I’d say the internet is very good, it’s not as evil to children as people might think. I will let my children surf at it as they please. And I will certainly not snoop around trying to find out what they’ve been reading. I like the internet so much, and it helped me in the process of learning another language, and also learning to read. So I hope it will do the same good for my children.
Originally posted by Aria:
Anyway, I think reading a good book is great, but my experience with English classes is that they make you read stuff you hate, which turns you off reading altogether.
Ditto. I have a theory that kids don’t like reading because they see it as some kind of homework, I know I did. Teachers chose certain books they think are the right one for the children to read, perhaps these children find the books very boring. This helps at making kids less acceptable to reading. Reading becomes a chore to them. When I had to write a report on a book, I would read one page, then flip some, then read some more. Then I’d go to the end of the book read the last page. I had some information to write the report, and I always got good grade on them. Do you think this is the right way to make children develop reading skills? Up until I was 17 I used to read aloud pretty badly, and barely make something out of what I read.
But, I used to read fanfictions on-line a lot. I discovered it when I was 15, and it helped to improve my English. And yet, I still thought that reading was boring, especially because my teachers always asked to read books like War and Peace. I only liked fanfiction because I knew I liked the characters.
When I was 18, I went on vacation at my cousin’s house, we would play video games, watch some TV, but he didn’t have a computer, without access to the internet I got bored pretty fast. Then I saw one single book in the middle of his stuff. It was the first Harry Potter of the series. I liked the movies, and I had nothing better to do, so I thought, what the heck?
I read, and I fell completely in love with the book. As soon as I finished it I went out to buy the second one, and also Bridget Jones’ Diary, because I also liked the movie. And from then on I had realized that reading wasn’t as bad as school portrayed.
So, yes, I think educators should review their point of view on the subject.
Originally Posted by groobie:
Very true. FF.net is not like the L&C community here. It would be wonderful if kids could see the process of writing that adults engage in - the use of beta readers, editors, reasoned debate. No one gets a story perfect on the first draft, and it takes an educated eye to effectively spot areas that can use improvement. Most kids I work with don't want to bother with revisions - it's almost as if "turned in" equals "good enough."
Since I am 21, and I remember my teen years very well. I can argue with you on that. It’s not like kids don’t bother with revision, it’s just that when you write something, you write what’s on your mind. You don’t want to know if you said it right, you want to know if what you said has touched someone. I remember when I was 14, and my teacher assigned us to write a poem considering rhythms and meter. I got really frustrated because I worked hard at it, to make it say something beautiful, but it didn’t matter. All it matter was that a few people got the rhythm and meter thing down, and I didn’t.
Kids don’t have a concept that we adults have. They don’t work to earn a living, they have no idea what is a company, that you must obey rules, that you have financial problems. But what they do know is that they have feelings, some want to be popular, some want to be accepted, some don’t get along with their parents. That’s why people say they are in between. They have strong feeling and understanding of the word, just like adults have, they just don’t know
*how* to live, and make a difference. They don’t want to be right and blend in, live on a society. They don’t understand the immensity of society, their world is their little world. They want to be heard and stand out, but no one listen to them. They don’t go by the rule, they go by their hearts. So revision don’t bother to them, because they don’t know that it is important.