Literacy is the ability to read and write with the ability to understand. To me literacy means to have the basic knowledge of anything that can be taught/learnable.
While watching John Trischitt’s Ted talk ‘Literacy is the Answer’ I shocked and disappointed to learn that illiteracy affects around 1 Billion people, it affects more people than Cancer Deaths, Diabetes and people with Heart Disease.
Two statistics John Trischitt mentioned was ” students eligible for free or reduced lunches cannot read with proficiency” and ” 3 out of 4 food stamp recipients preform at the lowest literacy levels”. I don’t agree with those statistics.
I do agree with John Trischitt when he said if 1 Billion illiterate individuals was a virus then it would be considered an epidemic. I’m on the fence when he stated that that literacy can help society with hunger, poverty and crime. yes it can help in those cases the when your have families with people who cannot read or write, but what about those individuals who come from families who are way above water (middle to upper class) and they end up on drugs, on the streets or in jail?
