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ABM
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, June 19, 2003 - 12:16 pm: | 
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You sistahs needtah quitcha b-ching-n-moaning about how hard it is to get a man. If you really want to improve your chances of scoring good black men for yourselves, your girlfriend, young girls and the women of the future, this is what you should do:
1)Volunteer to read to and tutor young boys, illiterate men and juvenile delinquents in reading/math.
2)Sponsor etiquette and manners programs for five little black boys/girls.
3)Sponsor, attend and chaperone boys to local plays, Chess matches, sporting events, book readings, debate competitions, dance recitals, spelling bees, classical/jazz music performances.
4) Teach your daughters at a very early age to prefer boys who can read/write/calculate, not run/jump/mack.
5)- And maybe most of all - Sponsor Marvel or DC comic book subscriptions for five little black boys. I'll bet my right arm if you get boys at a young enuff age hooked on reading Superman, Spiderman, the Avengers or the Justice League, at least 2 of them will graduate college. |
yasmin
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, June 19, 2003 - 12:54 pm: |
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Hey ABM...I like your suggestions. Can I share them with others as recommendations/something to think about. And I hear you about #4...if I hear another teen girl say she's looking for a roughneck...I want to look for her mom/daddy and pimpslap both of them for raising her that way. But then again peer pressure is a mother...and some parents do all they can and still have kids who go astray. Hopefully the values taught during the formative years will come back after kids outgrow that rebellion...woe it's ME stage. |
Chris Hayden
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Thursday, June 19, 2003 - 05:37 pm: |
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ABM:
Curious--how would all this result in them getting a good man NOW (are you suggesting they train them one--you know bring him along, show him the ropes, turn him out marry him when he's about 18?)
Also, as a former funny book fiend, I'll also have to take issue with #5. Funny books are trash promoting fascistic vigilante behavior and wierd sexuality (all those big, hugely muscled men with no crotches? --A song the Captain Marvel Artists used to sing about him--"No balls. No balls. No balls at all. Captain Marvel has no balls. No balls at all.--oh yes, see Jim Steranko's The History of the Comics for that one.
Comics are trash, garbage, churned out with bad art and bad writing just to get kid's lunch money playing on their unrealistic violent adolescent power fantasies--Superman, Batman and Captain America are as bad as the Supervillains they pursue. At least in my day they were silly and the people who wrote and drew them knew it--there was much more of a variety--Cowboy comix, funny animal, even Classic comix, versions of the classics.
Now, since all these arrested development comic fans are dictating the content (go into a comic shop today and its mostly adults, like the comic book guy on The Simpsons, in there) it's all superheroes tributes to their arrested developmental ideas about entertainment and justice--oh I sound like Frederic Wertham here I know! (see Seduction of the Innocent).
Comics are junk! Publishers always aimed them at a fan who was some archtypal cretin living in Kansas City back in the 40's and they ain't no better today. Get them real books to read. |
Kevin Edwards
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, June 20, 2003 - 01:58 am: |
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Chris,I have to agree with you there. Comic books are junk, for the most part. But, I must admit that as a youth my first encounter with multi-syllable words were in comic books. I also believe that if we all were exsposed to authors like J.A. Rodgers,Haki Mahdubuti(Don Greene), Naim Akbar, Juwanzaa Kunjufu and a host of other writers that looked like us. Then we would be in a better position to exact some positive change in this society, for ourselves and our children. Thats why I also agree w/ ABM on 1 thru 4, but would also add Spirituality as #1. And, I mean Spirituality not Religion.
Peace, Kev' |
Chris Hayden
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, June 20, 2003 - 10:59 am: |
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Kev:
As a kid I mostly read Thor and the Hulk and little else. I have gone back and re read some of those Stan and Jack classics from the 60's and I must admit their saving grace was that Stan did not talk down to his audience, that he did use multi syllable words that challenged his audience (even today I remember Dr. Doom grabbing one of his underlings and calling him a "snivelling sycophant" and having to go to the dictionary.
