Reflections

As I’ve reflected back over the semester of reading I’ve done for my professional reading postings I’ve noticed that through these postings I’ve had to delve deeper into topics and issues that previously were just words or surface issues.  But having read more about bullying and cyberbulling, image issues, standardized testing, etc I’ve solidified thoughts and feelings on the subjects and viewed each topic through the lens of librarianship rather than just an impersonal observer, and have come to conclusions and come up with ideas on how to combat some of these issues in my professional life.  All of the topics discussed figure prominently in the lives of tweens, their peers and even their parents (all of whom can be library patrons at some point), and it is beneficial to know about, understand and even have an opinion on these topics so that when/if someone comes looking for information or help we are prepared to provide it.  After reading some of the articles I did, I looked at my nieces and nephews through a new lens, and found myself asking them questions about their reading tastes, interactions with their peers, bullying/cyberbullying, and many other topics, and gained valuable insight into how very changed the world is today from when I was in their shoes not so many years ago.  As librarians, and possibly parents, we need to know about and be willing to be open to the changes in the lives of our tweens rather than dismissing their concerns because “that’s not the way it was when I was a kid.” 

Image Obsession

This obsession with image has become an increasing problem in our society today.  And the ages seem to be getting younger and younger.  The media seems to be attacking younger ages because the older ones have already got the issues.  In this online article entitled, “Disney Makeovers, School Pictures & Eating Disorders: Drawing the Line With Image Obsession”, found on the website Ypulse, addresses some of the most recent attack on tweens.  The first issue addressed is the increasing percentage of parents that are insisting that their child’s school picture be touched up.  As the article states, “what better way to get a child on the fast track to self hatred that by letting him know that you had to edit something about his face before putting his photo on the mantel?”  Why on earth would a parent do something so flagrantly stupid?  Those pictures, as the author points out, are like a rite of passage for kids.  Many kids, especially today, have poor enough self esteem without adding to their image issues by making choices that they see as a statement or insult to them.  Sad thing is, most parents wouldn’t see it that way.  What has changed so much in society that we don’t automatically see this as wrong and stupid?  What can we do to help fix this problem?

The second of the issues is Disney recent cooperation with Forever 21 to release a clothing line with a remade Minnie Mouse as the front person.  She has been redrawn to have skinny legs, a svelte figure and wearing stilettos, which simply adds another icon to the already large group that effect kids today in increasingly negative ways.  The author points out that both of these stories are disturbing in light of recent reports (linked in the article) that found more and more teens and kids – from every ethnicity and socioeconomic background – have some kind of eating disorder.  While we can argue, as pointed out by the author, that one Photoshop picture or cartoon character isn’t going to single handedly cause eating disorders, it seems to be targeting younger kids that do not have the filters and understanding that older kids do, so are far more susceptible to the image conscious ads being thrown at them.  Steps need to be taken by parents and authority figures to help minimize the message being sent, or at least teach kids that the messages found in the media of today aren’t always the best avenue to follow.    

Ypulse, November 30, 2010. Retrieved December 5, 2010 from http://www.ypulse.com/disney-makeovers-school-pictures-eating-disorders-drawing-the-line-with-image-obsession

How To Create Non-readers

       Continuing a bit with an earlier topic, I came across an article entitled How to Create Nonreaders by Alfie Kohn.  The author begins the article with two quotes that I found particularly inspiring.  The first states that, “Autonomy-supportive teachers seek a student’s initiative…whereas controlling teachers seek a student’s compliance.”  The second quote states, “If they give you lined paper, write the other way.”  Both of these quotes give a brief idea of what the topic of this week’s post is…the correlation between “teaching” and student motivation.  Kohn quickly points out that no teacher can motivate their students, but simply foster (or kill) the intrinsic motivation in each student.  Each of us is born with a curiosity about the world around us, and learning is simply the feeding of this curiosity, but this curiosity can be dulled or even killed given the right circumstances.  Traditional school is, in my opinion, the number one killer (followed closely by addiction and obsession with technology, but that’s another soapbox) of curiosity and learning in any child. 

