Overweight children: do we need a 'new generation of naughtiness' among kids?
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/booknews/10589645/British-Library-comic-exhibition-to-inspire-new-generation-of-naughtiness.html
This reminded me of a touching recent song by Elbow, 'Lippy Kids', which is about today's kids indulging in lazy, negative lifestyles, and not playing outside and getting into the sort of messes that used to be in the Beano and the Dandy (from when I was younger). Those comics have been changed beyond recognition now – Dennis the Menace has been whitewashed in the name of anti-bullying measures, and the comics as a whole are very tame.
The kind of antics that these characters get up to are creative and physical. They are practical jokes that require resourcefulness and persistence. They're pretty outlandish, which gives the reader a sense of imagination and ambition. They are the sort of things that your parents mention when they harp on about today's youth spending all their time indoors and not getting enough exercise.
Almost 1/4 of kids are overweight or obese by the time they reach primary school, rising to 1/3 by the time they leave. Literary proficiency has stagnated. With technology and passive forms of gaming becoming increasingly cheaper and more accessible, do parents need to bite the bullet and more rigorously encourage their kids to get outside and do something productive – even if it means that a) they'll get into scrapes and some degree of trouble, and b) there'll be a level of childish aggression, and perhaps even what some would construe as bullying or anti-social behaviour?
The British Library is to launch the largest exhibition of comic books in UK history, as the curator claims they want to inspire children to be “naughtier and more rebellious”.
... 'Comics Unmasked: Art and Anarchy' in the UK will display more than 200 comic books from 1825 to the modern day, including one 1970s work focusing on an obscenity trial.
...“One of the messages is that we’re trying to teach kids to be rebellious,” he said. “There’s such a huge tradition of rebellion in comics, whether it’s about religion, gender, politics, it’s really strong.
“One of the key focuses of this exhibition is sedition and rebellion, and I think British comics have got an incredible legacy of that,” he said. “They’re really rebellious in terms of gender, in terms of sex, in terms of politics, the portrayal of society and race, and I really want that to be highlighted, particularly for the next generation."
... 'Comics Unmasked: Art and Anarchy' in the UK will display more than 200 comic books from 1825 to the modern day, including one 1970s work focusing on an obscenity trial.
...“One of the messages is that we’re trying to teach kids to be rebellious,” he said. “There’s such a huge tradition of rebellion in comics, whether it’s about religion, gender, politics, it’s really strong.
“One of the key focuses of this exhibition is sedition and rebellion, and I think British comics have got an incredible legacy of that,” he said. “They’re really rebellious in terms of gender, in terms of sex, in terms of politics, the portrayal of society and race, and I really want that to be highlighted, particularly for the next generation."
This reminded me of a touching recent song by Elbow, 'Lippy Kids', which is about today's kids indulging in lazy, negative lifestyles, and not playing outside and getting into the sort of messes that used to be in the Beano and the Dandy (from when I was younger). Those comics have been changed beyond recognition now – Dennis the Menace has been whitewashed in the name of anti-bullying measures, and the comics as a whole are very tame.
The kind of antics that these characters get up to are creative and physical. They are practical jokes that require resourcefulness and persistence. They're pretty outlandish, which gives the reader a sense of imagination and ambition. They are the sort of things that your parents mention when they harp on about today's youth spending all their time indoors and not getting enough exercise.
Almost 1/4 of kids are overweight or obese by the time they reach primary school, rising to 1/3 by the time they leave. Literary proficiency has stagnated. With technology and passive forms of gaming becoming increasingly cheaper and more accessible, do parents need to bite the bullet and more rigorously encourage their kids to get outside and do something productive – even if it means that a) they'll get into scrapes and some degree of trouble, and b) there'll be a level of childish aggression, and perhaps even what some would construe as bullying or anti-social behaviour?
(edited 10 years ago)
Its still ultimately buys into the lie that obesity in the western world is an exercise problem.
Yes. I will massively encourage my son to behave badly
Like a dad-brother
Like a dad-brother
Original post by Fizzel
Its still ultimately buys into the lie that obesity in the western world is an exercise problem.
What would you ascribe the drop in children's reading standards to?
I'm not sure I understand the link between overweight kids and naughtiness?
Original post by Viva Emptiness
I'm not sure I understand the link between overweight kids and naughtiness.
The 'naughtiness' depicted in these comics (in case you've never read the Beano or anything like that) is mostly constituted of elaborate practical jokes, projects that are creative and physical and get the kids in trouble with their parents, usually in the form of some ironic comeuppance. The cartoons nearly always start with the characters kicking their heels on a boring day. Today when kids are bored they have access to completely passive and unstimulating forms of entertainment – especially videogames – that discourage physical activity and hinder development of social skills.
I'm not trying to explicitly suggest that naughtiness is the cure to obesity. I just saw a specific example that made me think about a broader problem. Passive entertainment is partially responsible for a lot of issues kids have today (drop in reading standards, even serious anti-social behaviour), and I wondered if bringing back old comics and getting kids using their time more constructively (even if a little cheekily) might help alleviate the problem.
Original post by Plainview
What would you ascribe the drop in children's reading standards to?
Original post by Fizzel
The fact that having entertainment injected into ones eyeballs in 1080p is more enjoyable than reading from black and white pages. It still doesn't change the fact, kids aren't obese because they don't exercise as much.
Agreed. The bigger point of my post is that passive entertainment is damaging for kids. Even if kids aren't overweight due to a lack of exercise, they might be better able to get back into shape if they had any incentive to do something productive rather than stew infront of the TV. If their entertainment is passive, their minds are passive, and they aren't getting the inspiration to do something with themselves.
Original post by Plainview
Agreed. The bigger point of my post is that passive entertainment is damaging for kids. Even if kids aren't overweight due to a lack of exercise, they might be better able to get back into shape if they had any incentive to do something productive rather than stew infront of the TV. If their entertainment is passive, their minds are passive, and they aren't getting the inspiration to do something with themselves.
I'd ask if kids are coming out of school unable to read, the average person in this country sure as **** doesn't possess basic mathematical skills, what exactly are they doing in schools? If you are failing on the basics, what of any value are you building upon those shoddy foundations? I've never had an issue with reading, mainly because I read obsessively as a child. I've never had an issue with maths because I was pretty much homeschooled, and my scientific education occurred for the most part outside of school. Pretty much anything left up to my state education I did relatively poorly at.
Original post by Fizzel
True but its a natural progression. Even reading a book is not as productive as writing a story of your own. Although the imagination is active the story is still being created by the author. Entertainment is for fun, the most fun option is going to win. Instant gratification with minimal energy expended is what people not just children desire.
All the interpretation is being done by the kids. That's where the imaginative work comes in. Seeing yourself inside the story.
Children are the people worth targeting because they have the free time and economic security in their developmental stages to go out and do what they want.
I'd ask if kids are coming out of school unable to read, the average person in this country sure as **** doesn't possess basic mathematical skills, what exactly are they doing in schools? If you are failing on the basics, what of any value are you building upon those shoddy foundations? I've never had an issue with reading, mainly because I read obsessively as a child. I've never had an issue with maths because I was pretty much homeschooled, and my scientific education occurred for the most part outside of school. Pretty much anything left up to my state education I did relatively poorly at.
So it sounds like you had some pretty encouraging parents then.
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