I would have been better though, if at that age, I had been tackling INVISIBLE MAN (the Ellison one) or something stimulating. |
Cynique
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, June 20, 2003 - 11:21 am: |
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What about the new line of black super-heroes who do good and fight evil? Wouldn't you say that for impressionable young minds, they make good role models. I would argue that comic books are a special genre whose appeal to adults stems from the fact that the heroes are usually self-affacing in a humorous way, and don't take themselves too seriously. And they certainly translate well to the screen. I loved the movie "Superman" and most of its sequels. Ditto the Batman films." |
Chris Hayden
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, June 20, 2003 - 12:42 pm: |
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Cynique:
Are you talking about Milestone? They folded some time ago.
As I have stated I was once a funnybook fiend (almost sounds like AA, huh?0 and I don't think they make good role models. You got huge muscular men in tight suits that go around hitting people all the time.
I think fathers, mothers, teachers, doctors, firemen--real people doing some real service to humanity and people, make a better role model than some unrealistic picture of a crime fighter.
Think about it. Describe Batman--well this guy puts on a mask and cape and keeps his identity secret and goes out to fight crime--sounds like a member of the Ku Klux Klan. |
Cynique
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, June 20, 2003 - 01:26 pm: |
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You have to capture the imagination of children and package the message in an exciting way. They are not going to read a comic book about doctors performing operations or lawyers trying cases. Moreover, kids are a lot smarter than we give them credit for. They know super heros are not real because they don't see them in every day life, but they can relate to the idea of good triumphing over evil. And comic books can also get them into the habit of reading. (I'm not a huge fan of this genre but I don't think they do any harm.) |
Chris Hayden
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, June 20, 2003 - 02:20 pm: |
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Cynique:
It doesn't do any harm. Look at me--
Maybe that's not a good example. It doesn't do any harm but reading real books or looking at real are would be much better--and there are exciting and interesting examples of both |
ABM
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, June 20, 2003 - 03:07 pm: |
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Fellas,
I am sorry you do not share my fidelity to comic books. Because I must acknowledge that Spiderman, Superman, etc. are at the very foundation of my education. I honestly feel the only reason I am alive now to chat with you is because while most of my (sadly departed) childhood chums were boosting freight trains, smoking joints and molesting girls, I was inside with a few friends poring over the latest issues of the Avengers.
It's funny. Perhaps I exalt the benefits of comic because all of the brothahs I personally know who are educated, graduated college, productive, were comic book and Greek/Roman mythology fiends. If we are unique in that regard, please let me know. I have always said were I ever to publish a book, I would dedicated it to GOD, my mother and legendary comic book impresarios Stan Lee & the late/great Jack Kirby.
The first time I ever thought to look up the definition of a "ton" is when the word was being used in relation to how much the Hulk could lift. Prior to reading comics, I NEVER had that level of regard/concern for what I read. Because before I starting reading comics, I did not read much of anything, certainly not for recreation, to begin with.
Still, I find it interesting that you two are reformed comic book readers. Tell me then, me my brothers, had you not read comics, would (or did) you have read anything else at all? I certainly would not have.
And what's wrong with boys indulging some fantasies of vigilantism if it helps to also foster notions about honor, morality and heroism. I have never heard of ANY sane comic book consumers who took some passage from Superman as justification for committing any crime. Actually, most of the guys I know who regularly read heroic comic books were MUCH less likely to break the law than those who did not.