This author suggests seven things that can create nonreaders or kill curiosity in students: 1) Quantify their reading assignments, 2) Make them write reports, 3) Isolate them, 4) Focus on skills, 5) Offer them incentives, 6) Prepare them for tests, and 7) Restrict their choices.  As I was reading this I was somewhat shocked, because what teacher, parent or authority figure hasn’t used one or all of these methods in dealing with kids at some point?  But as I read further through the article I was interested to see where the author was heading with this idea.  Towards the end of the article several methods are suggested to replace the above seven methods with.  As I read these suggestions it hit me immediately…this author is suggesting mentoring rather than teaching.  This is something I’ve felt very strongly about for several years, ever since I started my foray into homeschooling.  That is something homeschoolers do, we mentor rather than “teach”.  What is mentoring, you might ask?  In a nutshell, it’s putting the student(s) in the driver’s seat and letting them take the wheel and direct their learning, either individually or collectively.  Chaos? Anarchy?  With the teaching style and atmosphere in today’s schools that is probably exactly what you’d have, but with training those students would eventually get the idea.  Learning should be fun, and should inspire the intrinsic motivation we each have rather than create drudgery.  Rather than asking questions with one correct answer, ask for an answer and then ask why.  This creates brain activity or thinking…REVOLUTIONARY, I know.  This idea of mentoring will create thinkers rather than fact vomit-ers. 

Kohn, A. (2010).  How to create nonreaders.  Retrieved November 28, 2010 from http://www.alfiekohn.org/teaching/nonreaders.htm

Why Standardized Testing Sucks.

Ok, this week’s offering is a truly fantastic article entitled “Why Standardized Tests Kill the Joy of Learning” by Cameron Sullivan.  This is a subject or topic that I hold very close and like to stand on my soapbox about.  As pointed out in this article, standardized tests do serve a purpose; they allow the school administrators to gain measures of success throughout the entire school district.  The very great downside to standardized testing is that the greater importance and joy of learning is almost always lost in the need and drive for better test scores.  We even cut our own throats further with this by making it a funding issue.  Many school’s funding can be based on their testing averages.  Many parents won’t send their kids to schools that have low funding, etc.  It’s a vicious cycle.  As the author states, “When a bureaucracy rewards schools primarily for high standardized test scores, teaching becomes self serving – for school districts, not for children.  Impressive school rankings are meaningless if schools don’t embrace the value of a lifelong love of learning as the clearest pathway to success” (Sullivan, 2010). I’ve seen the results of this in my nieces and nephews.  They have no love of school, learning or anything even closely related.  Reading is something that only geeks do and is to be avoided at all costs…homework is passé…and “college?  Really?  Why on earth would I go to college?”  I am entirely serious.  These are straight from my nephews, ages 13 and 15.  They look at school as something to be endured.  It both saddens and sickens me to see these bright young minds so disillusioned.  Life is about learning, and sadly, they will learn that truth the hard way. 

By contrast, my younger siblings and I were homeschooled (me only from 9^th grade on).  Not something that is the answer for everyone, but it's what saved me.  I HATED school.  With a passion that cannot be matched.  I didn’t hate learning, but I associated learning with attending school (my first misconception), and so had myself convinced that I hated learning.  I am not a good tester, so I always struggled and felt stupid.  Once I had finally had enough, my parents finally decided to take the chance and began homeschooling me…I graduated from high school 1 year later.  Not to say this will be the story of every homeschooler out there, but it is extremely common to homeschoolers in general.  Why?  Because we do things differently and it works.  I immediately became responsible for my own education, which gave me motivation.  I was allowed greater freedom in my studies, and my subjects were wide and varied.  I didn’t have to wait for anybody else to finish before I could move on.  Now, I understand that there are restrictions in public school classrooms, and I’m not saying they don’t serve a purpose, but there are other alternatives and they should not be belittled or sneered at, because they work.  And to wrap back around to the article…homeschoolers consistently score higher on standardized tests than 99% of public schooled kids.  Why?  Again, because it works!  :D

