EDITORIAL: Literacy issue impacts all of us

Published 12:32 pm Wednesday, March 4, 2020

This week, area schools joined countless others across the country in celebration of Read Across America Day, honoring the birthday of writer Theodor Seuss Geisel, better known to the world as the beloved Dr. Seuss.

This annual activity aims to bring literacy into focus, stressing the importance of reading and its life-long impact. This message is sorely needed not just among our children but for many adults as well. 

Low literacy skills have stark ramifications for the next generation and our communities. The children of parents with low literacy skills are more likely to live in poverty as adults and are five times more likely to drop out of school.

Results of a 2016 study by the World Literacy Foundation creates a great sense of urgency on the issue. According to the study, low literacy skills impact us on an individual and collective community level:

•The unemployment rate is 2 to 4 times higher among those with limited literacy skills than among those with bachelor’s degrees;

•Lower income;

•Lower-quality jobs;

•Reduced access to lifelong learning and professional development;

•Little value is given to education and reading within the family, which often leads to intergenerational transmission of illiteracy;

•Low self-esteem, which can lead to isolation;

•The higher the proportion of adults with low literacy proficiency is, the slower the overall long-term GDP growth rate is;

•The difficulty understanding societal issues lowers the level of community involvement and civic participation.

Furthermore, U.S. adults with low levels of education who have parents with low levels of education are 10 times more likely to have low skills than are those who have higher-educated parents. Increasing the skills of parents correlates directly to skills improvement among today’s youth. 

A literate community not only affects particular neighborhoods or geographical stretch of the county, a literate community impacts the whole. Conversely, so too, does the burden of a high dropout rate with its negative impact on jobs and economic growth. 

A literate community is a community with a strong foundation for building economic development and job growth, and the only way this is possible is through schools and community working together.

The payoff is not just theirs, either. When adults boost their literacy skills, whole communities benefit in the process. The workforce improves, and developing a more educated workforce opens doors not only for personal career growth but also new potential opportunities for the local community.  

Kudos to the community volunteers and parents who are taking part in literacy activities in area schools this week — and every week. The importance of putting reading skills into practice for our young people cannot be understated. 

As one succeeds, we all succeed.