Stirring the Imagination

    The American Education System finds itself at a crossroad in the 21^st Century.  The problem is the road they are taking seems to be the wrong one.  Thomas Spence in this article  says that the flaw in the education system is that kids and especially boys are spending too much time playing video games and engaging in electronic media. The solution then he promotes is thus. “The secret to raising boys who read, I submit, is pretty simple—keep electronic media, especially video games and recreational Internet, under control (that is to say, almost completely absent). Then fill your shelves with good books.”

Although this is good and sound advice I think that there is something missing in the equation of why the literacy rate of students has been dropping. It is not just the home life of a student that affects literacy but the teacher’s performance as well. Now I know that Mr. Spence thinks that this is a problem as well when he writes “A considerable number of teachers and librarians believe that boys are simply bored by the "stuffy" literature they encounter in school. According to a revealing Associated Press story in July these experts insist that we must "meet them where they are"—that is, pander to boys' untutored tastes.” So we see that the problem does not simply stop with electronic media but with the teachers methods as well and this can be part (if not even more so) of the problem students are facing.

Now I realize that this may seem that I’m making excuses video games but I’m not. I agree that students spending a lot of their time engaged in media instead of reading will show a deficiency in their reading, I just don’t think that this is the main problem as Thomas Spence does. Nor do I think that the “facts” of video games replacing books is objectively true. I myself know plenty of “gamers” who do online gaming and LAN parties and the next day are reading Ernest Hemingway. It wasn’t even two weeks ago that I found myself leaving the store with a new video game in tow, oh and guess what..two days later I left another shop after having just bought the complete classic works of Jules Verne. Who says that the new and old can’t mix? I think it works just fine. But I digress; let us get back on the path of the American Education System.  

The main problem is the Education System coddling their students. I don’t think enough emphasis is put on the affect that teachers and educators have on their students. Furthermore, when you get right down to it, isn’t the job of educators to prepare students to be successful in the marketplace. I’ve never heard of a school solely teaching so that a person could learn trivia, no a school is established to prepare kids to go out into the workforce and gives them the skills to be successful. Isn’t that what the American Dream is all about? Through hard work and education can’t a person be who they want to be? Why then are educators lowering the bar of excellence? Even more disturbing than that, is the fact that teachers are treating kids and especially boys like children. If a teacher treats a boy like a boy, then he will stay a boy. If a teacher treats a boy like a man, then he will grow into one.

When I was in eighth grade I had a teacher who I can say changed my life and outlook on school. The difference between him and my other teachers was simple. He treated us with respect and likewise expected it from us. Instead of calling us “boys” he called us “gentlemen” “because” he explained “that’s what you are and that’s how you will be treated”. What happened? Well we started acting like real gentleman, always responding with a “yes sir”. Amazing isn’t it when you teat someone with dignity they actually respect you. Now there’s a novel idea!  What is more he didn’t pile loads of books for us to read, just a simple few, but those few books included works like C.S. Lewis and Jack London. So you see I would rather a student read one book of something intelligible than a hundred “grossology” books.

All that to say while I agree with the post of Thomas Spence and R.L. Cleary  I think the quest goes a bit deeper than that. I think the problem of students is really a lack of good educators who “pander” their students. So although I think video games can be a part of the problem. I think too many people are running towards blaming the “electronic age” than addressing the real problem. Whatever happened to teachers being role models? And what happened to the teacher’s sense of duty? I know that giving a kid a less demanding book is easier but then where is the education? Where is the encouragement to excel? Henry Irving put it best when he says "Let us consider the nature of true greatness in men. The people who can catch hold of men’s minds and feelings and inspire them to do things bigger than themselves are the people who are remembered in history. . . . those who stir feelings and imagination and make men struggle toward perfection.” Maybe the American Education System could do with a little “stirring of the imagination” themselves.