There is disagreement over a National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) study that makes a case that people are reading less and kids are in trouble as a result.

The NEA study is ignoring online reading, according to Steven Johnson in his article Dawn of the Digital Natives. He contends, “if you actually read the report, what you find are some startling omissions - omissions that ultimately lead to a heavily distorted view of the Google generation and its prospects.” He points out that “The NEA makes a convincing case that both kids and adults are reading fewer books. “Non-required” reading — ie, picking up a book for the fun of it — is down 7% since 1992 for all adults, and 12% for 18-24 year olds.”

But the NEA report also shows that younger children are making progress in their reading abilities. Teenager’s reading scores have only dropped by about 1% in 15 years. Is that Alarming? It doesn’t seem to be.

Kids as well as adults increasingly read more online, and in Johnson’s estimation, they are “exercising the same cognitive muscles” whether the words are represented in ink or pixels.

The NEA hit back, saying that Steven Johnson misrepresented the report. Sunil Iyengar is the director of the Office of Research & Analysis at the NEA, and he says that they did not exclude online reading from their analysis. He says their data comes from studies “…asking people how frequently they read anything whatsoever for pleasure — a category so broad as to include text of any length in any format through any medium, from books to cereal boxes to, yes, computer screens.”

Then Iyengar parades additional statistics which seem to support the NEA’s claims.

But as you read both of these articles, the notion that Johnson and Iyengar are both cherry picking statistics to support their arguments emerges.

Iyengar ends with some honesty that suggests we need to put this debate on hold for a while because we really don’t have all the answers: “Now is the time for educators and intellectuals to produce sound empirical studies of the risks and benefits of electronic media.”

Perhaps it’s not the medium as much as the quality of the content that makes the true difference in kid’s becoming smart.

Until a clear answer emerges, a policy of moderation in using online media is probably the safest path, and encouraging reading is never a bad thing.

Hat tip to Kevin Arthur for linking to the articles mentioned above. Here are additional book related links from his great blog, Question Technology:

• Books and Emotional Attachments
• Does Kids’ Reading Need to be More Interactive?
• eBooks Better than Traditional Books?

Posted: March 22nd, 2008 under Uncategorized.
Comments: 3

I learned through Dr. Helen, that Internet Addiction Disorder (IAD) is being proposed for inclusion in the DSM-V.

IAD has actually been proposed for inclusion as a psychiatric diagnosis in the next issue of Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-V).Writing in the new issue of the American Journal of Psychiatry, Dr. Jerald J. Block, M.D., said that excessive internet and computer usage should be labeled a mental disease, as it has all of the components of a compulsive-impulsive disorder:

1) excessive use, often associated with a loss of sense of time or a neglect of basic drives,

2) withdrawal, including feelings of anger, tension, and/or depression when the computer is inaccessible,

3) tolerance, including the need for better computer equipment, more software, or more hours of use, and

4) negative repercussions, including arguments, lying, poor achievement, social isolation, and fatigue

“excessive internet and computer usage should be labeled a mental disease”. Makes sense to me; excessive anything is a problem though, isn’t it?

Everything in moderation.

Posted: March 20th, 2008 under Uncategorized.
Comments: none

I hope so. I’m working on it.

Despite my infrequent posting here, I do enjoy blogging and want to be doing more of it. I have been sidetracked by a crazy work schedule as well as having to deal with some unpleasant life stuff. The good news is that the unpleasant life stuff is coming to an end, and the crazy work schedule will probably continue for a while, but I’m trying to make a little more room in my life for doing things that I enjoy doing. Blogging here is one of them.

So for those of you still reading my feed or visiting, I want to hear from you, and I’m interested in your thoughts on what you’d like to see here. I plan to continue in the spirit of interesting pros and cons of technology and how it affects families and kids. I will continue to try to avoid hype and I don’t want to be an endless stream of fear-mongering about online predators and the evils of [insert name of popular social networking site here].

Posted: March 20th, 2008 under Admin.
Comments: none