Literacy is the key to the future

A life with literacy is a life of dreams, hopes, choices and opportunities - at least in the developed world. For those in disadvantaged situations either in Third World countries or urban ghettos of otherwise rich countries no literacy means a life of boredom. The life of thousands of Aboriginal people is one doomed to a path of despair as they struggle to come to terms with the new way of living in the developed world after thousands of years of a nomadic existence. This in turn leads to substance abuse, limited food choices and a constant state of poverty.

The 1967 Referendum gave full citizenship rights to Australia’s first people. This then lead to welfare benefits for the unemployed in 1976 with the subsequent access to the broader markets through colour television and the powerful advertising of beer, aerated soft drinks and fast food. The party had started but the hangover is getting bigger and we have all been bombarded with rhetoric about why the failures continue to occur and get worse – in the case of end stage renal failure there are more Aboriginal people needing renal dialysis every year.
Imagine how your life would have been if you had never learnt to read. It would be frustrating seeing all the wonderful things out there through the medium of television, cinemas or billboards but never able to access any of them because of the inability to get a job, always sick and time to burn driving you to concentrate only on the people around you and the relationships that are going on. Drinking, taking drugs or gambling on card games are as attractive as watching X-rated videos or looking at the pictures in a porn magazine. A breeding ground is developed for unhealthy living through poor personal and domestic hygiene, inadequate foodstuffs as well as social unrest through disharmony, anti-social behaviour and risk taking outside the law.

The solution to this disadvantage – literacy.
Yes just the simple task of reading and talking English will give a new generation of people who are able to enjoy life’s pleasures. It will mean people with self esteem and pride in their own ability to move on and take up study, university and employment opportunities along with everybody else. No longer will there be a marginalised group who are regarded as being lazy, bored, dumb and a burden on the rest of the population.
Fix literacy and you improve health, understand hygiene and housing, give transport options and have access to employment to fill the idle hours of the day.

For more on filling the idle hours go to
http://www.onlineopinion.com.au/print.asp?article=5361