Illiteracy The Interior Demon - 1126 Words

Rayce B. Gibson Mrs. O’Sullivan English 2 4 September 2015 Illiteracy: The Interior Demon Imagine a young fourth grader sitting in a classroom with about twenty other children. At first, they all appear to be the same. Just a blur of average-looking students sitting at their desks with literature books opened up to page forty-five. The teacher is calling on each of the students, asking them to each read a paragraph from the selected passage. All of them are having no trouble with verbalizing the words that are printed on the page that is until the teacher calls out the name of that one specific child, the one that sits in the back at the corner table, with a little bead of sweat running down their forehead, the one that stumbles on the†¦show more content†¦All in all, there are obvious advantages and conveniences in possessing the ability to read and write. These include a security in economics, being able to obtain health care, and having the capability to actively engage in the community (Crum). In addition, it helps people achiev e their desired career. Also, written composition is an important aspect in almost every academic course that exists. It is rare to have a class where there is no written component. As can be seen, literacy is an important aspect of all things that lead to success. On the negative side of things, two-thirds of the students who are not able to read adequately by the end of their fourth grade year will end up in jail or on welfare. According to the Department of Justice, there is a close relation between not being able to read or write and â€Å"delinquency, violence, and crime† (Literacy Statistics). This information is backed up by the astonishing fact that over seventy percent of the inmates in America cannot read above a fourth grade level. To put it in another way, an average fifth grader is more literate than the majority of the inmates that are in this nation’s prisons. It is also important to realize the statistics connected to juvenile delinquency and illiteracy . Being stated in the previously mentioned source, â€Å"85 percent of all juveniles who interface with the juvenile court system are functionally illiterate† (Literacy Statistics). This shows a direct