Appealing to the lowest common denominator

Kids don't wanna read? Let's have them listen to books on their MP3 players instead. That is the strategy of a middle school in New Jersey. They have partnered with a company who has handed out free MP3 players to the students, who then download the book they need from a subscription website provided through the school.

I have a huge problem with this. While I am happy that perhaps some students will be exposed to literature they might never have been otherwise, at the same time you must be aware that what is going on here is not reading. It is listening. Listening is an important skill, but its not enough. What do the studies always say? Children whose parents read to them will more likely grow up to be readers. Of course, an important step is for the child to actually learn to read. Instead of a parent, now we have an MP3 player filling that role, while at the same time, the student is not reading the book himself. This is like never teaching a kid how to do math, but handing him a free calculator. You can't always have a calculator with you. In the same vein, there is no audio version of a newspaper, or a periodical magazine. What will the now-grown-up kid do then? Crutches are nice to have, but they only work if you first learned to walk.

There is one blurb from this article that really bothered me, because it is something I often see at my school:

It was probably no coincidence the company chose to launch AudibleKids at the North Star Academy, a charter school where 90 percent of the kids receive free or reduced lunches, according to principal James Verrilli. Some downloads will be free of charge, and other titles can cost as little as $1.99, Fitzgerald said, adding that company research has shown more than half of third-graders own their own MP3 players....

So let me get this straight: these parents apparently can barely afford to feed their own children, but somehow they can find the money to buy their kid an MP3 player? I can't say I am surprised. I still remember a student last year who was received free/reduced lunch and never brought paper/pen to class because "we too po'", yet he was bragging to his buddies one day about his Red Monkey jeans he was wearing. Red Monkey jeans sell for hundreds of dollars. I also marvel at the students bringing their 80GB iPods to school (violating school rules by doing so) that retail for around $350 dollars. I have a 4GB MP3 player that I bought on sale for $110. Life is all about priorities, and unfortunately, I see a lot of bad financial choices being made by the so-called poor that live in this country.

One thing that will help keep you poor and unsuccessful is an inability to read. Giving a kid an audio book when he is below reading level does him no favors.

Good Day to You, Sir