I'll bet there are 100's black scientists whose quests of knowledge were buoyed by genius of the Fantastic Four's leader Reed Richards (AKA "Mr. Fantastic"). I'll bet there are scores black engineers who were inspired by the technological talents of Tony Stark (AKA Iron Man) And I personally know a curator at a science museum who's interests in the stars was inspired by travels of Norrin Radd (AKA "The Silver Surfer"). Heck, Oscar-winning movie star Nicholas Ford Coppola adopted the stage name Nick Cage in honor of his favorite comic character Marvel's soulbrotha hero Luke Cage (AKA "Powerman")
Tell the truth fellas: I'll bet the first time you ever heard of terms like "light speed", "gamma radiation", "red sun", "black hole", "Nova", "cybernetic", "android", "miscreant", "vanquish", "galaxy", "parsec", "multi-dimensional", "sub-atomic", "quasar", "gravitation pull", "teleportation", "mutant", "daredevil", "black widow", "krytonite", "juggernaut", invulnerable, "invisible", "galaxy", "eon", "millennium" and thousands of other exciting multi-syllabic terms were from comic books. Heck, I got to the point where I read my comics once to get the story and a second time to look up all of the words I did not understand.
I know this is site dedicated to AA books, and some might find my comic book spiel to be a seemingly irrelevant indulgence. But I brought this up because I think we too often get mired in minutia and not on what should be our core, primary objectives. We should focus on getting the boys to read first & foremost. If Mules & Men will accomplish that, great. But if comic books can better facilitate the building and development of effecting reading/vocabulary, so be it, I don't care if the heroes are short of "crotches" (& why were you concerned about Supes n-sack anyway?). If we get them hook on reading SOMETHING, they are much more likely to get around to the more real and serious subject covered in AA literature.
PS: A friend of mine produces TV/radio commercials. He said he once witnessed a very lengthy argument between 2 wealthy advertising executives about who would win in a fight, Superman (DC) or Thor (Marvel). |
Chris Hayden
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, June 20, 2003 - 04:14 pm: |
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ABM:
You had suggested to the women on this site that they sponsor subscriptions to comic books for young men.
Naturally kids are going to gravitate to junk. They are going to eat candy rather than fruits and vegetables. They are kids. They don't need any urging to pickup junk. Adults are supposed to turn kids on to the things they need. Not fun things. Kids will turn themselves on to that.
Imagine how much better off you might be if adults had turned you on to some literature that would have improved you rather than entertained you.
What did I read besides comix? James Bond, the Mandingo Books, Sci Fi, Doc Savage, Conan, Tai-Pan (wasn't that Mitchener) Leon Uris. Also junk--but at least I was reading 40,000 words and up rather than 2400 (the number of words in the average comic of that day).
The science in 60's Marvel comics was ludicrous. Negative zones, people turning into superheroes or big Green men rather than being killed by radiation, Negative Zones, Expando guns and the like--
Further there is no guarentee if they get hooked on comics they will get hooked on anything else--most of the guys who I knew who were hooked on comics were also breaking into houses, stealing cars, gang fighting and the rest.
If you will refresh your memory by revisiting those comics or some reprints, you will probably find that the above list of multisyllable words probably exhausts all the ones used, that more likely you encountered "Pow"! "Wham" and "Zoom"!
The art stinks. The writing stinks and is formulaic. It is the reason most guys (and it is mostly young men that read them) have quit reading them by the age of 14. The work is crap, is has to because the so-called artists and writers have to produce it to order so fast.
And it is getting worse. Stan Lee at least aspired to be F.Scott Fitzgerald or Alexandre Dumas or William Shakespeare. Jack Kirby aspired to be Alex Raymond and Milton Caniff and Hal Foster (who aspired to be Gustave Dore) and he was inspired by the movies and classic books. These jamokes today aspire to be them, and are grounded in comics and not wider works (if you are going to throw up Kevin Smith please don't)
This junk is bubblegum for the mind (bubblegum--something else I don't screw around with anymore) I would not bar children from reading that drivel (though I'd like to) but I would not encourage it either.
