Reading into the problem of illiteracy

People who cannot read and write -- people who are illiterate -- are marginalized in our society, both economically and socially. Imagine not being able to read a newspaper, or a job application. Imagine not being able to read to your child or grandchild. Imagine not being able to read a street sign.

Without literacy, people are permanently locked into what sociologists refer to as the underclass. If they are lucky enough to find work, and some of these industrious people do find work, then illiterate people have no choice but to accept the most menial kinds of jobs available. And they have very little ability to increase their wages over time. People wind up paying their whole lives for the inadequacy of their education.

A few years ago, I began my involvement with the literacy council in my home town by volunteering as a private tutor. I was paired up with a very nice man in his 50s who never learned to read. His explanation -- not that it really mattered -- was that he had to work on his parent's farm when he was a young man and had not had the opportunity to complete his education. The man had been gainfully employed for years, and despite decades of good service to his employer, was still earning very little money.

Because of his illiteracy, he didn't have a realistic option of finding a better job. Like many illiterate people, he was able to get through his day by memorizing the meaning of some key words more as symbols than as a collection of letters. The man had plenty of intelligence; he had simply failed too get educated when he was young. But the man wanted to read, and over time he did. What a wonderful I was able to pass on to fellow human being. You can pass on a gift as well by purchasing a book or providing a donation.