Preview

effects of illiteracy on society

Satisfactory Essays
Open Document
Open Document
307 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
effects of illiteracy on society
EFFECTS OF ILLITERACY ON SOCIETY illiteracy is one of the major problems facing society and the educational system.
Recent studies show that there is an increasing rate of illiteracy all over the world. A study conducted by

Recent studies show that there is an increasing rate of illiteracy all over the world. A study conducted by WSI (World Statistics Institute) shows that over 27% of people are illiterate globally. Another study by the same institute shows that the speed at which the illiteracy rate ascends is 32% [32% of what?]. These rates are quite important, as illiteracy has terrible effects on society. The most important effect of illiteracy on society is that it works as an inhibitor. That is to say, the more illiterate people there are in a country, the harder it will be for the country to develop. This fact could be clarified with an example: America (whose illiteracy rate is below 5%) and Canada (illiteracy rate: around 8%) are developed countries, whereas countries like Turkey and Iran (illiteracy rates: 61% and 43% in order [respectively]) are undeveloped countries. Illiteracy has got a kind of "genetic" effect. The children of illiterate people are more likely to be illiterate than those who aren't [aren't what? - rewrite this sentence to make it clear]. Even if the parents don't want their children to be illiterate, their children, observing the parents, see that they somehow manage to live and adopt the idea that illiteracy isn't actually a bad thing [not very clearly expressed - try a rewrite]. And since people develop most of their character during childhood, they choose to go with illiteracy. Another major effect of illiteracy is that illiterate people believe in the said things easily. They do not investigate what was said or told to them. When looked [looking] at the pages of history, it can be seen that while most... [continues]

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    The Human Cost of an Illiterate Society by Jonathan Kozol, is an article which illustrates the reality for millions of Americans, and the impact illiteracy has on the overall population and that individual and their family. Kozol draws emotional and personal stories which impact the reader as well as allude that the lack of literacy is in direct correlation with Democracy and how illiterate people will vote, if they even do at all.…

    • 366 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    social developments and/or humanitarian efforts: A pole done in 2011said that the literacy rate of the population was 90.4%, meaning 9.6% of people are still illiterate in the country. Every year this can go up if children…

    • 356 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Alvin Toffler

    • 250 Words
    • 1 Page

    These days, there is an ongoing debate on the statement by, Alvin Toffler that the "illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who can't read and write, but those who can't learn, unlearn, and relearn". I agree with the statement and support my point of views with reasonable examples.…

    • 250 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Better Essays

    Only after reading the short story “The Human cost of an Illiterate Society” by Jonathan Kozol, did I realize that 1 out of 5 Americans is illiterate. Kozol points out several examples in his short essay of how many Americans have suffered because they cannot read. Many…

    • 1098 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    As I type this essay I am using one form of communication available to those of us who are literate. Sadly not all of us have the ability to do what most if not all of us who are lucky to be literate, take for granted. One such article, "The Human Cost of an Illiterate Society?" elaborates on the issue of illiteracy, which is utterly apparent in America. This essay is written using exemplification to show that knowledge is indeed power and those who are illiterate are almost powerless in today's society.…

    • 719 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Jonathan Kozol’s essay on The Human Cost of an Illiterate Society (1985) claims that based on the beliefs of Socrates and James Madison, illiteracy is a moral dilemma. Kozol supports this claim by speculating what a number of tragic outcomes could be as a result of illiteracy. His purpose is to show how a person’s daily life is affected negatively by being illiterate in order to prove that illiteracy in a broad sense is a moral dilemma. Kozol’s intended audience in writing this essay would be the public.…

    • 589 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Reading is one of the most important skills a learner must acquire in life. Statistics show that students who are behind in reading…

    • 1598 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    If the literacy develops, the economy will develop too. The development of the economy leads to earn more benefit and power.…

