•10 million children struggle with reading and 10-15 percent of those eventually drop out of high school.

-National Institute of Child Health and Human Development

•86 percent of all juvenile offenders have reading problems.

-firstlady.utah.gov

•60 percent of prison inmates are illiterate.

-firstlady.utah.gov

•The average kindergarten student has seen more that 5,000 hours of television, having spent more time in front of the TV than it  takes to earn a bachelor’s degree.

-Reading Tube

•A typical sixth grader texts, watches television and plays video games for an average of 4 1/2 hours a day.

-Committee on Public Education

•According to a survey of 700 students aged 12-17, 85% use a form of electronic communication. “Growing up in a technological era, high school students may be unaware they are using language shortcuts in the classroom,” an Illinois senior told U.S. News & World Report

•“Developing our abilities to think more clearly, richly, fully–individually and collectively–is absolutely crucial to solving world problems.”

-Communications of the ACM