Sullivan, C. (2010).  Why standardized tests kill the joy of learning.  Retrieved November 21, 2010 from http://www.good.is/post/why-standardized-tests-diminish-the-joy-of-learning/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+good%2Flbvp+%28GOOD+Main+RSS+Feed%29

A New Perspective on How to Deal with Bullying

This post was supposed to be a continuation of the previous one about building teen research skills, but I came across an article in the New York Times that connects to an earlier posting about bullying and the severe problems that have arose nationwide related to this topic.  At the end of my post I did suggest a punishment to fit the crime, but as I read this article I was struck very much by the premise behind it.   Rather than returning violence and negativity with punishment and more negativity this article shares the method being used by a group called Roots of Empathy.  Their idea is to nip aggressive and negative behavior by replacing it with compassion and empathy for something else, in this case, a baby.  A baby is brought into a controlled setting and the children are allowed to interact, hold and learn with this baby.  Medically it has been shown that people of all ages react to babies with nurturing tendencies that foster compassion and kindness.  These kids are routinely exposed to the same baby over a period of time and get to see and be a part of the learning steps (rolling over, sitting, crawling, etc), and it gives them a sense of connection.  Studies have shown that in the schools that employ this method have seen a decrease in the proportion of students who get into fights from 15 to 8 percent.  Also of the kids that show proactive aggressive behavior, or bullying behavior, 88 percent decreased the behavior over the school year.  That is phenomenal! 

“Empathy can’t be taught, but it can be caught.  Programmatically my biggest surprise was that not only did empathy increase in children, but it increased in their teachers…and that, to me, was glorious, because teachers hold such sway over children” states Mary Gordon the founder of Roots of Empathy.  What a unique and effective way to deal with and completely stop bullying at a young age by replacing it with something better.  Teaching children to be better people rather than punishing them is a novel idea and shows a greatness of thought and lack of selfishness because it focuses on helping, bettering and teaching rather than force, violence and punishment. 

Bornstein, D. (2010).  Fighting bullying with babies.  New York Times Opinonator page.  http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/11/08/fighting-bullying-with-babies/?partner=rss&emc=rss

Teens/Tweens and Researching...

Something that’s been on my mind this week is teens/tweens and their research abilities.  As I’ve been working on my e-portfolio I decided to use a paper that I had written for a LIB244 about whether or not teens have online researching skills.  One of the articles I used in this paper pointed out that most teens, when given an assignment requiring research, would immediately either Google or Wikipedia the topic rather than put any effort into looking elsewhere.  Now most people in the world would simply shrug their shoulders and wonder what’s wrong with this scenario.  On an adult level I would probably say nothing.  I use Google nearly every day myself for one thing or another, but when it comes to research, I usually only use it as a jumping off point, if even then.  The problem with tween/teens using this as a first and only resource is that the information retrieved is not always correct, useful or reliable.  Most people believe that because tweens/teens are so exposed to technology, and their usage of it is so high that means they must know how to use it to retrieve anything.  As I stated in my paper, “Constant exposure to technology does not necessarily denote advanced knowledge and understanding, simply maneuverability.”  The problem stated and suggestions made in both the articles and paper is training.  Teaching tweens/teens not only how to research, but how to determine the usefulness or efficacy of the information they are retrieving is paramount.  Most, not all, teachers assign research projects, papers, etc and simply expect students to competently research and write an intelligent and useful reply.  Now from what I’ve experienced and from what I’ve seen with my younger siblings and nieces and nephews, there isn’t a lot of instructing taking place on online researching.  How do the teachers expect their students to automatically know the whys, where’s, and how’s of research without any instruction?  I suppose what I’m getting at is that so many of the tweens and teens entering our library doors are horribly unprepared to do any but the most basic research, and it frequently falls upon us, as librarians, to teach them how to find and disseminate useful information.  My next question is…how do we do that?  (To be addressed in next posting…)

Watkins, K. (2008). Return of the Google game.  School Library Journal, p 46-48. http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/article/CA6555545.html

