Illiteracy

IMSICK

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Illiteracy Statistics

In a study of 20 'high income' countries, the US ranked 12th on literacy tests. Illiteracy has become such a serious problem in our country that 44 million adults are now unable to read a simple story to their child. A few other shocking facts:


50 percent of adults cannot read a book written at an eighth grade level.
20 percent of Americans are functionally illiterate and read below a 5th grade level.
Nearly half of all Americans read so poorly that they cannot find a single piece of information when reading a short publication.


How Illiteracy Affects Job Prospects


3 out of 4 people on welfare can't read.
20 percent of Americans read below the level needed to earn a living wage.
50 percent of the unemployed people who fall between the ages of 16 and 21 cannot read well enough to be considered functionally literate.
Between 46 and 51 percent of American adults have an income well below the individual threshold poverty level because of their inability to read.


How Illiteracy Affects Society


3 out of 5 people in an American prison can't read.
85 percent of juvenile offenders have problems reading.
Approximately 50 percent of Americans read so poorly that they are unable to perform simple tasks such as balancing a checkbook and reading prescription drug labels.
To determine how many prison beds will be needed in future years, some states actually base part of their projection on how well current elementary students are performing on reading tests.


How Illiteracy Costs Taxpayers


Illiteracy costs American taxpayers an estimated $20 billion each year.
Illiteracy has been proven to cause children to drop out of school. Dropouts cost our nation $240 billion in social service expenditures and lost tax revenues.
 
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jbb

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Re: Iliteracy

stupid americans!!!!lol jk.
 

Summiteer

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Re: Iliteracy

I guess that explains why Bush won the one election he did........:d:d:d
 

ZRrrr

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Re: Iliteracy

Yup, and we keep cutting teachers out of schools, underpaying them, over working them, increasing class sizes and cutting programs. Not to mention more of us would rather watch TV than read a book. Apparently watching TV uses as much brain power as a person in a coma.

Hey Gov...how's that working out for you.........
 

H.C.

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Re: Iliteracy

Yup, and we keep cutting teachers out of schools, underpaying them, over working them, increasing class sizes and cutting programs. Not to mention more of us would rather watch TV than read a book. Apparently watching TV uses as much brain power as a person in a coma.

Hey Gov...how's that working out for you.........

I agree fully,
My wife is a elementary teacher that has been thought as many years of college as a doctor has, And I on the other had Have no education beyond high school and make 3x as much as her.
Now that's messed up..
 

RevBlk

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Re: Iliteracy

I agree fully,
My wife is a elementary teacher that has been thought as many years of college as a doctor has, And I on the other had Have no education beyond high school and make 3x as much as her.
Now that's messed up..
.
Me thinks you might want to get her to check your typing, grammar and sentence structure LOL.:beer:

Seriously though you can have the best teacher available with the optimum class size etc., IMO it will still all be for not, unless there is at least one supportive parent at home at night who can then reinforce what is learned during the day.

PS: Hey sick there is a double L in illteracy. It's wrong in your header. :beer::beer::beer::beer:;) LMAO
Rev
 

ZRrrr

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Re: Iliteracy

Agreed....but I do know a handful of teachers who play the roll of both during the school year. Those ones are waaaay under appreciated and definitely under paid!
 

tekim

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Re: Iliteracy

What are you talking about??
 

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IMSICK

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Re: Iliteracy

.
Me thinks you might want to get her to check your typing, grammar and sentence structure LOL.:beer:

Seriously though you can have the best teacher available with the optimum class size etc., IMO it will still all be for not, unless there is at least one supportive parent at home at night who can then reinforce what is learned during the day.

PS: Hey sick there is a double L in illteracy. It's wrong in your header. :beer::beer::beer::beer:;) LMAO
Rev
HA...... somebody finally caught it!!!!

NICE!!!
 

Gunny

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Re: Iliteracy

And what makes you all think, all those "Americans" ... are Americans ?? ... We have so many illegals here going to our public schools, everyone THINKS they're as American as I am ... Jeez !!!

What a crock !!!

Laugh it up Canadian boys & girls ... Im sure you have your share of ... not too smart folk as well ! ... have you ever tried to read some of these threads ??

I guess now, we can all laugh together right ... right ??

Later ...
 

mountainman611

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Re: Iliteracy

And what makes you all think, all those "Americans" ... are Americans ?? ... We have so many illegals here going to our public schools, everyone THINKS they're as American as I am ... Jeez !!!

What a crock !!!

Laugh it up Canadian boys & girls ... Im sure you have your share of ... not too smart folk as well ! ... have you ever tried to read some of these threads ??

I guess now, we can all laugh together right ... right ??

Later ...


Yes you are completely right......Just look at our present government bullcrap!!....Cheers!
 

IMSICK

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Re: Iliteracy

You seem to view this as an attack on you and "your" nation personally...... notice the USA ranked 12th... meaning there are 11 stupider countries than the US.

