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Photo contest entries to be accepted until 4 p.m. today

Today is Family Literacy Day and when it comes to literacy, we always focus on the children in the family. I think that we should look farther and focus on the extended family, particularly the seniors of the family.

Today is Family Literacy Day and when it comes to literacy, we always focus on the children in the family. I think that we should look farther and focus on the extended family, particularly the seniors of the family.

Seniors are less likely to have sufficient literacy skills for everyday life in Canada today. Whether they were born in Canada or elsewhere around the world, today’s seniors grew up in a different world. Many times, their education was interrupted or halted due to poverty, war, the Great Depression, family obligations, lack of access to schools or the lure of many good jobs that didn’t require high literacy skills. Even for those who finished high school, the education that the seniors received may not have prepared them for the demands of today’s society.

Eighty percent of seniors are working with low levels of literacy. Based on 1996 statistics, over 60 per cent of seniors never completed high school. 37 per cent had less than a Grade-9 education and only 8 per cent of seniors had a university degree. It is these percentages that should concern society today, because it can lead to a multitude of problems for seniors.

Seniors with low literacy skills are more likely to have health problems. Poverty, isolation and low literacy are usually linked and intensify other difficulties that accompany aging. Less literate seniors have more difficulty maintaining their health, safety, independence and self-esteem and are less able to care for others. They may not fully understand medical instructions or be able to make the best use of health and social services. They may also miss out on information about new treatments, drug side effects or lifestyle changes that could enhance their health at the very time when their health needs are greatest.

So why don’t you bring the seniors in your life into the embrace of your family’s literacy fun? Why not have a picture taken of grandma or grandpa reading with Emily or Johnny?

The pictures can then be entered into the Get Caught Reading Contest which ends today (Jan. 27) at 4 p.m. All entries must be at the library by that time.

If that doesn’t work, why don’t you invite them to join you and your family at the library for the scrabble tournament on Saturday, Jan. 30 from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m.? We ask that you preregister, but we will not be turning anybody away.

Then at 3 p.m. the winners of the scrabble tournament and the Get Caught Reading contest will be awarded their prizes. We would love to see everybody turn out.

Watch next week for information about our Olympic month, Freedom to Read Week and a new after-school program for ages six to nine that will be beginning on Thursday, Feb. 11.