Half of Readers Aren’t Really Reading This

Today, I want to talk about something serious. Seriously. And I do not have it in me to be my usual snarky self so please bear with me. Illiteracy is just not something I can find it in my heart to be sarcastic and snooty about; it’s not a hilarious subject. Illiteracy is, in fact, a heart-wrenching subject, one that doesn’t get talked about very often. However, it is my firm belief that ignorance only leads to more ignorance; and so, we cannot bury our heads in the sand any longer. We can no longer ignore the fact that many Canadian adults do not possess the reading skills necessary for completing every-day tasks. Illiteracy isn’t a problem that will go away just because people don’t discuss it; in fact, it will only get worse. And the problem is more relevant in today’s society than most people could ever imagine.

A new interactive map created by the Canadian Council of Learning has revealed that almost half of Canadian adults have only a level two or lower literacy rate. Adult literacy is rated on a scale of one to five; a level three is seen as the bare minimum a person needs to comprehend global knowledge. The study showed that 48 per cent of Canadian adults do not meet these requirements. 48 per cent of Canadians can’t read or comprehend things that many of us take for granted, myself included, such as bus schedules or pill bottles. What the hell happened? What is going on in our school systems that 36 per cent of adult Edmontonians and 35 per cent of adults living in Calgary cannot read at the desired level to function in society?

But surely these numbers represent the uneducated, the homeless, the derelicts of our society, you say? Don’t kid yourself. These numbers represent people of all ethnic groups and income ranges. After all, in St. John, New Brunswick, 53 per cent of adults (defined as someone aged 16 or older) are reading at a level two or lower on the literacy scale. I highly doubt over half of St. John’s population are homeless or unmotivated to learn. These numbers represent people that, for various reasons, have slipped through the cracks of our education system. Over-crowded classrooms and cuts to education budgets over the past years have meant that teachers are over-extended and cannot always give kids the extra time and energy they need to learn new skills, such as reading. And now that many parents need to work more hours than ever in order to make ends meet, many kids may not be getting extra help with reading and writing exercises at home. It doesn’t matter how good a parent you are; reading the latest Disney book with a child isn’t exactly always someone’s top priority after a 12-hour work day. In primary and secondary school, reading is a cumulative learning process. Kids start to learn the alphabet in kindergarten, then work their way up the literacy ladder with pop-up books, work books, short stories, poems and novels. If a child has trouble with the initial steps, do they ever really have a chance to catch up? Kids who aren’t good at reading are often thought to be lazy; kids who don’t like reading usually aren’t given enough motivation to improve their skills.

Reading and writing is such an important part of my life that I can’t imagine not being able to do so. Not only can low literacy affect someone’s ability to move up the corporate ladder but it can also have a direct affect on their personal life. Can you imagine going on a date and not being able to read the menu? Or going to the theatre and not knowing what play you were about to see? Or how about seriously hurting yourself or even dying after accidently taking your roommate’s pills because you couldn’t read the bottle and thought the pills were yours? All of these are very distinct possibilities.

Something needs to change. Canadians cannot accept such wide-spread illiteracy. The Canadian government needs to ensure that more adult-learning programs are in place throughout the country, in order to reach as many adults with low literacy levels as possible. All public libraries should be required to hold regular adult learning sessions at no cost to the attendees. Finally, we must all let go of the stigma attached to illiteracy so that any adults who wish to improve their reading and comprehension skills are not mocked or ashamed of pursing higher learning.