When I was first told I needed to learn how to read, probably fifteen years ago, I cried. I grew up fortunate enough to receive a formal education, but I did not see the value in reading. Every day I would challenge my mom and give her some outlandish reason why I didn’t need to learn how to read.

I only need to read billboards, and those aren’t hard to read!

What’s the point of reading a book?

I remember the moment when it all changed. I can recall the moment when I fell in love with that feeling you get as you’re completely immersed in a book. No friend, family member, or fun children’s game could pull me out of the world reading allowed me to enter.

I knew from the moment I got to chapter two of “Magic Treehouse: Mummies in the Morning” that I had found my calling, something that would become my escape from the troubles and anxieties of the outside world.

Some children are not fortunate enough to share the experience I had in this magical second world where you can travel back in time in a treehouse. Many kids don’t experience any sort of a second world at all. One in four children in America grow up without learning how to read.

One in four of these children can’t read labels at a grocery store. They can’t read children’s menu at a restaurant. They won’t ever be able to read and fully comprehend this article.

Studies have shown that illiteracy is tied to crime rates. 85% of all juveniles within the juvenile court system are functionally illiterate. According to a UNESCO’s conference in 1978, to be functionally illiterate means “may be able to perform very basic reading and writing, but cannot do so at the level required for many societal activities and jobs.” This shows that is important to learn how to read and to teach children how to read not only for their personal enjoyment but also for their overall wellbeing.

We need to give these children a chance to experience a world in which they can communicate with and understand written words. They need to be taught early how to read and why literacy is such an essential part of life. We need to show them what it is like to become fixated on a character’s complex life to escape the complex parts of your own life, and we need to show them the freedom that comes with being locked into a book.