Problems Faced By Illiterate Adults
Worldwide, a significant number of its adults cannot read or write. These individuals struggle every day and in every situation as they attempt to come to terms with a society that continually changes and that does very little to cater to them. Thus, being functionally illiterate becomes their hidden shame that makes them struggle on their own to adapt to the 21st century that predominantly runs on computers and technology. The life of adults that are illiterate is a challenging that affects different areas of life.
One of the biggest problems is poverty. Most adults afflicted with illiteracy are powerless in changing their current situation. It is because; they lack various skills that can make them competitive in the job market to warrant earning a sizable income and benefits. Therefore, with the lack of reading and writing skills, the adults are relegated to rely on the limited jobs that necessitate only physical energy. Thus, they are forced to work extra hard to meet all their needs and goals, and in most cases, it is impossible causing them to live in abject poverty.
Illiteracy among adults influences negatively on their children. Numerous children are raised in homes with illiterate parents, who despite their inadequacies provide education for them. However, there is only so much knowledge a student can accrue from school, and they need more from home through their parents. Thus, with illiterate households, these children tend to miss additional knowledge instilled by parents while they experience problems in helping their children with school activities such as projects, homework or class reports. All these shortfalls pull a child backward.
If people do not understand, they face health problems. The scariest thing is experiencing a situation that puts one’s life at risk, and one cannot help themselves due to failure to read. Most illiterate adults find themselves in such scenarios, as they are unable to read prescription to discern the quantities of drugs to take, their warnings, side effects or whether they are likely to cause allergic reactions. Additionally, illiteracy affects nutrition. Most individuals learn about proper diet and supplements in school or through intensive research. For adults incapable of reading they have no knowledge of the diverse, nutritious foods and the harmful ones. Hence, they continue their poor eating habits.
Illiteracy causes problems in their social lives. Lack of information and skills makes social relationships difficult as they experience difficulties understanding and keeping up with their children’s school due to failure to read reports, letters or engage in class meetings. Therefore, they will always feel out of place, be isolated and be embarrassed when in the company of other adults. When discussions on what people read or researched come up, they feel out of place, mortified and alone when they cannot contribute. Moreover, people tend to segregate people they deem uneducated or below their status. Thus, illiterate adults continually find themselves by their lonesome and as a result, they develop low self-esteem.
Adults with literacy incapacity miss various government benefits and privileges. Governments such as that of the U.S assist with adult education and other benefits for illiterate adults. It also upholds their rights to vote, and driving privileges. However, lack of reading and writing skills inhibits their enjoyment due to lack of information and failure to know how to proceed to achieve them. Additionally, obtaining a driving license becomes impossible for them as they cannot read various traffic lights or complete the theoretical test.
In this century, numerous things have changed that require some degree of literacy for one to sail through comfortably and confidently. Adult illiteracy, however, makes this impossible by eliciting challenges in employment consequencing poverty, it affects the education of their children, risks their health, affects their social interactions and lack of information. Thus, adults need to enroll in adult education classes to solve these problems.