Not a good idea

[Xavier_Onassis]

In the "good old days", there was no cable TV, there was no TV at all. No cellphones, no distractions of this kind.

My father told me that he was forced to sit in the corner and stare at the wall of a third-grade class for reading Dime novels: cowboy stories. The third average graders nowadays could not even begin to read anything like this at all.

True, people were not any smarter or dumber, or at least they were not born that way.

All humans are born with just two skills: to yell, and to suck. These days, there are people who have only managed to modify their yelling and sucking slightly into adulthood.

[Cynthia]

in the past I remember folks being cursed at more easily than nowadays
remember drunk driving and butt pinching was ok then

YEs, and so was NOT wearing seatbelts. Ah, the good ole' days.....OLD Days and NIghts.
Well, Kimmie, people have changed a great deal since "back when" partially due to the fast pace of the systems all aboard this nation.
...from fast food dining, to fast down and dirty buck making via the casinos.....mostly fast losses, there.
I have to say that the individual has become less patient for others in general overall. Takes too much time to care, 'seems.

[kimba1]

10 years ago
I was at comicbook store and these kids were reading comics
they were not just looking at the pictures.
they`re actually was making serious effort to read that book
we`re talking comphrension here.
comics now are slowly dying and most adult never saw a no need for them.
what else out there can encourage kids to read?
I do notice it`s somewhat frowned upon to make learning materials interesting for kids.

[Cynthia]

In the "good old days", there was no cable TV, there was no TV at all. No cellphones, no distractions of this kind.

My father told me that he was forced to sit in the corner and stare at the wall of a third-grade class for reading Dime novels: cowboy stories. The third average graders nowadays could not even begin to read anything like this at all.

True, people were not any smarter or dumber, or at least they were not born that way.

All humans are born with just two skills: to yell, and to suck. These days, there are people who have only managed to modify their yelling and sucking slightly into adulthood.

There were times in "the past" when Natives couldn't speak their own language lest they find themselves black and blue before being put in the corner...., and I am not talking about just the Native American....Many Hispanics have been told to shut the language up.  I am sure my own ancestors suffered in the system in some way or another. Gaelic was just recently accepted as a language of the country last Jan. 1.

 The skill of "yelling" lends itself to the beginnings of the most powerful skill of all..... language.....which is, as you know, the one of the most important elements of humanity.
The thought that speaking any language finds itself cut down at the knees is a crime.
Standing in the corner was a form of discipline that worked only for the teacher. Spank the child, calm the adult....doesn't work in any setting.

The swinging in the playground of the education system overall has indeed exhibited more than complimentary gusts of common "sense" over the decades.
Reading must be an "engaging"experience. Reading must connect the person to life. Comic books, Harry Potter, you name it.....engages a child in a significant form of reading.
Teaching a child to read involves so much these days, as TV and VIDEO games have taken the front seat. It's a challenge from the very point of focus. 


Suck; transitive or intransitive verb.....either way you look at it.......one size fits all...for most adults,

you're right. (chuckle)

[Cynthia]

10 years ago
I was at comicbook store and these kids were reading comics
they were not just looking at the pictures.
they`re actually was making serious effort to read that book
we`re talking comphrension here.
comics now are slowly dying and most adult never saw a no need for them.
what else out there can encourage kids to read?
I do notice it`s somewhat frowned upon to make learning materials interesting for kids.

Well, comic books, or Mad Magazine, or Pokeman materials are all well and fine for kids, but you're right, the challenge is getting a child to pick up a book instead of an x-box..or whatever they call them.
Turning a child on to good literature in the schools, or public libraries during the summer months is one way. Parents have to want that for their child. My sister did not allow her child to watch tv from birth to 3, and my niece would actually ask for someone to read to her. If the TV was on, she would turn it off. TV was boring to the little girl. Smart parenting, I must say.

Video games are harmful to children in some ways. I think they are much worse for children than watching TV, because of the fact that they can be addictive in nature. At least the radio of the previous century-mid, was like a "read aloud".

TO engage a child to read takes an engaging adult...an adult who takes the time to model reading, share a love for reading.....and not just once.