5 Reading Facts That May Surprise You

As an author, it's important to me that people read. Otherwise, really, what's the point? So I'm always prowling around the internet, sniffing out reading facts, and I came across a few that you might not know. . .

Two-thirds of students who cannot read proficiently by the end of 4th grade will end up in jail or on welfare. Over 70 percent of America’s inmates cannot read above a 4th grade level.

1 in 4 children in America grow up without learning how to read.

Nearly 85 percent of the juveniles who face trial in the juvenile court system are functionally illiterate, proving that there is a close relationship between illiteracy and crime. More than 60 percent of all inmates are functionally illiterate.

Teenage girls ages 16 to 19 who live at or below the poverty level and have below average literacy skills are 6 times more likely to have children out of wedlock than the girls their age who can read proficiently.

Long Beach, CA was ranked the country’s most illiterate city, followed by Mesa, AZ, and Aurora, CO.

So, what's the cure for all this dismal literary news? Take a kid to a bookstore. Buy the kid a book. Teach the dang kid to read the dang book. Bam! Illiteracy obliterated.

Next problem?