What Is The Best Way To Encourage Teenager To Learn And Grow?

Some teenagers believe that literacy is unrealistic to the "real world." We think of literacy as the ability to read and write but there is financial, computer, science and many others forms. Literacy actually means "the quality or state of being literate." (Merriam-Webster Online) Most states require that teenagers seeking a driver's license have a eighth reading level or higher to obtain the privilege. Teenagers that know about this requirement may not reach to achieve a higher reading level. One out of every four teenagers drops out of high school, and of those who graduate, one out of every four has the equivalent of an eighth-grade education. (National Center for Research in Vocational Education) Other young people have goal of attending college and seek to have a higher literary skills. Theories, habits, financial need, and who should seek information about literacy needs to be brought to the forefront because teenagers need to be educated to become productive adults.

Theories vary but all have one common goal. Reading is important for everyone, not just teenagers. Reading skills taught to children in elementary school develop their reading proficiency. If a child falls behind in any literacy skills, some may have trouble catching back up with his or her peers. One theory that some teenagers use is that they do not have to have elevated reading skills to get a job. A study done by the U.S Department of Labor in 2004, shows that adults with some college makes $166 more than those who have a high school diploma. Those people that have dropped out of high school make $87 less than those with a diploma do. (U.S. Department of Labor: Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2004) Jobs that do not require a college degree are easy to find but do not pay as well as jobs with a degree. Nursing assistants, Home health care works and some automotive positions do not require any college but do require training. (Schultz, 1998)

Message boards on the subject of teenagers reading show that a majority of teenagers like to read for pleasure. There are a few messages where teens suggest that it is boring because teachers are "making" students read certain books. (TheHillBilly, 2004) Girls tend to seek reading more than boys do. Girls say that they read books for fun, where only 19 percent of boys read for pleasure.(2001) Teenagers tend to rebel against anything that is force upon them. Forcing them to read material that is not interesting to them will only force these young people to "shut down" on reading any literature.

Many teenagers have bad habits that affect their daily living bad diet, watching television, lack of exercising, and playing video games on and off the computer. These contribute to reading skill levels in some way. Parents might be shock to find that 90% of teenagers are watching television and only 33% read a book during the summer months. While 23% do both. (Mason, 2004) Teenager would rather watch television or be on the computer rather than read a book. However, a study done by the National Education Association showed that 87% of students found that reading was relaxing, where only 30% of the students surveyed found reading to be boring and dull. (NEA: Nation Education Association) Television stations have shows on that are educational and teach teenagers about things that are going on in the world. PBS and Discovery Channel are a few that encourages learning.

With computers becoming more popular in the schools, more students have access to them while only in school. More teenagers are using the computer as reading material instead of books. The article shows a study of young people showing that they are using chat rooms as a tool for social and verbal interaction.(Merchant, 2001) With today's technology, computer are found in a wide variety of places. Teenagers on the computer maybe doing research or reading for E-books that is not available to them through other means. Teens that use the computer are building communication skills and learning how to use e-mail as a form of transaction with other people including teachers, colleges, and friends. While in school, students use the computer for a wide variety of subject and uses. The computer has programs like WordÐ'® and WorksÐ'® that help students with homework assignments. ExcelÐ'® helps students understand charts and databases. Like all the programs in Microsoft OfficeÐ'®, these programs can and used in school. Programs that some students use like Microsoft Office Ð'® and Works Ð'® can be difficult to use for students that are having problems with reading skills. The chat rooms are a way to tutor as well as a way for other student to communicate with other students in their class after school. Computers at school only allow teenagers to access of the internet to research materials, not granting them approval of chat rooms. For the students that have the internet in the home more teenagers are finding other teens in chat room to chat with about varies topic which are mainly coded with abbreviations and slang.

While in school teens are reading a lot about history, writing, science and various subjects. The National Education Association states that reading is the foundation to higher learning. (NEA: National Education Association) According to a survey conduct by smartgirl.com, teenagers would read more books if they knew more books where out there gear more for teens. Only 25% of those that took the survey said that they read two to three books a month and 16 % have never been to the public library. (2005) A large number of teenagers read at eighth grade or better reading level and developing a type of reading habit.

According to Alden, "illiteracy is one of the main causes of poverty." (Alden, 1982) Teenagers from low-income families might have a harder time with receiving a better education due to the lack of funds from the school board, or lack of volunteers from the community and family. In lower income neighborhoods, children see a lot of crime such as theft and drug deals. They believe that they do not need an education because they can always make money selling drugs or stealing it. Another point of view might be lack of attention of teachers' part. Then there is the opposite view that teenagers from low-income families have to work harder to achieve success in school so that they can have a good job to help support their family.

Low-income schools have some of the same disadvantages as low-income families. Teachers in low-income schools tend to be paid less therefore making them unmotivated to teach their students properly. These teachers might not have the financial support to get interesting books into the classroom and may be using textbooks that are out-dated. Students might have a teacher in a low-income school that does not