By: Marcia King-Gamble
www.lovemarcia.com
Who
would have thought that reading would become a lost art? I know that’s a
strange thing for a writer to say. I blame some of it on modern
technology and this world of instant gratification. We want to get answers now. Forget about savoring and enjoying the moment we're in.
Back
in the day, we escaped the challenges of everyday living by immersing ourselves
in books. Books opened for us a diferent world and exposed us to lives
and cultures that were foreign to us.
As a child, growing up on a small
Caribbean island, it was my means of escape. I was exposed to places never before
seen. Reading made me long to travel to all those places I’d never been.
On a
small island where only the upper middle class had televisions, and reception
was faulty, you had no choice but to read. You spent precious minutes savoring
the cover, holding that book to your heart, and pretending you were in that
foreign country.
IPads
and electronic devices didn’t exist back then, and even today, do they
really trump the feel and smell of a good book?
Years
ago, when book signings were in vogue,
and readers were excited about meeting authors, millennials
(normally a smart group) would proudly
tell me they didn’t read. Mind you, this was usually said while hustling through
busy malls with a collection of shopping bags from upscale stores.
It was often a sad moment for me, because it struck home that reading was indeed
a lost art. Better to acquire material stuff than the knowledge a good book might
bring.
More
recently, I had the opportunity to do some work for an international airline.
My role was to assist passengers at the kiosks preflight. This was a
relatively simple process that required me to assist those electronically
challenged. It required reading the instructions and touching the screen.
To
my amazement, I discovered that many adults simply couldn’t read. It wasn’t
fear of technology that paralyzed them, but the inability to read the
instructions. Even the most buttoned
down, briefcase carrying passengers were challenged.
In
doing my research, I discovered that 20% of adults in the nation’s capital
still struggle with illiteracy, although most are way too embarrassed to admit
it. The unfortunate truth is that several don’t
possess academic skills beyond those of a middle-school student.
The National Center for Education indicates 19 percent of adults
cannot read a newspaper, much less complete a job application. According to the
U.S. Department of Education and the National Institute of Literacy, approximately
32 million adults in the United States can’t read. Further, The Organization for Economic
Cooperation and Development claims that 50 percent of U.S. adults
can’t read a book written at an eighth-grade level. This is
truly scary.
The
inability to read makes life significantly harder for adults. The Literacy Foundation says the consequences
of illiteracy are as follows:
The
unemployment rate is 2–4 times higher among those with little schooling than
among those with Bachelor’s degree
Illiterate individuals
are assured a lower income
They
are destined to find lower-quality jobs
Their
access to lifelong learning and professional development is reduced
They place
themselves in a precarious financial position
They
have limited ability to obtain and understand essential information
There is greater likelihood that if little value
is given to education and reading within the family, the cycle repeats itself
in the next generation
Low
self-esteem is often a result, leading to isolation
Illiterate
individuals tend to have more workplace accidents, take longer to recover and
misuse medication because they have trouble reading and understanding the
relevant information (warnings, dosage etc.)
This boggles the mind since there are many Literacy
organizations out there willing to work with adults, and at no cost to you. A good place to gather information would be
your local library.
Just think about how much more enjoyable that electronic device used
for game playing would be, if you could read the instructions. How much more
enjoyable life would be if you transport yourself to another world. And finally,
what better way to relax and forget your troubles than reading a book on that
electronic device, now a staple of life.
Yes, reading is fun. What’s
more it increases brain power, benefitting you in the same manner as a good run.
Reading improves memory function by giving your brain
a good workout. Why don’t we work out together?
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Marcia King-Gamble originally hails from a sunny Caribbean island where the sky and ocean are the same mesmerizing shade of blue.
She is a travel industry executive and a self proclaimed globetrotter. A National Bestselling author, Marcia has penned over 40 books. Her free time is spent at the gym, traveling, and with her animal family.
She loves hearing from you. www.lovemarcia.com or Like her on Facebook https://bit.ly/1MlnrIS
