I have always wondered about children stories, and the true effect stories have on kids. Many of us know the story of Snow White and seven dwarfs, Jack and the Beanstalk, and even Alice in Wonderland. Alice in Wonderland always freaked me out. I could never get my head around that girl that went down the rabbit-hole. Perhaps I read this book when I was too young, but till this day, I don't like that story.
My mom used to read bedtime stories to us, and later we read by ourselves when we learned to read. I was reading fluently by the time I went to school. I grew up without television as it did not exist here in South Africa.
I developed a vivid imagination, and I often got in trouble for reading too much. I became absolutely obsessed with reading, and literally read anything and everything I could lay my hands on. It was so bad that I did not want to do anything else... so the best way to punish me for something I did wrong, was to take away my book. But I always had another hidden away somewhere.....
Some of the stories I read, has had such a deep impact on my life, and something that I will remember always. It is funny how our brains work, and just like songs from my childhood, these stories are all buried deep inside my brain somewhere in a hidden folder.
Many of the stories I read were scary, but they did not scare me. In between the scary parts, there were always some important life-lesson hidden away. I think that children should be exposed - through stories- to the good and evil in life. They should know that evil lurks behind every corner. If they are taught from a very young age what to look for, then they grow up to be more balanced people. Children should know, that life is not all about happy endings.
One of the books we recently tried to read in school was Harry Potter, but you would not believe how many parents complained about this book. So much so that I had to choose a different book, as some parents bluntly refused to buy the book as it was according to them..."EVIL"
I just laughed, as these same kids are exposed to so much more evil on Television and in the X-box/ PlayStation Games they play on a daily basis. How could one book affect you badly? Perhaps what society needs now is the total opposite of the good and evil in one book. Perhaps we should start writing more books with happy endings? Kids are exposed to evil so regularly in their everyday lives, that they perhaps just need more happy endings. They need to see that there is still some good left in the world.
I often feel like a failure, because I have not been able to bring the value of reading to my own children and to the children in school. I have tried though, but technology is always just one step ahead.
What do you do to encourage your child to read?
