(ThyBlackMan.com) Though the world is advancing in technology there is a large enough portion of our population that is illiterate. Can you imagine not being able to read, write, or count money? Basically, you are crippled in this world, and confined to very limited opportunities. In a world whereby, humanity is not as kind as it should be those that are illiterate find themselves at the mercy of others that they hope won’t take advantage of their lack of understanding. Jobs that are available to illiterate individuals are often heavy labor intensive.
Though they might pay a decent wage should their body give out, or an job ending injury occur they will find themselves living in deplorable conditions fighting to survive. As illiterate individuals get
older some of them lose any possible motivation to learn, and at that point not being able to read and write can be considered as disabling as some diseases. Its as though illiteracy itself is a form of disease.
It is important that we work within our community to support literacy programs, and impress upon our children the importance of education. Parents are the guardians of education for their kids. Even if you did not go very far in school, you must push your children to strive for academic excellence. Doing well in school in not just a matter of going to college, per se, it can become the difference between being deemed disabled where employment is concerned verses being able to provide for self.
We want our children to depend on more than just their physical strength to sustain them. Truth be told some of the illness and diseases our elders encountered was due to the rigorous work hours and intensive labor the body was forced to endure. Over time their body simply was no longer able to handle the beating it had to take on a daily basis.
Not being able to make a living is frightening and can also lead to various kinds of mental illness such as depression and anxiety. Literacy is more than being able to read a book…it’s a vital part of being able to sustain life. We must encourage adults to work towards being literate to better their employment opportunities, and simple to make sure they are not being taken advantage of. We can’t assume that because it is 2018 most people can read, nor should we stand in judgement of our people that face this heartbreaking issue. We must come together to rid our communities of illiteracy. No one is too old to learn, and we can start our children on the path to literacy the moment they enter the world.
It is important to engage young people in reading programs from the time that they are young and involve other parents we know. Work with the neighborhood libraries and community centers to create literacy programs for adults where it is needed. Our ancestors fought, and risked their lives, for the basic knowledge of knowing how to read. Those that didn’t learn pushed their children to become educated so that the illiteracy would stop with them. This is a disability we can rid ourselves of so let’s make literacy a priority.
Staff Writer; Christian Starr
May connect with this sister over at Facebook; https://www.facebook.com/christian.pierre.9809 and also Twitter; http://twitter.com/MrzZeta.
