RE:ad

Okay, I'm just going to prepare you...this post is going to be a bit of a rant. Today I got book orders from the local school. I am so thankful that I have friends who let me order books through their book orders since we homeschool (and no, that's not against the rules). Ever since I was a kid, I loved book order day. I think I loved paging through those thin, newspaper-like pages (only in color!) as much as I loved the day in school when the books came in! Oh! I'm getting excited just thinking of it. In fact, my friend just delivered the books I ordered for my son the other day and I could not wait to open them and start reading...I mean, who could resist Gary Paulsen's Hatchet? And for only $4! But today, I got new book orders and do you know what I found? This.

A "Book" order dedicated almost solely to electronic devices and video games! I mean, I guess I didn't realize that Click!, with its "Interactive Learning" branding, actually means plop down in front of a Nintendo DS and play a video game by yourself. What exactly is "interactive" about that? What is this? I mean, with so many things that are wrong about the education system, why is Scholastic supporting this "screen time" epidemic? There are a few theories about this, but here's mine: I think that the company is trying to help children whose parents do not encourage any "interactive" learning by at least marketing some age-appropriate, learning and fitness oriented video games. I'll give them the benefit of the doubt and assume that it's not to make an easy buck off negligent parents and their children who reap the consequences. On the other hand, however, I wish that the Scholastic company would instead take a stand that says, "Books are enough! Books are valuable! Books are every bit as cool as Angry Birds and Wii games!" And I know there are a million people out there who would argue that the world is changing and that it's not true anymore, but I know that I have a 7 year-old kid who enjoys a good book every bit as much as playing a video game. Maybe part of it is that we don't have video games. I understand that not every parent is going to encourage reading or interactive learning--you know, the kind that requires you to actually interact with your child, but by Scholastic putting their name on this, don't they just say to those parents, "It's okay. Just make sure they're 'learning' while they're gaming." UGH!