World Book Day

This evening as I was playing with James I had Newsround on in the background (it's on before Weakest Link!) and there was a report on World Book Day. The presenter posed the question 'which is better, book or film?' and proceeded to interview two Primary school children of around 8 or 9 years old about their preferences. The first worrying thing was that the girl charged with defending the reading corner had picked 'Prizoner of Azkaban' as her favourite book. No offence to JK Rowling, but the Potterisation of children's reading habits is of great consternation to me. While it is good that they are reading at all, I get the impression that lots of kids get a bit stuck on the Harry Potter series and miss out on other fabulous children's authors such as Diana Wynne Jones, Roald Dahl, Jacqueline Wilson etc.

The second worrying thing was that the girl fighting the film corner cheerfully admitted that she prefered watching a film of a book (her favourite also being Prisoner of Azkaban) because it required 'less concentration'. I wonder when concentration became a bad thing - is it symptomatic of our general impatience these days, our need for instant gratification?

I was also sad that she felt reading required concentration, that it was hard work, when for me it is such a pleasure and a means of relaxation. There must be so many children who share her view, and I urge them to persevere! With practice reading becomes as natural as breathing and we barely register that we are doing it. However it is not enough for the teachers to be giving them the skills to read. They need to embed these skills at home by reading for fun.

In this respect, television really is the scourge of literacy. It is so easy to flop in front of the television and watch rubbish all night. Once that screen is on we are tethered to it somehow, even though we know that we could go and do something else that would be more edifying. It saps our energy and our motivation. It hypnotises us and enslaves us. Sometimes I think it would be nice to get rid of the television altogether, but having invested in a 37" wide screen plasma jobby just before Christmas I can't see the bear going for that!

In other news the government wants schools to offer alternative sports for obese children including cheerleading, free running and martial arts. They're looking at an extra hour a week of PE for every child. Sounds nice in principle, and I am a firm believer that the obesity crisis will only be conquered by the drip drip effect, so this new initiative might well contribute to changing our attitudes towards food and exercise. On the other hand, I can't help thinking that it they took the money they're about to throw at this scheme and used it to subsidise heathy foods in the supermarket that might be a better option.