Teach him to read.

Maybe this sounds overly simplistic, but a young adult who is illiterate is unqualified for all but the most menial jobs. You can’t even work at McDonald’s if you can’t read the job instructions or the words on the screen of the till. 96% of the available jobs are out of reach for someone who is functionally illiterate.

Statistics from the UK show that 50% of inmates are functionally illiterate and 80% do not possess the writing skills to fill out a job application. There are supposed to be learning programs in the prisons, evidently they are not working, Two thirds of prisoners leave prison with no prospect of employment. Within two years the majority will be once again before the courts.

Systematic phonics is the one proven method for teaching reading. The public school system had abandoned it by the time I started school 68 years ago. Thankfully, I was already a prolific reader by then. The public school system has invested great gobs of money in new reading programs, remedial reading instructors, psychologists and other specialists. But they have no intention of ever returning to the one method that has been proven over and over again to work.

You cannot trust the public school system to teach your child to read. Reading to your child is the essential first step in introducing them to reading. Teach them the sounds of the letters and how they make words when blended together. Don’t trust commercial programs that are labelled “phonics.” The Society for Quality Education offers a free online reading course for children who are having difficulty in learning to read. You can find them here.

There are many other factors involved in crime and incarceration, including an unstable home life. But illiteracy is probably the number one factor in predicting who is going to have trouble with the law.

By the way, the masculine “him” in the first sentence was deliberate. Twice as many boys as girls struggle with learning to read and write.