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I have a problem with articles like this. The arguments against the "just so long as they're reading" position strike me as ridiculous. I feel like I ought to b

I have a problem with articles like this. The arguments against the "just so long as they're reading" position strike me as ridiculous. I feel like I ought to be saying, "Both sides make good points," but I don't see it that way. For example, FTA: > [Tim Parks] enlisted the example of his own children’s reading habits, and those of his young students, to argue that there is little evidence to suggest that readers will make progress “upward from pulp to Proust.” Well, maybe not. Most people don't read Proust, after all. But does he think his kids will chose to read Proust if they are denied anything fun to read? But ... perhaps these arguments are just badly stated. Would anyone care to give me a good argument that the "just do long as they're reading" position is a poor one? -------- EDIT. After some thought, I guess I don't take the "just so long as they're reading" position to the extreme. There are some things I would never give my kids to read; as a parent, I have limits. Perhaps these people that sound ridiculous to me just put their limits in different places. Still, my request for a well stated argument stands.

seanflyon 12y ago
> I guess I don't take the "just so long as they're reading" position to the extreme. Indeed. The way the article took that argument to the extreme felt like a straw man with statements like: "The opposite argument—that the kind of book a child has his or her nose buried in does make a difference" I don't think anyone on the "other side" would say that the kind of book doesn't matter, just that less good books are still good.
- colomon 12y ago
  And for 99% of the kids, the choice isn't between Percy Jackson and D’Aulaires’ Book of Greek Myths. It's (at best) between Percy Jackson and something else like Percy Jackson, only probably not as good.
npsimons 12y ago
I agree that most arguments against "juvenile" reading are poorly stated; I think it might be because it's a hard thing to put into words, perhaps ironically because so many people don't read great literature any more. I hadn't really thought about the subject until now, so didn't have an opinion, but it very much strikes me as similar to the trend I (and others[1]) have noticed in film: we have a whole generation of films being based on YA/children's books; no one seems to make movies for adults any more. Sure, you can claim, "at least they're entertaining", (or "at least they're reading" in the case of books), but it just feels like our culture is regressing to childhood, partly voluntarily and partly due to being coddled and nannied (and I say that seriously; please don't take me as a right-wing loony). "So what?" you may ask (and again, probably say "at least they're reading" which is a valid argument for YA and children). The concern comes in when you have mental children wielding adult power. Such as voting. Or getting married. Or handling firearms. There's also the longer term issue of examining deeper issues, of asking bigger questions, things you don't normally get unless you go back to the classics (and no, just because Percy Jackson has Greek gods in it doesn't mean it addresses these subjects; that's just a setting, a flavor, window dressing). It's also compounded by network effects: who wants to read Homer when they will have no one to talk about it with? And after a long day at work, who wants to wade through "War and Peace" when you can sit down with some pulp and escape reality? It's hard, but I think the rewards are well worth it, and if we are to keep our freedom (and escape the coddling), we have to at least begin to consider the deeper questions occasionally. Great literature can help, and be a reward in and of itself. YA and children's books, usually not so much. [1] - http://www.gq.com/entertainment/movies-and-tv/201102/the-day-the-movies-died-mark-harris?printable=true http://www.gq.com/entertainment/movies-and-tv/201102/the-day... - Two apropos quotes from that: Adults were treated as adults rather than as overgrown children hell-bent on enshrining their own arrested development. will grow up believing that movies aimed at adults should be considered a peculiar and antique art. Like books. Or plays.

seanflyon 12y ago

> I guess I don't take the "just so long as they're reading" position to the extreme. Indeed. The way the article took that argument to the extreme felt like a straw man with statements like: "The opposite argument—that the kind of book a child has his or her nose buried in does make a difference" I don't think anyone on the "other side" would say that the kind of book doesn't matter, just that less good books are still good.

colomon 12y ago
And for 99% of the kids, the choice isn't between Percy Jackson and D’Aulaires’ Book of Greek Myths. It's (at best) between Percy Jackson and something else like Percy Jackson, only probably not as good.

npsimons 12y ago

I agree that most arguments against "juvenile" reading are poorly stated; I think it might be because it's a hard thing to put into words, perhaps ironically because so many people don't read great literature any more. I hadn't really thought about the subject until now, so didn't have an opinion, but it very much strikes me as similar to the trend I (and others[1]) have noticed in film: we have a whole generation of films being based on YA/children's books; no one seems to make movies for adults any more. Sure, you can claim, "at least they're entertaining", (or "at least they're reading" in the case of books), but it just feels like our culture is regressing to childhood, partly voluntarily and partly due to being coddled and nannied (and I say that seriously; please don't take me as a right-wing loony). "So what?" you may ask (and again, probably say "at least they're reading" which is a valid argument for YA and children). The concern comes in when you have mental children wielding adult power. Such as voting. Or getting married. Or handling firearms. There's also the longer term issue of examining deeper issues, of asking bigger questions, things you don't normally get unless you go back to the classics (and no, just because Percy Jackson has Greek gods in it doesn't mean it addresses these subjects; that's just a setting, a flavor, window dressing). It's also compounded by network effects: who wants to read Homer when they will have no one to talk about it with? And after a long day at work, who wants to wade through "War and Peace" when you can sit down with some pulp and escape reality? It's hard, but I think the rewards are well worth it, and if we are to keep our freedom (and escape the coddling), we have to at least begin to consider the deeper questions occasionally. Great literature can help, and be a reward in and of itself. YA and children's books, usually not so much. [1] - http://www.gq.com/entertainment/movies-and-tv/201102/the-day-the-movies-died-mark-harris?printable=true http://www.gq.com/entertainment/movies-and-tv/201102/the-day... - Two apropos quotes from that: Adults were treated as adults rather than as overgrown children hell-bent on enshrining their own arrested development. will grow up believing that movies aimed at adults should be considered a peculiar and antique art. Like books. Or plays.