The first week of November I start my school visits… by the end of the month, I will probably have talked to around 650 kids and given away almost 400 books.

When I started visiting schools, I was shocked by what the teachers were telling me.  I heard things like,

“These kids just do not have books at home.” or “His father will probably throw that book away.”

That really opened my eyes.  

So I did some research. Here is what I found out.  The information is from the National Literary Institute. 

•Approximately 40% of students across the nation cannot read at a basic level.

•54% of adults have a literacy below a 6th-grade level (20% are below 5th-grade level).

•3 out of 4 people on welfare can’t read

•20% of Americans read below the level needed to earn a living wage

•50% of the unemployed between the ages of 16 and 21 cannot read well enough to be considered functionally literate

•To determine how many prison beds will be needed in future years, some states actually base part of their projection on how well current elementary students are performing on reading tests

I kept digging….  If an adult cannot read, it is increasingly difficult to get a job. If you cannot get a job, how do you make money? If you need money, there is a good chance you will choose a life of crime. A life of crime has a high chance of leading to the world of drugs. Also, if you have no money, that increases your chances of homelessness.  All of the primary issues with our communities can be traced back to literacy. 

So, I am thinking we need to get the kids reading as early as possible. I have yet to run into a 7 year old or younger that doesn’t like books. So what happens after that? Are we encouraging the kids to continue to read after that in our homes? Are we too busy to provide time for reading?  

Or is this a cyclical issue … parents have trouble reading so they are embarrassed to read with their kids.

I do not claim to have the answers … but I do know that I will not visit a classroom of kids 2nd grade or under without books for each child. Fortunately I have found a number of sponsors that see the importance of literacy and help finance my visits.

Last year, we gave out over 1000 books. 

If that one book can somehow encourage a student to love reading … to keep on that path, maybe we can prevent the cycle from continuing for that family.

Wishful thinking? Possibly. But it’s worth a shot.

Keep reading! 

Ron