There is a new and vicious disease that's spreading in the urban community. No it's not any STD’s; it's called "ILLITERACY". Illiteracy is a very systemic problem that has an effect on 87 percent of African-American children across the United States according to http://www.testourkids.com/. If we as parent(s), teacher(s), politician(s), student(s) and school administrator(s) don’t engage this problem of illiteracy, this will affect various other matters and hinder the cultivation of urban communities across America.
When we talk about education and literacy, some can argue the fact that education is the same as literacy or education is a different entity than literacy. In my opinion I will lean to the side that education is different from literacy. Reason being, that when we concern ourselves or embrace the value of literacy, we are embracing a tool that will allow the ability to read and write. Along with being able to understand what you read and write. According to United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) defines literacy as the "ability to identify, understand, interpret, create, communicate, compute and use printed and written materials associated with varying contexts. Literacy involves a continuum of learning in enabling individuals to achieve their goals, to develop their knowledge and potential, and to participate fully in their community and wider society." So when we talk about the aspect of education, how can adults and children began to acquire a "quality education" without the abilities stated by United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)?
From Wikipedia, education is the process by which society deliberately transmits its accumulated knowledge, skills, and values from one generation to another. Accumulated meaning that you have already acquired the knowledge, skills and value of an education but without literacy how can a person mind obtain these attributes, which is essential to maintain a certain satisfactory lifestyle?
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, African-American has a total resident population of 41.8 million. 30 percent proportion of the black population younger than 18 and 8 percent of the black population was 65 and older. You can estimate that 72 percent of the African-American populations are between about ages 30 to 55. The 30 percent proportion of the black population is younger than 18 that leave you with about 12,540,000 children or students. According to http://www.testourkids.com/ and Schott 50 State Report on Public Education and Black Males, 87 percent of our children are illiterate. So out of 12,540,000 children or students 10,909,800 approximately suffer from this crucial disease.
As a "Community Activist", my job is to make public civil right issues or injustices, so that there may be a climate for change. In the small urban community that I reside in, Penns Grove, NJ, known as South Jersey, I know that my own community contribute to the national figure of 87 percent of our African-American children who are illiterate. There are 2400 students that make up five schools.
2009-2010 NJASK results show that 72 percent of the district's third graders and 70 percent of the district's fourth graders failed to reach key reading benchmarks on the language arts portion of the NJASK. This systemic disease of illiteracy deprives our children at an early age. The fact that many of the district's third and fourth graders SUB-GROUPS including MALE (75%/77%), AFRICAN-AMERICAN (79%-82%), HISPANIC (80%/78%), & ECONOMICALLY DISADVANTAGE (77%-81%) PERFORMED EVEN LOWER IN LANGUAGE ARTS portion of the test. This problem has yet to be engage, so I concur as the "No Child Left Behind Act" is still prevalent among the educational system in "Urban America", as in my own school district, you can say that as these children, who live in this community, go to higher grade levels, the issue of illiteracy has not got better but you could say worsen. Given the statistics in the Penns Grove-Carneys Point School District, out of 2400 students 2088 could be classified as illiterate leaving 312 students who are literate.
You can correlate illiteracy to a wide range of urban issues such as, crime, drugs, teenage pregnancy, high school dropout, no jobs, poor education, etc..,. People argue these points of issues in urban community in America every day. A common question is ask, how can all these issues relate to people of illiteracy? I myself can argue that. Simple, Malcolm X said, “When you live in a poor neighborhood; your living in an area where you have to have poor schools; when you have poor schools, you have poor teachers; when you have poor teachers, you get a poor education; when you get a poor education, you are destined to be a poor man and poor woman for rest of your life". Yes, this is a very vicious cycle.
When we relate illiteracy to these various problems, you also argue that illiteracy suppress a child thought process to where it creates frustration in a child mind causing that child to misbehave or act out. Illiteracy in no way can create high-self esteem in a child in a classroom. I, myself even argued this point of low-self esteem causing a child to want to give up, quit or drop out. If this happen in which it already has, children are turning to the streets and getting involved in the wrong things, as well as, getting another love that they may think is love from the wrong type of people.