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Chris Hayden
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, June 20, 2003 - 04:41 pm: |
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ABM:
About the noballs for Superheroes remark (I had to think about that one for a while myself) it goes to the whole sex v violence thang in this culture. The depiction of violence is fine; the John Wayne can shoot 200 people but he can only kiss his horse) Superman can beat up Lex Luthor, Batman can beat up the Joker, Sgt Rock and Sgt. Fury can gun down Germans, people can shoot rays at each other Sub-Mariner can attack the whole human race--but you better watch the depiction of them crotches--we all know that there should be something there with those skin tight leotards--ok they don't need to draw it but they would be wearing a cup under there or something. Look at them. There is nothing there at all. What are they trying to say?
And what about the whole sadomasochistic undertones of all this? Wonder Woman tying up those folks with her lariat, making them tell the truth--right out of Krafft Ebbing!
Before you say I'm reading too much into it, Cynique, even the comic book creators themselves today are discussing this (see Alan Moore's excellent WATCHMEN)
I'd rather they got hold of some subversive stuff like in ZAP comix or something, but whoever tried to sell them to kids would be in jail. |
ABM
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, June 20, 2003 - 10:28 pm: |
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Chris:
I disagree with your sweeping commentary about all comic books being "junk". Like anything else, some of it is dreck, some is great.
And what is "junk" or "bubble gum" reading material anyway (And does that come supersize and cherry and apple flavor?)? Because I believe almost ANYTHING you read is better than reading nothing at all. It's the practice of reading, not the material itself that I would emphasize.
And your arguments appear to falsely presume that I would offer them ONLY comic books to read. No, I suggested comics as kindling to help light the fire for learning.
Look, if you know how to get young boys to consume our august literary canons, please do tell us all, my brothah. Because if you do, playah, you done struck dah mothah lode. And I'm sure EVERY fathah, sistah, mothah, teachah, professor, principal, administrator who happens upon this site would be FOREVER in your debt.
Chris, folks tried to turn me on to Richard Wright, James Baldwin, Langston Hughes when I was a shorty, but I wasn't even having it. Cause then I had the attention span of a crack-addicted bumblebee. I wasn't going to sit down long enuff to read anything unless it was something that really piqued my interest.
Enter Stan Lee & Jack Kirby. Suddenly, I was taking nearly ever few cents I could get a hold of to buy comics. Then reading/spelling/vocabulary skills improved quite precipitously. While in elementary school, within about a 3-year period, I went from having substandard to nearly collegiate level exam scores.
But it wasn't just reading the comics as much as it was the comics made reading a more natural part of my recreational activities. Suddenly, when there were no fresh comic books available, I started reading Black Boy (a gift from a teacher, which had sat dusting in my chest draw for years).
You are right. There's no guarantee they will LOVE comic books anymore than they would anything else. And surely not every comic book reader will evolve into a Rhodes' Scholar. But this is the video game generation. And comic books are about the closest literary genre to what boys are enjoying doing. The characters are loud, colorful and powerful. They can do many of the amazing things that boy enjoy simulating on Sega and X-Box. So they might gravitate toward comics if for not reason but their characters appear similar to what they do Mortal Kombat ???.
Your vehement refutations of reading comics are interest to me. Who cares whether what they read is completely real, factual and verifiable? Hell, at least 1/2 the stuff that we read as adults - in newspapers, fiction, essays, et al. - is at the very least of dubious, questionable nature/veracity. At least Marvel & DC, unlike the New York Times, are not trying to convince anybody that what they publish is factually correct.
And tell me, how many kids do you know were intellectually stunted by reading about the Justice League?
Man, I am around young boys/girls ALL the time. I watch them. And what I mostly see are girls reading and boys playing. You gotta know there are millions of teachers, parent, and administrators all over the country begging and pleading with boys to read. Yet the boys are lagging WOEFULLY behind females. And this is not just a black phenomenum. It's a national one. White female college students currently outpace white males 56% to 44% and the disparity is growing.
Now we can try to trot out boilerplate doctrine over what a kid should and should not read while they ignore our pleas and watch them helpless descend into an irreconcilable state of ignorance, ineptitude, crime and death. Or we can say, "Look, WHATEVER we can give these kids to get them to read something, ANYTHING, give it to them. Then continue to offer them chances to up their literary ante with Invisible Man, Huck Finn, etc. Because if you read enuff of something you have a much better chance to be able to read ANYTHING.
