Young Adult Articles: Teen Psychology & Promotion of Reading

“Teens’ Love-Hate Relationship With Reading”

Maggie Smith / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

     “Teens’ Love-Hate Relationship With Reading” was a great article done by the School Library Journal in relation to teen psychology and the interest that they have. This article related strongly to the psychological aspect of teens desire for choice and belonging. This article discussed The Delaware Summer Reading Initiative two year project that was started in 2008. Teachers created a summer reading website alongside teens. The teens selected book titles and wrote annotations. Later a survey was completed to measure students’ reading interest and behaviors. The results found that students were 4.2 times more likely to read because the website created an interest in books for them. Also, 90% of the students liked the website. Reasons given why teens liked to read: they liked the right to choose what books to read, others felt that with a book they could escape and/or go places, and some read to gain new knowledge. I found this article to be supportive of other research that has been conducted supporting that teens need to feel and be a part of things if we want them to have interest in it.

“Comics Are Key to Promoting Literacy in Boys, Study Says”

     “Comics Are Key to Promoting Literacy in Boys, Study Says” was another young adult article that I found by the School Library Journal that discusses the promotion of reading. The Canadian Council on Learning (CCL) found that what researchers have said is true. Girls are more interested in reading than boys. That interest is due to library material availability. Materials that interest boys are less represented in school library collections. A Paris based organization, the Organization for Economic Development and Co-operation (OECD) states that the most popular reading choice for boys after newspapers and magazines is comics. The CCL has found that comics and graphic novels peak the interest in males that can promote and improve their literacy skills. Comics are real teaching and learning materials that can develop many of the same literacy skills as books. Students can follow a series of events, track up/down, or left/right to follow the narrative and decipher symbols and what will happen next. I was glad to find this article due to the recent controversy I heard in regards to graphic novels being new. Peanuts (and Charlie Brown) by Charles Schulz were just as much a graphic novel in the 1950’s as they are today. Granted the subject matter and content may be somewhat different but that is true for all materials. The difference is what creates a well rounded library collection. It is imperative to promote and provide adequate reading materials for boys and girls. 

     I found both of these articles to be helpful. The first article has encouraged me to include young adults in the selection of materials for the library media center and in the development of programs and planning of events when applicable. The second article confirms the need to have a well rounded library collection for both boys and girls. All different types of library materials need to be available for students. In particular, graphic novels should be part of the library media center's collection. 

References: 
School Library Journal. (2010, November 1). Teens’ love-hate relationship with reading. Retrieved from http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/slj/articlereview/887424-451/teens_love-hate_relationships_with_reading.html.csp 

School Library Journal. (2010, July 23). Comics are key to promoting literacy in boys, study says. Retrieved from http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/slj/newsletters/newsletterbucketextrah elping/886042-443/comics_are_key_to_promoting.html.csp

Image: Maggie Smith / FreeDigitalPhotos.net http://www.freedigitalphotos.net/images/view_photog.php?photogid=172