Spread the Word, Literacy is Alive! November 12, 2009

Did you know that 1 out of every 5 of our nation’s school-age children suffer from reading failures? We need to keep literacy alive and students engaged in learning. I came across two different websites that promote literacy and are essential for this blog; UNESCO and the National Institute for Literacy. UNESCO was founded in 1946 and it stands for United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization. Its goal is to create a literate world and promote literacy for all. This organization recognizes literacy among different cultural processes, personal circumstances and collective structures. In addition, the National Institute for Literacy, founded in 1991, provides adults, youth and children the opportunity to flourish in this progressively literate world. This website is easy to navigate because it has four separate tabs according to age that provides the viewer with multiple literacy components. I think both UNESCO and the National Institute for Literacy are excellent because they offer a copious amount of information to enhance general knowledge about literacy to the world.

People typically think of literacy as the ability to read and write. However, it is more than that and there are different types that people need to be familiar with. For example, the media is a huge component in our lives. We are surrounded with media messages every day and cannot escape them. Therefore, it is crucial for children, teenagers and adults to understand the difference between right and wrong and to not agree with every message they see. One major issue with the media is young girls trying to alter their bodies in hopes of looking like a celebrity/model. It is extremely important for young children, especially girls, to be true and love themselves for who they are. Below is a great video I found that shows what types of messages the media sends to young girls. The statement at the end of the video is great and concludes that people need to be more media literate in order to avoid the harm the messages contain.