Honestly, I don't care who Stan Lee or Jack Kirby tried to emulate. Most people who manage to accomplish something in life try to model themselves after those who talents likely surpass their own. And I'll just agree to disagree with your lack of regard for the quality writing/illustration. Because whatever it was or was not, it sho' nuff helped me to avoid a lot of trouble and it sparked within me a lifelong interest in and appreciation for reading.
Chris do us both a favor. Go to a local comic book store and rifle through a few recent issues of Thor, Superman, etc. I dare you to then try to honestly say that most public school 12 year olds are receiving in their schools more challenging and sophisticated forms of reading than that.
PS: I won't try to pretend to want or be able to understand all your commentary about crotchless super heroes (Actually, you are scaring me with this subject as I think you are going to go in a direction that I might have to abstain from.). But I suspected the illustrators went with the no-d' look because they feared a "bulge" might call attention to superheros' groin, thus possibly inciting some unwanted sexual, maybe even homoerotic, inferences, murmurs and fan mail. |
Claxton
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, June 21, 2003 - 06:45 am: |
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ABM, though I've never been a big comic book fan, I have to say that I thoroughly agree that black women tend to look in the wrong places and look for the wrong things when they're looking for love. That is especially true in that age range between 13 (when the hormones really start kicking) and 30 (when the ticking of the proverbial biological clock starts to become audible). Of course, there are exceptions to this--some women, being wise beyond their years, get it when they're younger and find a good man to be with. Others, in their 40s and beyond, are still playing the games and striking out or have been burned so many times they now watch from the sidelines.
I once told a friend of mine in college--a large, state-supported school where about 3,000 of the 26,000+ student population was black--that I would be at least 30 before I found a woman who appreciated what I brought to the table. My experience with allegedly enlightened woman, up until the time I did hit 30, kept reinforcing that belief.
What's most frustrating is to see good woman not understand what a good man really is. It's not necessarily the guy who looks great in a suit or drives a nice car or can turn up the heat in bed, although to be fair, there are some good brothers out there who can do those things. But it's the man who stands up to shake another man's hand, who takes time to share what he knows with those who will follow after him, and who has a clear idea of who he is and what he wants to do. That's not exciting, that's not glamarous, and it may be downright boring to a lot of women. But as they get older, stability and steadiness become much sexier qualities than muscle tone and horsepower.
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Chris Hayden
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Saturday, June 21, 2003 - 10:30 am: |
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ABM:
Go to this site. Read some back issues of this mag. They will turn you on to how you have been bamboozled by Superhero comic books.
http://www.tcj.com/
When you come to the light you will thank me. You will bless me |
ABM
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, June 22, 2003 - 06:44 am: |
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Sometimes, it is better to let others do the talking for you.
SOURCE: http://www.s-t.com/daily/01-98/01-19-98/b05op069.htm
Comic books prove to be a surprise boost for national literacy rates
Urging America's schoolchildren to become devoted comic strip readers may seem like the kind of advice one would expect Charlie Brown to get for five cents from his psychologist friend, Lucy. But author Jim Trelease wants parents to know that there is nothing funny about the educational benefits of kids reading the funny pages.
In the latest edition of his award-winning guide, "The Read-Aloud Handbook," Trelease points to a recent study of more than 200,000 schoolchildren in 32 countries. It found that the nation with the highest student reading scores -- Finland -- also has the highest proportion of schoolchildren who read comics almost every day.
Trelease says this is no coincidence. In fact, he reports that "a number of studies show that more top students in all grades read comics or comic books than do lower-ranking students."
Moreover, Trelease cites a 1993 article from the Journal of Child Language which shows that the average comic book introduces children to nearly twice as many new words as the average children's book and nearly five times as many new words as the average adult-child conversation.