So we must put a book in our children hand today and sit down, read to them let them know that we love and support everything they're trying to do concerning literacy, education and recreational activities. We must suppress this 87 percent of illiterate African-American. This start with me, start with you, it starts with us. Go to http://www.testourkids.com/ to find out how your child reading ability is. It takes a community to raise a child still!
When we talk about education and literacy, some can argue the fact that education is the same as literacy or education is a different entity than literacy. In my opinion I will lean to the side that education is different from literacy. Reason being, that when we concern ourselves or embrace the value of literacy, we are embracing a tool that will allow the ability to read and write. Along with being able to understand what you read and write. According to United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) defines literacy as the "ability to identify, understand, interpret, create, communicate, compute and use printed and written materials associated with varying contexts. Literacy involves a continuum of learning in enabling individuals to achieve their goals, to develop their knowledge and potential, and to participate fully in their community and wider society." So when we talk about the aspect of education, how can adults and children began to acquire a "quality education" without the abilities stated by United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)?
From Wikipedia, education is the process by which society deliberately transmits its accumulated knowledge, skills, and values from one generation to another. Accumulated meaning that you have already acquired the knowledge, skills and value of an education but without literacy how can a person mind obtain these attributes, which is essential to maintain a certain satisfactory lifestyle?
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, African-American has a total resident population of 41.8 million. 30 percent proportion of the black population younger than 18 and 8 percent of the black population was 65 and older. You can estimate that 72 percent of the African-American populations are between about ages 30 to 55. The 30 percent proportion of the black population is younger than 18 that leave you with about 12,540,000 children or students. According to http://www.testourkids.com/ and Schott 50 State Report on Public Education and Black Males, 87 percent of our children are illiterate. So out of 12,540,000 children or students 10,909,800 approximately suffer from this crucial disease.
As a "Community Activist", my job is to make public civil right issues or injustices, so that there may be a climate for change. In the small urban community that I reside in, Penns Grove, NJ, known as South Jersey, I know that my own community contribute to the national figure of 87 percent of our African-American children who are illiterate. There are 2400 students that make up five schools.
2009-2010 NJASK results show that 72 percent of the district's third graders and 70 percent of the district's fourth graders failed to reach key reading benchmarks on the language arts portion of the NJASK. This systemic disease of illiteracy deprives our children at an early age. The fact that many of the district's third and fourth graders SUB-GROUPS including MALE (75%/77%), AFRICAN-AMERICAN (79%-82%), HISPANIC (80%/78%), & ECONOMICALLY DISADVANTAGE (77%-81%) PERFORMED EVEN LOWER IN LANGUAGE ARTS portion of the test. This problem has yet to be engage, so I concur as the "No Child Left Behind Act" is still prevalent among the educational system in "Urban America", as in my own school district, you can say that as these children, who live in this community, go to higher grade levels, the issue of illiteracy has not got better but you could say worsen. Given the statistics in the Penns Grove-Carneys Point School District, out of 2400 students 2088 could be classified as illiterate leaving 312 students who are literate.
You can correlate illiteracy to a wide range of urban issues such as, crime, drugs, teenage pregnancy, high school dropout, no jobs, poor education, etc..,. People argue these points of issues in urban community in America every day. A common question is ask, how can all these issues relate to people of illiteracy? I myself can argue that. Simple, Malcolm X said, “When you live in a poor neighborhood; your living in an area where you have to have poor schools; when you have poor schools, you have poor teachers; when you have poor teachers, you get a poor education; when you get a poor education, you are destined to be a poor man and poor woman for rest of your life". Yes, this is a very vicious cycle.
When we relate illiteracy to these various problems, you also argue that illiteracy suppress a child thought process to where it creates frustration in a child mind causing that child to misbehave or act out. Illiteracy in no way can create high-self esteem in a child in a classroom. I, myself even argued this point of low-self esteem causing a child to want to give up, quit or drop out. If this happen in which it already has, children are turning to the streets and getting involved in the wrong things, as well as, getting another love that they may think is love from the wrong type of people.
So we must put a book in our children hand today and sit down, read to them let them know that we love and support everything they're trying to do concerning literacy, education and recreational activities. We must suppress this 87 percent of illiterate African-American. This start with me, start with you, it starts with us. Go to http://www.testourkids.com/ to find out how your child reading ability is. It takes a community to raise a child still!
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