Now seeing as the point was missed due to attitude..... The response is a typical one which can be expected. Instead of sitting down and saying "hey.... we got a problem here!", it turns into a comparison to see who is better instead of figuring out what can be done to aid in resolution......

Facts are facts.... this issue should not be viewed as a competition!!!
 

RevBlk

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Re: Iliteracy

Sick I think you are on to something. Instead of pointing the finger at which country is smarter, we could all recognize that there is a global problem with reading. It blows my mind that some of these people can text away at warp speed yet they can not complete a resume. Christ I still can't set the clock on my VCR and texting is like greek to me. But at least I can read the torque specs in a Chilton's manual. It seems that society has forgotten the importance of literacy. Something that we (I) take for granted. Time to get the kids out of 7-11 and back into school but what about the adults?????
Things that make you go Hmmmmmmm. :confused:
Rev
 

sledchick855

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Re: Iliteracy

It's surprising once you get the facts out in front of you...and the reactions you get from people. Sick is right, the first thing we do is compare..because we want to be the "best". I myself like to read, I used to read all the time as a kid..and would read to my siblings. I think people get a stereotype when they are younger, if they read they'll be called a bookworm, and that somehow is bad? I think it begins with the parent, read to your children, and they'll in turn thank you when they get older. Reading and writing is the basis to everything, I don't know why you wouldn't want to excel at it! Thanks Sick for posting :D
 

Gunny

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Re: Iliteracy

You seem to view this as an attack on you and "your" nation personally...... notice the USA ranked 12th... meaning there are 11 stupider countries than the US.

No worries IMSICK ... I read that the US was 12th ... but I didn't see any figures for any of the 11 other countries ?? So, yeah, I did kinda take it as a "Finger Pointing" comment.

My attitude isn't that bad really .. and I was pretty sure I'd get the reaction I did to what I wrote. So. I'm sitt'in here with a grin on my smartass face, think'in ... damn, point missed. Just like you felt the point was missed by me.
(My point being, we can all laugh together becasue we all have the same problem, can't we ?? ... & nobody laughed with me ??)

The bad thing about reading something someone else wrote is, you can't tell if they are laugh'in ... or cry'in. The person reading another persons written words ... ASSUMES they know the attitude in which those words were written. And that usually will get a person in trouble more often than not.

Trust me, I know this country has a problem. And to work towards correcting this one problem, I work with my kids & grankids by reading to them & having them read stuff to me. Its a start ... right ? ... But what about those that can't speak English ?? And why am I expected to know their language ?? And why don't my elected officals have the balls to make English the official language of the US ?? I mean, I am an American ... are those that can't speak English ?? ... Damn, even that makes me laugh.

So, carry on with the conversation. Next time ... I'll try to use words that don't come across as "Defensive" .... no guarantees however ! ... LOL !!!

Later ...
 

DEVER

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Re: Iliteracy

is this thread available on tape or CD?
It doesn't have any pictures, so I am having a tough time following it.:eek:
 

TrailCrusader

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Re: Iliteracy

Illiteracy Statistics

In a study of 20 'high income' countries, the US ranked 12th on literacy tests. Illiteracy has become such a serious problem in our country that 44 million adults are now unable to read a simple story to their child. A few other shocking facts:


50 percent of adults cannot read a book written at an eighth grade level.
20 percent of Americans are functionally illiterate and read below a 5th grade level.
Nearly half of all Americans read so poorly that they cannot find a single piece of information when reading a short publication.


How Illiteracy Affects Job Prospects


3 out of 4 people on welfare can't read.
20 percent of Americans read below the level needed to earn a living wage.
50 percent of the unemployed people who fall between the ages of 16 and 21 cannot read well enough to be considered functionally literate.
Between 46 and 51 percent of American adults have an income well below the individual threshold poverty level because of their inability to read.


How Illiteracy Affects Society


3 out of 5 people in an American prison can't read.
85 percent of juvenile offenders have problems reading.
Approximately 50 percent of Americans read so poorly that they are unable to perform simple tasks such as balancing a checkbook and reading prescription drug labels.
To determine how many prison beds will be needed in future years, some states actually base part of their projection on how well current elementary students are performing on reading tests.


How Illiteracy Costs Taxpayers


Illiteracy costs American taxpayers an estimated $20 billion each year.
Illiteracy has been proven to cause children to drop out of school. Dropouts cost our nation $240 billion in social service expenditures and lost tax revenues.



To further bring this issue to light. Look at the Snow and Mud forums. The spelling and grammer here is terrible. It actually makes me think what education we have on this forum.
 

Mike270412

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Re: Iliteracy

To further bring this issue to light. Look at the Snow and Mud forums. The spelling and grammer here is terrible. It actually makes me think what education we have on this forum.

Spell check is a wundrfol thing...:d
 
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