Amolo emmanuel N
Children Reading Newspapers
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| 2.1.2 Children Reading Newspapers
Many parents think their children are not actually “reading” unless they have picked up a library book, or are doing school-related reading. But there are many ways to indirectly enhance a broad range of reading skills in the home; using an easily accessible daily “reader” called “a newspaper”. Newspapers are genuine goldmine for encouraging and developing reading, thinking, and learning skills. The same is true of specialized magazines of interest which takes central interest to specific needs of its audience. If parents are seen reading newspapers and not relying on television as the sole source for news and entertainment, chances are high that their children will do the same. Enough cannot be said about the importance of parents as role models for their children. But the habit of reading should be cultivated at an early age. At the initial stage children may feel bored to read newspapers, so it behooves on the parents to generate the interest among the children by reading out some news and then discuss its impact with them. This sort of exercise makes children involved in the activity and when parents ask their opinion, they start taking interest as well. But why should children read Newspapers? What can they gain by flipping through pages of a printed document often targeted at adults? Reading a newspaper requires patience. Children reading the newspaper are often noticed to have more patience than children who do not. Present day schools in the West have sophisticated school library where different national and local newspapers are available to the children. There are special classes allotted for the newspaper reading, creating an interaction that can influence how the children perceive life issues. (Samal, n.d). In this 21st century, it has also become paramount to be constantly updated. The Newspaper helps in this regard. It generally contains hard news, soft news, articles, and editor’s note. Though many ways have been developed over the years to keep people informed, these have not minimized the importance of newspapers. Moreover, newspapers also benefits children as it improves their vocabulary. While it may contains information related to politics, this generates a child’s interest towards political issues; how governments work, creating a responsible global citizen. Meanwhile, we are quite aware that access to modern technology (such as the internet) has influenced child development all across the world. With ease, children imitate what they watch and hear from these new forms of media channels, forcing a shift from the traditional print forms. This, according to the American Association of Pediatrics (AAP), can be addressed if reading, especially to children starts at a tender age, as it is significant to brain development, improvement of social skills, confidence boosting, and emotional gratification. “Children are influenced by media. They learn by observing, imitating, and making behaviours their own” (2001, p.1224). However, as implied by Ralph C. Staiger (1979), reasons why people (including children) read vary. Therefore, first understanding the children’s preference and best approaches is sine qua non in the developing of a habit to read. And since the future relevance of the newspapers is tied to its readership, interest must be paid (and researches conducted) in examining their readers. But how can newspapers survive in an epoch where technological advancement has shifted its readership base paradigm from cumbersome analog production process to digital, to high-speed internet services? If newspapers do not measure to general satisfaction, as a major source of information and education for different individuals, how come it continues to survive? Download 261.2 Kb. Share with your friends:
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