Slog Comments
The Ghastly True Story of American Illiteracy
1
Disagree. It is a parenting (lack thereof) and education (poor) issue. Children learn what they live. If they aren't living in an environment (the immediate being an intact family) that enables learning they won't learn. Especially learn to read.
2
I wonder what percentage of people in the US who are illiterate in English are immigrants? The increase in illiteracy certainly has a relationship to the US educational system, but I suspect that a good chunk of functional illiteracy is from immigrants who may or may not be literate in other languages.
3
@1 Oh, come on. Intact families don't have anything to do with it. Does the family have incentives, in the form of low opportunity cost for the time spent teaching kids (e.g. they have the time do it) AND demonstrable benefit from literacy? Some poor families make the choice that learning to read (hard to teach if you don't know yourself) isn't worth the time cost, since they'll probably be in the same economic place afterward.
4
@2 That's probably true of some of the states w/ the higher illiteracy rates (California, Texas, Florida, Illinois, New York, New Jersey). On the other hand, the highest is Mississippi, which I've never thought of as a big immigrant destination.
5
Everywhere is a big immigrant destination (except maybe Seattle). You might be surprised. Look at the news coming out of Alabama.
6
Given that 16% of the population has an IQ of 85 or lower, the US functional illiteracy rate of 20% doesn't seem too bad.
7
@1: Yes, but all of the issues you mention above are also tied inextricably with class.
The bottom line is, the poor have less access to enriching environments, and go to underperforming schools in higher numbers. This does not even touch on the specters of depression, drug addiction, malnutrition and child abuse that haunt the lower classes.
The working poor also have less time to spend with their children, and lack the resources to hire assistance in this regard. When you have to spend all your time acquiring food and shelter, there is little time to spend enriching your mind.
The bottom line is, the poor have less access to enriching environments, and go to underperforming schools in higher numbers. This does not even touch on the specters of depression, drug addiction, malnutrition and child abuse that haunt the lower classes.
The working poor also have less time to spend with their children, and lack the resources to hire assistance in this regard. When you have to spend all your time acquiring food and shelter, there is little time to spend enriching your mind.
8
@5
Mississippi is in 43rd place for number of foreign born residents. California is 1st. Mississippi's Immigrant population obviously does not compare to a the population in a state like California. A third of all foreign born residents nationally live in California.
Mississippi is in 43rd place for number of foreign born residents. California is 1st. Mississippi's Immigrant population obviously does not compare to a the population in a state like California. A third of all foreign born residents nationally live in California.
9
Pardon my chart-reading illiteracy, but I'm confused by something here. The bar graph in the middle of the page says that 42 million American adults cannot read at all. There are about 300 million Americans, so that would be about 14%. But the map at the top of the page says the USA is 95-100% literate.
11
This infographic is bullshit. 42 million American adults can't read at all? Yeah, right. I think you're missing a decimal point, dummy.
13
The reason they call it the American Dream is because you have to be asleep to believe it.
–George Carlin (2005)
–George Carlin (2005)
14
Of course, if there happened to be greater literacy at The Stranger, perhaps individuals such as Paul Constant would actually read the bios on all those neocon appointments of the Obama Administration and, utilizing that less-than-brainiac mind of his, begin to comprehend that every administration, from Reagan to Obama, has been 100% neocon!
Of course, that would require greater literacy.......
Of course, that would require greater literacy.......
15
@2 Poor literacy is a problem for native-born americans and is getting worse. As for immigrants, the majority are at least funtionally bilingual. Most native-born Americans speak English at a seventh grade level. A large percentage of immigrants to the U.S. are from Mexico. According to the info-graphic Mexico has a pretty high literacy rate. I'll bet a lot of immigrants are literate in their own languages, unless they come from a low-literacy rate country to begin with.
16
That infographic is innumerate. If 42 million adults in the USA can't read at all, it's impossible for the USA to score 95-100% on the world reading literacy map without a population of 840 million (& no illiterate children).
18
@16 I was going to say that, but with a more colorful word than "innumerate."
Thanks for bringing up the tone of Slog. Mmmm... cheese!
Thanks for bringing up the tone of Slog. Mmmm... cheese!
Comments (18) RSS