any information about the candidates that is why are not able to make up their mind. Results from the 2003 National Assessment of Adult Literacy show that adults with higher level of literacy more frequently become volunteers in different organizations so that it provides them with the opportunity to acquire some knowledge and new practical skills (Kutner et al. 8).
Literacy now solves many problems regarding the abuse of different kinds. “Literacy plays a significant role in reducing gender, race, nationality, and religious inequality that favors one group over another in access to education, property, employment, health care, legal, and civic participation” ("Literacy Council Of Buncombe County - Importance Of Literacy" n.p.). In fact, literacy is not only a key to a successful life, but also a key to a safe, healthy and politically confident life.
In summary, it should be mentioned that literacy plays an important role for the society in general, and for the life of each person separately. Literacy opens the door to a bright and prosperous future. The future in which all citizens are conscious, where they consciously vote for a candidate they trust, when they are consciously engaged in volunteer work, and also consciously teach their children literacy; the future in which citizens know exactly what they want to achieve in their lives and also know how to complete their aims. One should always remember that educating and bringing up children should start from the early childhood, because it is the time when the child perceives quickly unfamiliar material; it is the time when the child is interested in everything. You must not leave this period without proper attention. However, in order to teach children literacy, you need yourself to be very literate, to have the main skills such as reading and writing. However, the speaking skill should not be left without attention as it forms an integral unity.
In the 21st century, when there are so many opportunities for personal growth and self-education, people tend to forget about such things as books. They prefer the Internet with social media instead. However, it has nothing to do with literacy. Since ancient times, there has existed the belief that a person who possesses the information, that is a knowledgeable and educated person, possesses the world. This belief exist even in the today’s society.
There are many reasons why literacy is important. It will definitely help parents to bring up their children; it will provide the opportunity to get better job; it will make easier the way of keeping yourself and your family healthy; it helps to reduce crime; it makes you an active citizen of the country; literacy helps people to avoid abuse of different kinds. Therefore, literacy is the starting point of success. Do not miss the opportunity to succeed and change the society in which you live for the better.
Works Cited
Ippolito, Jacy, Jennifer L. Steele, and Jennifer F. Samson. "Why Adolescent Literacy Matters Now - HEPG". Hepg.org. N.p., 2008. Web. 18 Apr. 2016.
Kutner, Mark et al. Literacy In Everyday Life. Washington: U.S. Department of Education, 2007. Web. 19 Apr. 2016.
"Literacy Council Of Buncombe County - Importance Of Literacy". Litcouncil.com. N.p., 2009. Web. 19 Apr. 2016.