Trelease says that part of the reason comics are so valuable is that they help beginners build confidence in their reading ability.
"Comics' enticing visual cues and simple sentences give the struggling young reader 'training wheels' while the student develops proficiency," he writes.
But the real secret behind comics is that they are often enjoyable to read. Like that other much-maligned genre of children's literature -- "formula" fictional series such as Nancy Drew, the Hardy Boys, and the American Girls Collection -- comics often help young people cultivate a love of reading.
And this, Trelease believes, should be the first goal of parents and educators interested in helping schoolchildren become proficient readers. Indeed, Trelease delights in telling stories about famous authors and orators whose appetite for reading was initially whetted by reading comics.
For example, novelist John Updike wrote in his memoirs, "I loved comic strips (growing up.) I copied their characters onto sheet after sheet of blank paper; I traced my copies onto plywood and cut them out with a coping saw and set them in rows on the shelf in my bedroom; I cut my favorite strips out of the newspaper and bound them in long books with covers of white cardboard, lettered by me in India ink and crayon."
Similarly, Nobel Peace Prize winner Desmond Tutu once observed, "My father was very concerned that we did well in school. But one of the things I am very grateful to him for is that, contrary to the conventional educational principles, he allowed me to read comics. I think that is how I developed a love for English and for reading."
While Trelease finds it odd that Congressional hearings were held back in the early 1950s to determine whether comic books were contributing to juvenile delinquency, he is quick to acknowledge that some comic books today are not as innocent as old copies of Richie Rich, Archie, Spiderman or Little Lulu. Noting that sex and violence have found their way into some recent comic books, he observes, "The days of giving a young child the money for a comic and sending him off to the store (unmonitored) are a thing of the past."
Notwithstanding material with objectionable content, however, Trelease believes parents and educators should recognize "the powerful role that recreational 'light' reading plays in developing good and lifetime readers." Pointing to a recent report that 73 percent of all Washington Post subscribers read at least one comic strip daily, Trelease says, "If comic pages are challenging enough for those Washington lawyers and lobbyists, they should be adequate fare for reading classes."
While Trelease readily admits that most comic books are not classic literature, he says that kids turned on to reading by the funny pages are more apt to eventually get into the classics than those asked to read "The Red Badge of Courage" at too early an age.
Apparently, some publishers of classic literature agree. In recent years, a number of comic book versions of classic stories have been introduced for younger readers. For example, my children own "A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court" and "Last of the Mohicans" in comic strip form. And they have a colorful hardbound comic book called "The Picture Bible" which really brings Old and New Testament stories to life.
While these comic books can never take the place of the classics on which they are based, their presence in the marketplace is significant. If nothing else, they lend further credence to what might be thought of as "The Dilbert Principle for Kids." It holds that many of the young people who will be running the world in the future are reading comic strips today. (Or so we should all hope.)
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William R. Mattox Jr. is a columnist for the Scripps-Howard News Service.
Folks,
I can reference to SCORES of other articles that argue much of what's listed above. But don't believe me. Just key "comic books" "improve reading" (retain the quotations) into Goggle.com, and see for yourself. |
Claxton
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, June 22, 2003 - 10:41 pm: |
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ABM, as I noted before, I didn't read a whole lot of comic books growing up, but I almost always read the Sunday funny pages. If I was lucky, I got to read the funnies from both The Gastonia Gazette and The Charlotte Observer, the papers that my grandmother and one of my aunts took.
Having always loved to read, I always find it tough when I find people who don't like to read or, even worse, can't read. So anything that encourages a child to read, to develop the cognitive and comprehensive skills, is okay by me.
Chris, we've had similar discourse in the past on science fiction. Just like everything other genre of writing, there are going to be some clunkers out there, stuff that's only printed because someone had the tenacity to get it into print, and not because it's any good. I'll still contend that there is good science fiction out there, never mind that it's getting tougher and tougher to come up with any new frontiers to go explore.
