Fight the War Against Illiteracy

If you’re surfing the Net right now, it’s a good guess that you can read. Take a second to imagine your life without this ability, as if it suddenly disappeared. How would your life be different? Along with your ability to read, what else would you lose? Your job? Your spouse? Your social status? Your dignity?

The ability to read well is so underrated that even many college students never finish another book after graduation. Such neglect has been called “the intelligence trap,” a belief that since one already can read, one doesn’t have to read.

Okay. Wake-up call: A person’s ability to read is similar to his or her ability to do pushups or sit ups. Reading is an exercise, a workout of the mind, a strengthening of mental muscles that you rarely use any other way. And since muscles don’t stay the same (either getting stronger with use or weaker through neglect), a person’s mind is actually getting sharper or duller all the time. Just as the ability to stand on one foot gets better by standing on one foot, a person’s ability to think and concentrate gets stronger through thinking and concentrating.

Think of books as mental dumbbells, coming in all shapes, sizes, and weight. How much can you “bench” right now? Is it impressive, or have you been away from the gym (i.e. bookstore, library, etc.) for far too long? Is creating a sharper mind on your list of New Year’s resolutions?

If you’re in pretty good shape already, become a trainer by encouraging others to read. I know this can sound corny to some, but I’ve discovered three ways to do this without losing cool points. Instead of yelling at everyone like a strung out Chicken Little bearing a picket sign that says, READ FOOLS! just do three things:

1.      Tell someone all about the last great book you’ve read, asking if he’s read it. If he hasn’t, tell him all the reasons he should.

2.      Shop for a good book through others. Ask people for suggestions on what you should read next. If a person has no suggestion, refer back to number one.

3.      Have conversations about books the way you have conversations about movies. Since so many movies are made from books, this should be as simple as talking about movies, then making the switch to books.

                  (Oh, and if you have other ideas, I’d love to hear them!)

By doing these three things as often as possible, you will help bring the act of reading closer to the forefront of our nation’s pastime activities. You will become a soldier in the war against illiteracy, which is not only defined as “the inability to read,” but also as “ignorance resulting from not reading.”

To get closer to the front lines of this war, contact a public school or college in your area for tutoring opportunities. It’s easier than you think, and the rewards can’t be put to words.

If you’re already a soldier, I salute you.