Bullying

There has been a lot of articles and stories done in the media lately about bullying, and as I was browsing in Professor Harlan’s posts on Twitter I saw the post made today with a link to a blog post about bullying.  Bullying has always been a sensitive topic with me.  We moved around a lot when I was younger, which did not promote close friendships with neighbor kids.  Hence, I was not a popular kid.  I, in fact, had no friends for a very long time.   But let me go back a ways…I was rather unremarkable as a kid, not fat, sick, ugly, no glasses, etc.  And yet I was a favorite target…I have since figured out that it was because I was usually the “new” kid which meant fresh meat.  I may not have been a big kid, but I grew up with three older brothers.  Three very rambunctious brothers that loved nothing more than teasing, wrestling, and thumping on one another, and me.  I learned very young how to defend myself with incredible success.  They weren’t hard and mean, just tough and determined that I should be tough too.  When I got to elementary school I saw older kids picking on the younger kids.  It made me mad.  So, so, so, so mad.  I got in “trouble” regularly…not for bullying kids, but for beating up the bullies.  I was fairly small and I was fast, and I had survived Yarrington boys 101, which meant I was a dirty fighter.  The principal of my elementary school soon became one of my best friends because I spent a lot of time in her office explaining why I had beat up some 6^th grader again. 

              But enough of my recollections.  Bullying is an ugly disease that is getting worse and worse in the schools and not only in elementary, but also in junior high and even high school.  School staff is limited because of society’s way of suing first and asking questions later, so many of these bullies are allowed to run pretty much unchecked.  And if there is one thing I learned from elementary school (besides that I still hate my 6^th grade teacher) it’s that kids are mean!  Mean and nasty…especially to each other and those they deem weak.  What can be done?  As librarians, honestly, there isn’t much we can do except be prepared to offer help, encouragement and, of course, friendship to any young kid looking for it.  A child that has a good self esteem and knows they are loved is less likely to be a true victim of bullying.  My personal opinion is that kids caught bullying should be checked…hard.  There is no excuse for it, and the current punishments in place have obviously not worked…since when is getting a day off (suspension) an intelligent punishment?  The punishment should be something nasty…like cleaning all the bathrooms in the building…every day for a month, with a toothbrush!

Technology. Friend or Foe?

Henry Jenkins, in his blog article, Raising the digital generation: What parents need to know about digital media and learning, discusses the challenges that parents face in understanding and sharing technology with their children. According to Jenkins parents are given little, if any, advice in how to address these challenges, and as I thought about it I find that I agree with this, somewhat.  He goes on to say that most advice is “just say no,” keep it out of the bedrooms, and that the more a parent restricts access the better a parent is.  Why is this completely wrong? 

Not all parents have a negative view of technology, and there is nothing wrong with being aware and cautious in our usage.  I am not advocating that we completely restrict access either, because that would be completely counter-productive considering today’s society and our dependence on technology; but to say that keeping track of your kids is a bad thing?  How do we help our kids understand what’s good and bad if we don’t know what they’re doing?  I’m not advocating spying either, I’m just saying that there has to be a happy medium.  There are legitimate concerns over why not to have computer in kids’ rooms.  I don’t think that applies after a certain age, but I also don’t think a 10 year old should have unrestricted and unsupervised access to whatever they want either…there are too many predators out there, even in cyberspace.  Jenkins mentions in his article that a good way for parents to be involved in what their kids are doing online is to be involved as well.  I completely agree.  While they can’t be involved in everything, they can at least know enough to know when to intervene. Another way is to completely open and willing to answer questions.  If a child knows that “mom” or “dad” will answer any question they have without passing judgment they are much more willing to approach them for help.  Parents are still parents and kids are still kids…which means kids are not equipped with complete understanding at birth, that’s why they have parents.  To denigrate or belittle the role of a parent in the quest for unrestricted access is wrong.  I’m not saying that’s what Jenkins is advocating, by any means, but sometimes I feel as if that is where we are heading with our insistence that there be no restrictions.  Filters serve a purpose and it is the right of a parent to decide what those filters are.  Personally, I believe that children should know why there are filters, they should understand that there is harmful stuff in the world, but they should not need to access it just because they can. 

