Mon 23 Aug 2010
Books make you smarter than the internet
Posted by PJ under books, reading
[2] Comments
Srsly, I’m not a Luddite, or even a Troglodyte, but here’s my bit of counter-propoganda for the day, taken from Tracy Seeley’s reading blog, “A Grab-Bag of Good Book News:
The second study actually surprised me. It tracked 500,000 kids in grades 5-8, and found that kids with high-speed internet at home are getting lower scores on math and reading tests. That’s a lot of kids logging a lot of hours not reading books.
And this:
Convicted Criminals Get Reading Time Instead of Jail. Judges in eight states now have an alternative to sending offenders to prison. Instead, they put books in their hands and send them to reading groups. I don’t know about you, but this makes my heart leap up. Some participants have never read a book before, and through reading and discussion, their lives really do change. The program more than halves the rate of recidivism, and compared to the cost of throwing people in jail, it’s virtually free. Let’s send a shout of thanks to the program that makes it possible: “Changing Lives Through Literature.â€
Go, slow read the rest of the good news…
Thanks very much for the shout-out to my blog–It’s lovely finding a kindred spirit here at your site. You and your readers are warmly invited to send any good book news bits my way.
Thanks. It’s a pleasure reading your blog.