Students Get New Assignment: Pick Book You Like.
WHAT? NO.
I hear this all the time at the library. Every time a kid checks out a Walter the Farting Dog book, or a Captain Underpants book (note: I do love Captain Underpants), or Gossip Girl or whatever. Junk food. The kid's mom rolls her eyes and says, "As long as s/he's reading! I don't care what it is as long as s/he's reading." Really? Because it's just a form of consuming media. It's like saying "As long as s/he's watching television, I don't care what it is." "As long as s/he's playing video games, I don't care what it is." There really honestly is nothing inherently noble about reading. It's putting words in front of your eyes, and then passing your eyes over these words, and putting those words into your brain. That's it! That's all. It's not a wondrous thing, it's not the hardest thing ever, it's just eyes and words and brains. And when you're telling your own kids that it doesn't matter what they read as long as they read, you're telling them, "Hey guys, don't challenge yourselves if you don't feel like it. Doing the bare, stupid minimum is fine with me. It's your free time, after all! No sense using it to make yourself better."
And a teacher telling them that! During the time that is supposed to be for LEARNING! Okay, to be fair, the teacher said no Gossip Girl, no video game books, no "junk" as she defines it. Except that you end up with kids reading those execrable YA James Patterson books (there is no market immune from James Patterson; I expect James Patterson easy readers at any moment now oh wait THEY ALL ARE) and probably a lot of like Sarah Dessen and those mass-market paperbacks with cartoons of smiley girls and hunky dudes on the cover. You also get one girl who reads Toni Morrison but also thinks that you spell the word "never" with the number 3. So anyway, the teacher! Who is supposed to be educating them! Is telling them, "You are all special unique snowflakes who don't need to be pushed in any way! Your own special unique worldview is all you need to think about. Some teachers try to tell you about this stuffy old thing called the 'literary canon' and this silly concept of 'a class discussion of a challenging book you are enjoying but might not otherwise have read', what a bunch of squares! Ha ha ha this is what your parents' tax dollars are paying for! Me not doing my job! This is great!" I just--this drives me absolutely insane. What is the point here? Wow, you got a kid to read Captain Underpants! GOOOOOD FOR YOUUUUU. That's not what school is for! It's for LEARNING. You would never get away with this shit in math (oh they just learn the algebra they want to learn!) or science (the chemistry they want to learn!), so why is this okay for books?
Plus this article keeps using To Kill a Mockingbird as an example of a book people are forced to read and hate, which, no. People love that book. Try using Frankenstein next time. That book blows.
WHAT? NO.
I hear this all the time at the library. Every time a kid checks out a Walter the Farting Dog book, or a Captain Underpants book (note: I do love Captain Underpants), or Gossip Girl or whatever. Junk food. The kid's mom rolls her eyes and says, "As long as s/he's reading! I don't care what it is as long as s/he's reading." Really? Because it's just a form of consuming media. It's like saying "As long as s/he's watching television, I don't care what it is." "As long as s/he's playing video games, I don't care what it is." There really honestly is nothing inherently noble about reading. It's putting words in front of your eyes, and then passing your eyes over these words, and putting those words into your brain. That's it! That's all. It's not a wondrous thing, it's not the hardest thing ever, it's just eyes and words and brains. And when you're telling your own kids that it doesn't matter what they read as long as they read, you're telling them, "Hey guys, don't challenge yourselves if you don't feel like it. Doing the bare, stupid minimum is fine with me. It's your free time, after all! No sense using it to make yourself better."
And a teacher telling them that! During the time that is supposed to be for LEARNING! Okay, to be fair, the teacher said no Gossip Girl, no video game books, no "junk" as she defines it. Except that you end up with kids reading those execrable YA James Patterson books (there is no market immune from James Patterson; I expect James Patterson easy readers at any moment now oh wait THEY ALL ARE) and probably a lot of like Sarah Dessen and those mass-market paperbacks with cartoons of smiley girls and hunky dudes on the cover. You also get one girl who reads Toni Morrison but also thinks that you spell the word "never" with the number 3. So anyway, the teacher! Who is supposed to be educating them! Is telling them, "You are all special unique snowflakes who don't need to be pushed in any way! Your own special unique worldview is all you need to think about. Some teachers try to tell you about this stuffy old thing called the 'literary canon' and this silly concept of 'a class discussion of a challenging book you are enjoying but might not otherwise have read', what a bunch of squares! Ha ha ha this is what your parents' tax dollars are paying for! Me not doing my job! This is great!" I just--this drives me absolutely insane. What is the point here? Wow, you got a kid to read Captain Underpants! GOOOOOD FOR YOUUUUU. That's not what school is for! It's for LEARNING. You would never get away with this shit in math (oh they just learn the algebra they want to learn!) or science (the chemistry they want to learn!), so why is this okay for books?
Plus this article keeps using To Kill a Mockingbird as an example of a book people are forced to read and hate, which, no. People love that book. Try using Frankenstein next time. That book blows.
Current Mood: tired
Current Music: Interpol: Narc.
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