Quote:
Originally Posted by JeremyR
It's the Hardy Boys fault.
Or rather, the company behind it, the Stratemeyer Syndicate. Over a 100 years ago, they decided to start deliberately courting children as customers by creating series tailored for them.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stratemeyer_Syndicate
So instead, they forced children to read books that adult liked. But as you say, sort of backfired |
it makes sense, its all that 1950s "seduction of the innocent" mentality at play.
i haven't been in high school in almost 20 years but i have no reason to believe things are much different now. maybe someone with high school age age kids can give a sense of the current reading curriculum.
i grew up primarily reading Dragonlance and Forgotten Realms novels and my current reading tastes aren't much different but i can still appreciate Cormac McCarthy or Orwell.
speaking of, i don't think that The Road would be a great stretch to feature in a modern high school class. yea its depressing and there are a few scenes that some might have a problem with but its an interesting novel thats very well written without being completely boring (for lack of a better word).
unless you're doing a serious study, reading should never be work or a chore and unfortunately thats what its presented as:choke down this sleeping pill or get an F.
after generations of parents who had the same miserable experiences with books its no surprise that their kids hate them just as much. i guess i was lucky as a kid that my dad was a reader, he had shelves full of Ballard, Aldiss, Spinrad, a bunch of new wave science fiction and out there stuff that showed me that books were more than just door stops.
when i have kids i'm going to do my best to instill a love of reading, god knows they'll be surrounded by enough books lol.