Jesus Life 89 - The Jesus Army

8
Jesus Life
Branded
‘Thicko’
Continued from previous page
per cent of the UK is completely illiterate, one in
six people in the UK struggle with literacy in so
far as they do not have sufficient skills to function
properly in society, including the workplace.
Poor literacy skills can also be a serious
barrier to people finding work or progressing
once they find employment. Shockingly,
research has shown that 40-50 per cent of
prisoners are at or below the level of literacy
and numeracy expected of an 11-year-old. This
is much higher than the national average.
Clearly, there is a link between illiteracy
and crime.
Rowan Williams, Archbishop of Canterbury,
writing for the Evening Standard says: “Literacy
is still about dignity and freedom...illiteracy is a
prison. It traps people in a world where they are
always at a disadvantage and always in fear of
being ‘found out’.”
Illiteracy equals powerlessness: not
understanding the post that comes through your
door; not being able to express yourself on paper;
having little choice of work you can do; not being
able to help your kids with their homework.
The list goes on. Indeed, poor literacy skills are
often passed on from generation to generation –
children suffering an inherited disadvantage.
The flipside of this, the acquisition of good
literacy skills, is obvious: Kofi Annan: Secretary-
General of the United Nations from 1997 to
2006 writes: “Literacy is a bridge from misery to
hope...a tool for daily life in modern society...a
bulwark against poverty, and a building block of
development...a platform for democratization,
and a vehicle for the promotion of cultural and
national identity. [It is] a basic human right...
the road to human progress and the means
through which every man, woman and child
s
s
www.jesuscentre.org.uk