    • 1132 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    This is a huge problem we have here in the United States because “according to a study that was conducted by the Department of Education, 32 million adults in the United States cannot read, that is almost 14 percent of the population, in addition another 21 percent of the people can only read below a 5th grade level, and also 19 percent of high school graduates cannot read.” This rate have not changed in the past 10 years and that is unacceptable because there are so many opportunities that we can take advantage of and we do not just because we tell ourselves “I do not need this”, which is not true, we need as much education as we can so we can have a better society. In addition to this the article also mention that, “The link between academic failure and delinquency, violence and crime is welded to reading failure” Many people think because they do not know how to read or write that gives them an excuse to commit different crimes but that is not true, you can better yourself if you really want…

    • 993 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Published in February 1999, it revealed the stark fact that roughly one in five adults – perhaps as many as seven million people – were functionally illiterate or innumerate. For many years there had been limited funding and limited availability of basic skills training for the 16+ area of the lifelong sector; training and skill enhancement had been mostly office based [audio typing, short hand, word processing etc.] and mostly funded by the private individual. – ‘as a national priority, improvements in literacy and numeracy never reached the front of the policy queue.’ [Moser Report – Chairman’s…

    • 1142 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Many will argue that this issue only affects the individual who happens to have a low level of reading skills or illiteracy, or that individual’s immediate family; this is not the case. Low literacy levels affect the nation as a whole. In our democratic society we rely solely on the people, so while not everyone needs to be a scholar, our citizens should be educated and informed to contribute to…

    • 1218 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Money is one of the main contributors when it comes to illiteracy. Low literacy costs about seventy-three million dollars per year, in terms of health care. America has to provide for the welfare for all the illiterate people in the Unites States who do not even know how to read. Some people drop out of high school and rely on welfare to get them through life without getting a job, because only one out of four high school dropouts get job. Illiterates cannot do simple things that a high school graduate could do, so therefore they have to rely on someone else to do the simple tasks for them. For example, if people cannot read street signs, applications for jobs, or even menus to eat they have to rely on someone else to do this for them which cost money. Illiterate people are vulnerable to society, so America spends money to try and make them seem less vulnerable and try to make them fit in. Forty-four thousand people are added to the adult illiterate population each week in the United States, which is more money due to the fact that if more and more people are becoming illiterate they are relying on the government to give them money through welfare and even food stamps. All in all money is a disastrous problem when it comes to illiteracy and the United States is trying to be more manageable with the financial…

    • 817 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Illiteracy: People don’t have enough education and that means they can’t do most jobs. People struggle to communicate effectively if they don’t have education needed. This means that people that have innovative or great ideas can’t share them or put them into action because they don’t have the education that they need to accomplish that. The Central Connecticut State University did a study which showed that South Africa is one of the most illiterate countries in the world. The rankings are based on 5 categories that are used as indicators of the literate health of nations: newspapers, libraries, education inputs and outputs, and the availability of computers. South Africa was ranked as 56th overall. (BusinessTech, n.d.).Research shows that 58% of Gr 4 learners in South Africa can’t read and 29% are completely illiterate. (Help2Read, n.d.). When looking at wealthy countries, the illiteracy rates of those who have completed Gr 4 are low. England has 5%, the…

    • 1791 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    General Education

    • 1859 Words
    • 8 Pages

    With living costs as high as they are in this day and age, it is completely unreasonable to expect the average individual to squander already limited resources. Receiving a bachelor's degree today requires an assortment of classes that often are not directly related to one's career objectives. For some, they find this to be an enjoyable adventure, broadening their knowledge and learning about new aspects of life, but for others this is just burdensome. However it is looked upon, the college curriculum still requires a diverse selection of courses to develop well rounded, responsible individuals, but in turn creates added pressure upon students.…

    • 1859 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Been Illiterate has a negative effect in life. Can you imagine not been able to eat what you want to eat at a restaurant or not been able to go out to any place because you do not know how to go back home. In USA, approximately 60 million people are illiterate. In the story “The Human Cost of an Illiterate Society” Jonathan Kozol discuss how illiteracy is powerlessness. To be able to have democracy we need to have principles of social equality and respect for the individual within a community. Kozol believes that democracy is false and untruthful when illiterates do not have the knowledge to understand their rights, causing a negative effect in the political construction.…

    • 342 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays