Literacy matters

What you are doing at the moment, you take for granted.

We all do.

Reading seems as necessary as breathing. Without it, we face enormous hurdles when learning and communicating.

It’s easy to joke about how the young generation appears to ignore literacy when they are abbreviating English to send text messages faster on their cellphones.

“R u ready 2 go?”

But literacy is crucial. If you are old enough to have had a parent taunt you about doing well in school or become a ditch digger, you understand even ditch diggers need to read. Sure, they can shovel. But there are memos to indicate where the job is and written information about where to dig and written warnings of where underground lines are located.

Next week is the fifth annual Adult Literacy Week. It is observed from Oct. 18-24.

There are an estimated 40 million Americans struggling with literacy in the U.S.

Almost 30 percent of adults in Grant County have less than a high school education, according to Big Bend Community College.

Studies indicate people with one year of college plus a vocational certificate is the “tipping point” for earning a high enough wage to support a family.

The education level of a mother is considered the most important predictor of whether her child will complete high school.

There are ways to help adults improve an adult’s literacy.

People can volunteer to help with adult education classes at Big Bend, provide adult education classes at a work site, alert employees about opportunities in adult education classes at Big Bend and help fund scholarships.

Donating $75 to the Big Bend Community College Foundation, earmarked for GED education, can pay for the testing fees for one student.

There are many ways to help direct friends, family and coworkers to adult education classes. They may resist at first, but when they complete the courses and improve their literacy, they will find life is much easier.

Not only can they read books, magazines and newspapers, they can read work manuals, memos and company policies. They can use the Internet to find information. They can even read warnings, which could possibly save their life.

Literacy is essential for good communication. Once a person can read, they can send e-mail, text messages or even leave love notes for their spouse.

Literacy enriches everyone’s life.

Adult education classes help build better skills, lead to better jobs, improve communications, and aid in education.

As a newspaper, one reason for us to support adult literacy is obvious. We like having as many readers as possible.

But we agree with Big Bend Community College and support their program too.

Literacy goes beyond reading the news. It is a skill that impacts nearly every aspect of a person’s life. Please take a moment to help people you know in need of improving their literacy. Help them find the information about adult education available at Big Bend Community College.

Their success helps all of us.

-— Editorial board