A new debate is taking place in education circles that revolves around the media literacy debate that started after the introduction of the internet. Instead of "reading" like kids used to, kids are now getting their information in a quicker, more streamlined manner. Instead of sifting through tons of books and magazines for days and days to get sources for a research paper, students are able to look something up on the internet, read several quick summaries and decide which sources to use. It all happens in a split second as opposed to several hours.
The problem, according to some is not that students aren't reading, per se, but that the manner of reading internet text does not allow for a beginning, middle and end. This article in The New York Times, "R U Really Reading?" explains the controversy.
Personally, I hate it when my kids start saying, OMG WE (Oh my god mom whatever!)
And recently my six year old was taken to task for saying IDK (I don't know) when I asked her where her brush was. Of course texting is another issue, but because I'm more of a Linguist and less of a grammar keeper, I'm tempted to allow this "dialect" in my home as I'm quite sure there's nothing I could do about it even I wanted to. At best, I can make sure my children address me in full words and not abbreviations. But the question of "Are they reading" still looms.
Does all of this texting and web-surfing actually affect their reading ability?
My guess is no, for now. Brenna and I still read her books at night before bed, she still reads to herself and she is learning to read at an amazing rate. She can also surf the web for Polly Pockets, Barbie.com and the ever lovable Webkinz where she takes care of SEVERAL virtual pets. My 16 year old, the fastest texter in the East, is also quite erudite and has no problem reading his assignments or discussing news articles. So for now I shan't worry about their reading abilities. But for some homes where books, magazines and newspapers were never a thing of the past, let alone the present, students will always have trouble with the written word. At least if they're surfing the web, they're reading something.
Tina
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