According to UNESCO literacy can be defined by the following: the “ability to identify, understand, interpret, create, communicate and compute, using printed and written materials associated with varying contexts. Literacy involves a continuum of learning in enabling individuals to achieve their goals, to develop their knowledge and potential, and to participate fully in their community and wider society.”
I have been reading or have been read to ever since I was born. Reading has become my favorite pastime and I can definitely tell that it has made a positive impact on my life. I have a more extensive vocabulary and can engage in intelligent and thought provoking conversations. People that are like me have the ability “to participate fully in their community and wider society.”
One example of this can be seen in the effect literacy has on a person’s ability to find jobs. According to ProLiteracy America, a survey conducted on people who did not graduate from high school found that 31.4 percent of people who applied for a job lacked the literacy skills they needed to do that particular job; 90 percent of those people were not hired. When a person lacks the basic ability to communicate effectively in order to do his job, he may not even be considered for hire, whether he has the other necessary skills or not.
Not only do people who are highly literate have an easier time finding jobs, they are more likely to seek treatment for medical issues and are less likely to live in poverty or be incarcerated. This translates into having a relationship with others in the community that is meaningful and productive.
So why should you care? Your reading ability now could save you lots of pain later. You will be able to vastly show up your competitors and get that coveted job that you’ve been wanting. You will more quickly recognize the symptoms of health problems, seek better help, and get well faster than someone with lower literacy. You will see improvement in your test grades, stay out of poverty, and feel more confident and less excluded in social situations. Why would this happen? You read.
So read! Find a book, a newspaper, a magazine, even a short story or a poem. It doesn’t have to be hard, or long, or informative; just find something that interests you and read it. Do you like sports, enjoy music, or love those murder shows on television? Read about it!
Because guess what! Reading is fun! Reading opens up windows to the imagination and doors to the unknown. Let yourself fly to times long past and places that have never existed. Dream, experience, travel, and above all, learn, know, and be. Widen the scope of your knowledge to encompass the wonders of this world and the thrill of what’s beyond. Then come back to our world, our time, our tiny realm of existence, and see what a difference it has made for you, for the community, and for that which has yet to be.