And I'll tell everyone a little secret--most writing is formulaic. Even the stuff we consider classic follows some sort of formula; very little of what we've ever read in our lifetime, when you look at it, has imparted anything extraordinary or new to us. Clancy has his formula; Rowling has hers; the same goes for just about every writer out there. I'm sure there are some exceptions, but I haven't read any that I'm aware of. But the key is that on some level, the formula works. If it didn't, we wouldn't read it. |
Chris Hayden
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, June 23, 2003 - 11:08 am: |
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ABM and Claxton:
At one time thalidomide was touted as a wonder drug--we see what awful effects it had on the children born of women who took it.
ABM: One thing, try as you might to defend the mistakes of a misspent youth, you cannot get around--you would have been much better off reading REAL books than that trash. My job as an adult is not to tell kids to go for what they like--it is to tell them to go for what's good for them.
They might not do it--but one day they will know I was trying to give them the right stuff. |
ABM
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, June 23, 2003 - 12:44 pm: |
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Chris,
You know, we can belabor the point here. But the truth of the matter is our kids are not reading, PERIOD, in spite of the most ardent and sincere efforts of millions of parents, teachers, school counsels, PTA & governments throughout this country. We can continue to stubburnly espouse idealist pedagogical criteria and curriculum and watch our boys be inexorably carted off by the county sheriff and the Grim Reaper. Or we can try to do WHATEVER works that might give them at least a scintilla of a chance to learn.
So if reading the Amazing Spiderman will give them that chance learn, I'm going to let them swinging along with Spidey.
And I will say again, if you know the magic formula for getting young black boys to read "REAL book" as you term them to be, please let the rest of us know. Because playa, if your plan proves out, I will be the first in line to try to get you nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize. |
Chris Hayden
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, June 23, 2003 - 02:26 pm: |
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I'd rather throw them off a cliff than have them read comics--you keep pushing comics as a panacea and have ignored what I told you about thugs, functional illiterates and jailbirds I grew up who read comix too. Why do you think teachers used to confiscate comix while you were reading them in class (while you were supposed to be getting your lessons?) they are entertainment--not schoolwork. |
ABM
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, June 23, 2003 - 03:27 pm: |
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Ok Chris. |
yukio
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, June 24, 2003 - 08:28 am: |
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Is it possible that the turn/shift towards the malign of the comics has taken some of the steam out ABM's list?
Is this comic book thing really serious? It seemed that it was a suggestion to facilitated literacy; reading the newspaper could be another possibility, but i'm not sure a 7 yr would be interested in reading the newspaper or Ellison's invisible man. Good Luck! |
Chris Hayden
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, June 24, 2003 - 12:31 pm: |
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Yukio--
There you go! Reading the newspaper would be a good one. Understand I would not forbid a child to read comix (though again, I'd like to)--I just think that, as an adult, it is my job to urge them to do what is good for them rather than what they might like. They might not do it--they might not read the newspaper or Invisible Man, but somewhere down the line they will remember that I tried--and then again--who knows? Maybe you cold start the 7 year old on the sports page and branch out. |
Yukio
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, June 24, 2003 - 01:53 pm: |
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Chris Hayden:
The suggestion of introducing the 7yr old to the sports page seems similar to what ABM was suggesting: a stepping stone to an interest in reading--not a panacea. |
Chris Hayden
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, June 24, 2003 - 04:36 pm: |
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Claxton:
I don't know if you are still into Sci Fi, but if you are you might check out this outline overview site
http://www.magicdragon.com/UltimateSF/timeline.html |
Kevin Edwards
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Friday, June 27, 2003 - 01:11 am: |
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Beacause of being introduced to comics at an early age, I read four grade levels above. As I stated earlier it was my familiarity with those multi-syllable words. In second grade my sister(a fourth grader) was embarassed w/ my taking part in her reading class. I wouldn't encourage or discourage reading comics, but I would monitor and guide any youth who does. Mine included! Peace and Blessings, Kev' |
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