Education in America vs. Education in Third World Countries

Education in the States vs. Education in Third World Countries A few weeks ago, I was walking d experiencetown, when this random came up to me and utter You in groom? Thats good, thats good. Education is important. From the state of her hair and clothes, and the smell of her breath, I mistaken she was dispossessed. I didnt corporeally pay much attention to her, because stateless spate ar so common in downtown Atlanta. I was just hoping that she wasnt going to ask me for either m whizy by and by a while, I get under ones skined thinking virtually what the homeless charwoman had said Education is important. Growing up, I had unendingly been taught that people who lived in the streets had been afforded the akin opportunities as I had, but they had simply chosen to ignore them. So, if this woman had basically thrown away her deportment, why was she here preaching to me that statement was important? How far had she gotten with her education? Was she like my great-grandm other, and lacked the skills to instruct and write? Literacy isnt roughly social function that I spend a lot of time thinking about, chiefly because all of the people that I surround myself and the people they surround themselves with argon all cap adequate to(p) of version at proficient levels.Of course, I was always aw ar that some people had disabilities that made it challenginger to read, like dyslexia, but it never occurred to me that some of them allowed for the hindrance to contendly turn them off to instruction. Is it possible that I yield been taking my literacy skills for granted? In this paper, I plan to explore literacy in the States, and how it compares to the value other nations put on literacy and even out our own soil before public schools were instituted. Being literate is defined as all person everywhere the age of 15 that can read and write.The United States had a literacy rate of 99% in the year 2003, match to the CIA census. 99% almost our immacul ate universe is capable of recital and writing at a proficient level. Who does the least 1% represent? The homeless? Or the dyslexic people who are too embarrassed to fill they need second reading? Every person in America is offered the prospect to receive an education, admittedly some educations are not the comparable quality as others, but everyone is definitely offered an education.While 99% of the country is literate, a test conducted by National Assessment of Adult Literacy 14% of US residents have increased difficulty reading at their level. According to the afore speculate definition, these people can be classified as untutored, because they dont met the standards of what is considered literate, since they have difficulty reading at their proficiency level. Is the lack of literacy payable to lack of focus in class while the foundation for reading and writing were being laid, or does 1% of the United States Population that are classified as illiterate completely compr ised of people who live with dyslexia?I cant imagine that the government would knowingly incorporate people with documented schooling disabilities when it comes time to calculate our nations literacy rate. That would be almost intentionally miscuing the results, because youre including people who have hindrances that keep them from reading and writing at a level equal with their age. Its to a fault just downright insulting. Can you imagine not tho having the s disability that makes you run twice as hard, but to be called illiterate for something you have no control over?Centuries ago, the idea of being able to read and write was a mere parlor dream among the majority of our population. The skill was reserved only for the kings and queens and the other extremely loaded people of that time period. The commoners who truly wanted a bring out life for their clawren would probably have sold everything they owned if it meant their child would have the opportunity to learn to read an d write. In todays society, however, such sacrifices are not necessary to make. Our government ensures that an education is made ready to every child in the country.Education is such an available resource in our country that we dont even think twice about it. We are inevitable taking it for granted. When did such knowledge become common endue to us? There are times when I visit my great-grandparents house, and they start telling me all sorts of stories about how they didnt even get to complete more than a third grade education, because they had to stop going to school in order to support their families. That was their reality not having that education as available to them as other kids did.The richer, white families of that time period where the only ones who could afford to send their children to school on a daily basis, some even going as far as to ensure that their child received a quality college education. It often came down to that money. In the end, it forget always be the richer families, or even the richest countries that can afford to give instruction their youth. In lower-income developing nations, going to school is nowhere near a reality. The idea of buying money enough to buy school clothes, shoes, books, paper, encils, and any other supplies necessary for the learning environment is non-existent, because there just isnt enough money for them to afford it. These are the absolute poorest places in the universe particularly Africa . Every time I turn on a television, regardless of what channel I may be watching, I am almost guaranteed to see a commercial about a philanthropy trying to energise money to support the children in Africa . Its heartbreaking, to say the least, to see the sad expressions on their sallow faces. I think to myself, thats not what I was doing when I was 5 or 6. I was outside, performing in the yard, or stuffing my face with ice cream.I wasnt stressed about where my next meal would come from, or whether or not my only wa ter source was toxic enough to kill me. The saddest thing I can remember about my younger days is when my parents coerce me off the jungle gym to do my homework, because I like any other kid my age, hated reading and writing. Not because it was hard, or even that I was being required to do it I hated reading and writing because thats what we always did. Every day, for most of my day, the teacher had us reading directions aloud and writing spelling words and sentences over and over and over again.However, had I switched places with one of those sad-faced kids in Africa , they would have never complained about the amount of reading and writing required of them. They would have relished every single(a) second of the knowledge that they gained in hopes of one day using it to help their families get to a better place. In those types of countries, literacy is to them as it was to us moxie when the only people who could afford to learn where the ones who didnt have to work from sunrise to sunset in order to keep their families from starving.There, education is one of the most valuable resources, because so few have access to it. I remember learning in an economics class that the less you had of a product, the more valuable it became, like diamonds or oil, and vice versa the more you have of a product, the less valuable it becomes. Thats what happened to our value on literacy in America . Before, when only a few people were awarded the privilege of learning how to read and write, everyone wanted it. I guess you could almost compare it to fads in todays society.Whenever we see our favorite A-list celebrities wearing this bag or that hat, we rush out to the nearest boutique, and pay whatever ridiculous hurt they ask for it. Maybe thats it. Since literacy and education have become so common place in our society that we have moved on another aspect to occupy our attention. Think about it for a moment. How numerous people in the United States have a Bachelors degree? A Masters degree? According to U. S. enumerate Bureau more than 40% of people 25 years and honest-to-goodness in the United States has either a Bachelors or a Masters degree.Theres a saying, When everyone is one thing, hence no one will be. Well, in this case when everyone is smart, then no one will be. Since a large enough portion of our population has these degrees, they are slowly starting to lose their value. Even some refrain food restaurants are beginning to require that people over a certain age have to have at least a Bachelors degree in order to work at their establishment. What does this say for our future? leave alone we at long last reach a item where even a Doctorate degree holds no value in our economy?What will that mean for the homeless people, or those individuals with learning disabilities, or even people who just have a genuinely hard time keeping up with their course load? Will they be weeded out as Charles Darwins theory of evolution suggests Only the s lopped survive? But in this case, the strongest are defined by their intelligence. Will they all eventually starve due to the fact that they cant find a job, because standards are set so high? If the incumbent trend continues, I think its definitely possible that eventually even the Doctorate degree will hold no real value.Especially with the way our counselors motivate us. They tell us that its not just enough to get an old-fashioned 4-year degree anymore, because thats what everyone has already. No, if we want to compete in the job market, we have to set ourselves preceding(prenominal) that bar. Logically, that supports my hypothesis. Just think about it for a second. Youre telling an entire generation of kids that the generation that came before them did the now-average-thing by attending four-year institutions.Now we have to go up and beyond that, by obtaining our graduate degrees, and if we really want to raise the bar, going as far as to earn our Doctorate. Where does that l eave the generation that comes after us? In the same position we find ourselves in now. The problem with our country is not that we take literacy for granted. On the contrary, we are steadily improving and bettering ourselves by pushing each generation to do better than the last. Our problem lies with the fact that eventually there will be no more up to go.