Benefits of Strong Literacy Skills Essay

?Dear Grace Literacy is crucial to the success of individuals in both their career aspirations and their quality of life. Strong literacy skills are closely linked to the probability of having a good job, decent earnings, and access to training opportunities. Individuals with weak literacy skills are more likely to be unemployed or, if employed, to be in jobs that pay little or that offer poor hours or working conditions. Traditionally, literacy has referred to the ability to read, understand, and use information. But the term has come to take on broader meaning, standing for a range of knowledge, skills and abilities relating to reading, mathematics, science and more. Subsequently in 1740 South Carolina if you taught a slave to write or employed him in a job requiring writing then the teacher or employer would be fined 100 pounds. The Virginia code of 1819 states that the teaching or assembly of any colored persons is unlawful and is punishable by any means deemed necessary by the court or judge. In 1830-1831 the state of North Carolina passed a law that prohibited the teachings of reading and writing to a slave. Alabama in 1833 enacted three laws that repressed slaves and people of color by not allowing them to be taught reading and writing as well as assembling more than five people of color. I have included this information to show how powerful and important knowledge is. Knowledge is so powerful that these people feared it so much that they felt the need to create these laws to protect themselves from what they thought would happen if slaves had the same power they had. Being able to read and write is the most basic foundation of knowledge accumulation and further skill development (source #4). Without literacy there can be no quality education. There is currently one out of five adults that are illiterate. If this trend continues then by 2015 over 700 million adults worldwide will not be literate. Children that participate in school for their first three grades should be able to read and write basic text. Evidence has shown that children with this ability are better prepared for further learning making them more apt to read and comprehend progressively more advanced materials along with acquiring additional knowledge. There is a poem called The Value of Books (source #3) and I think you should read it. This poem talks about the importance of reading and knowledge. The poem says how life is dead in the living world without knowledge. According to the poem the â€Å"light† of knowledge is shining down on the readers and how books are â€Å"the ultimate weapon† in our everyday battles. He who neglects books is undefended in a world of knowledge. We must use as much time as possible to enlighten our brains with the knowledge of the world for time has no master and waits for no one and time is waning. In conclusion I hope you are able to take something away from this. Take advantage of the opportunities you have that others do not like the slaves that were repressed and punished for learning. Stay on top of your studies as to help yourself and others contribute to the world the knowledge you have obtained. Never neglect knowledge for any reason for it is the best weapon you have to defend yourself against the world. Always remember that time has no master and waits for no one not even you so take every moment you have to better yourself and others just remember that time is running out.