Health, Safety, and Literacy: Our Shared Responsibility

Children need more than good intentions. They need the right information, presented in ways they can understand, remember, and use.

At Written Word Publications, we believe promoting health, safety, and literacy is a shared responsibility among educators, healthcare professionals, administrators, and parents. When children are given engaging, age-appropriate tools, they are better equipped to make healthier choices, stay safer, and build the reading skills that support success throughout life.

Alt text: Colorful illustration of a heart-shaped red apple with a green leaf, surrounded by a soft yellow glow and a small star.

HEALTH

Obesity rates for children have climbed to 18%, while the rate for teens has grown to 20%. We know that children may not always have many choices for food, but let’s give them the information they need to make good choices when they do have that opportunity.

Alt text: Colorful illustration of an open book with large ABC letters, stars, and pastel swirls rising from the pages.

LITERACY

Results from the 2024 National Assessment of Educational Progress show that reading scores continue to decline in Florida. In the United States reading proficiency rates have fallen to 63% for fourth grade students and 50% for eighth grade students. One in five US citizens is illiterate and 50% of adults read below a sixth-grade level.

We know that literacy rates are tied to economic, educational and health outcomes. The illiteracy rate in America is responsible for an annual loss of $2.2 billion per year.

National Center for Education Statistics.

Alt text: Colorful illustration of a smiling teddy bear buckled into a blue and teal car seat.

SAFETY

On average 3 children die every day in automobile accidents. Two of those three children were unrestrained.

The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) 2024

Colorful illustration of open hands holding a book, with a red heart and pastel swirls above the pages.

WHAT WE CAN DO

As educators, healthcare professionals, administrators and parents, our job is to keep children safe and to provide them with the information and tools they need to grow into healthy, competent and capable adults. It is also our task to provide that information and those tools directly to children so that they become capable of making wise decisions and taking care of themselves as they grow.

Marlene Resnick Simons, M.A.
founder and President of Written Word Publications, LLC
Promoting Health, Safety and Literacy