It occurred to me the other day that one reason schools are having more trouble teaching children to read may be that children aren't reading comics. Anybody have any thoughts about this?
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Hmmm....
I've long thought of comics as a natural stepping stone from children's books. You're getting pictures and stories, and frequently said stories contain fabulous elements that will suck the reader in.
Really, there's not that much difference to me between the Cat in the Hat and Batman, is there? Both are seemingly unable to be defeated, and both seem to be able to pull things from nowhere that help to solve problems.
I do think that not having that natural bridge could potentially turn a child from reading.
At best, I think it's a part of the puzzle, but not the biggest part.
I think a bigger part is that the world has changed, and today's children (and their parents) are engage with online reading and television to such an extent that reading, even comics, just holds no interest for them.
I agree with Clark, child literacy rates has been declining for a couple of decades now, but to pinpoint a lack of comics as the cause is faulty. Plus the older these kids are getting the less they read. Is it part of the problem? Sure, but there are many other factors going on here.
I think a lot comes from the parents who don't encourage and/or push the kids to read. I don't think I would be the reader today if it wasn't for my mom.
I don't mean to suggest that it's the only reason. I think that today's kids are the second generation of non-readers.
I get upset when people disparage the Harry Potter and young adult books. Even if they are not sophisticated they are getting kids and teens to actually read.
I agree.
On a purely personal note, I have three brothers and two of them (along with myself obviously) read comics and we all graduated college. The brother who didn't dropped out of high school.
I feel that comics made reading easier for me, improved my ability to retain information, taught me certain useful information and expanded my vocabulary.
But that's just me.
Mass market movies cover a comparatively restricted range of topics, and it's difficult for a movie to go into detail about a side matter. Conversely popular adventure fiction can expose you to knowledge you wouldn't otherwise have. I just finished a Modesty Blaise novel that talks about the Moro in the Philippines, for example.
If a movie set a flashback sequence during the Thirty Years War, it would have trouble explaining the historical background being used. A comic can have captions briefly explaining what the period was and who the historical figure depicted is.
Not too long ago I was reading about the pulp author Harold Lamb, who reportedly wrote many stories about "Cossacks wandering the Asian steppes during the late 16th and early 17th century". It struck me that readers of the pulp era may have learned more about the world and history reading the pulps than you'd learn watching prime time TV. Similarly, I learned about Miyamoto Musashi from Kitty Pryde and Wolverine. Just knowing a place exists is a step up from never having heard of it.
Dave Elyea said:
Isn't it just as possible that kids aren't reading comics because most kids just aren't reading anything?
Or they're not reading anything because they never started comics?
Excellent point.
I've always been convinced that comic books taught me to read. My mom used to read them to me. On my own, I used to get the story by looking at the pictures, but gradually found familiar words in the balloons. I have a vivid memory of one day when Mom was astonished to see me reading intently and commented upon it, and I realized that I was in fact, reading the thing. The rest was easy.
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