tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5686080606784475106.post5569664948224457465..comments2023-10-04T11:33:36.035-04:00Comments on Pick of the Literate: International Literacy Dayibpurpledragonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05712525365783628551noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5686080606784475106.post-57485206380676062322009-09-14T10:59:07.148-04:002009-09-14T10:59:07.148-04:00Amazingly enough, Bucks County, PA is one of the m...Amazingly enough, Bucks County, PA is one of the more affluent areas in the state, let alone the nation. Until I was involved with VITA, a literacy group, I was blithely ignorant of the number of functionally illiterate folks in an environment that belies the statistics. I am sure that a wide variety of disorders impacts the dreadful number in addition to the fact that economic deprivation generally leads to less investment in the school systems and a resultant failure in early literacy education. One of the more sobering meetings I attended involved several prisoners in the county prison describing their experience with the VITA program. A very hardened looking thirty something explained how people treat you like you are stupid if you can’t read and that breeds anger and aggression. He was very proud of his progress in the program and how he was finally at a 5th grade reading level. He told us how he had just finished reading his first book, ever! He also told us that he was really expressing his concerns to his wife, how important reading is and to work with his 4 year old daughter so she didn’t end up in the same place (prison) as he was. Illiteracy is not just a problem in third world nations, it is a problem here in our own home towns.ibpurpledragonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05712525365783628551noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5686080606784475106.post-77530721618154401442009-09-12T23:36:56.066-04:002009-09-12T23:36:56.066-04:00That's definitely still surprisingly high of a...That's definitely still surprisingly high of a number of illiterate folks for your area. What is the high school graduation rate in comparison? Is the illiteracy rate high because there are not enough people completing their education? I wonder, too, if there are conditions (dyslexia, for instance) that may be affecting a large number of these people.Liggybeehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13721349582740669975noreply@blogger.com