Jenkins, H. (2010).  Raising the digital generation: What parents need to know about digital media and learning.  http://henryjenkins.org/2010/10/raising_the_digital_generation.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+henryjenkins+%28Confessions+of+an+Aca%2FFan%3A+++++++++++++++++++The+Official+Weblog+of+Henry+Jenkins%29

Students or Learners?

In browsing what links Professor Harlan has made available on her Twitter site I came across a blog posting by David Warlick entitled “Are they students or are they learners?”  I was instantly intrigued, and on further reading I became even more intrigued with this idea.  He has managed to articulate an idea I have had simmering in my mind since I was a teen.  As a quick history, I was a public school kid up until my 8^th grade year when I spent a year in private school, and in 9^th grade my parents made the best decision of their lives…they decided to homeschool, starting with me.  I learned really quickly the difference between a student and a learner, by necessity.  No longer was I merely a student doing what I was told to by a teacher, I became responsible for my own education with the assistance of my parents.  It was like handing a shopaholic an unrestricted bank account!  I graduated from high school one year later.  All of my three younger siblings, who were homeschooled as well, have excelled far beyond what I was able to do.  As I was reading this blog posting by David Warlick I kept thinking that this method for “teaching” works really well in a smaller atmosphere, and can understand how some teachers would have a hard time applying this idea in their classrooms, but the underlying principle of teaching kids to be learners rather than students is a sound one.  Learning should be fun!  Not all the time, of course, because we all have subject we don’t like or excel at, but learning shouldn’t be something that kids dread.  The hardest age to teach is tweens.  I have seen this in my younger siblings, who all went through a brief stage of disinterest, as well as my nieces and nephews (who are still in the stage of disinterest).  Learning needs to engage the minds and imagination of kids.  Once they catch the bug it’s incurable!  We, as librarians, also need to be enthusiastic about learning…we can influence where parents sometimes cannot.  If we are enthusiastic about a subject, or learning in general, we can infect others with our enthusiasm.  Warlick makes a suggestion in having a bulletin board of what we, as the teacher/librarian, are learning currently outside our “work” requirements.  I think this is a great idea and could have application even in a library setting.

Warlick, D. (2010).  Are they students or are they learners?  2¢ Worth. http://davidwarlick.com/2cents/?p=2762

Authentic Questions...

I was browsing on Professor Harlan’s Twitter page and came across the link titled, “What’s an authentic question?”, and was intrigued enough to follow the link.  It sent me to a blog titled, The Blue Skunk Blog, and after reading the brief entry I find myself even more intrigued.  The author states, “Why do so many school ‘research’ assignments fall flat?  One big reason is because they don’t ask students to answer an authentic question – only to supply a ‘right’ answer.”  How very interesting.  I have to say I have had ponderings along these same lines for years in my own schooling, only I couldn’t express it quite so accurately. 

The author goes on to say that, ‘a genuinely authentic question may have multiple right answers, no right answers, or no answers at all, only the conclusion that consists of more questions.”  Oddly enough, the first thing to spring to my mind was actually teens and tweens.  How often do we demand the ‘right’ answer?  Even in our brief dealings with them in a library setting we want clear, concise questions and answers from them…something we can quickly answer and send them on their way.  We are missing out on a chance to help a tween or teen develop critical thinking, or as a former professor called it, pearl growing.  You plant a grain of sand in an oyster and over a period of time it grows larger and larger until something beautiful is created.  The process of thinking and learning are much the same.  How many opportunities to plant that grain of sand in the mind of a tween or teen (or any patron for that matter) have we passed up by being in a hurry?  Our job as information professionals isn’t only to provide the end result information, but also to teach information access.  As advocates for tweens our job takes on an even more vital meaning.  Many tweens are still in the learning stages, at that age when they might not completely understand the larger picture, but we can encourage the asking of those authentic questions that will bring about greater learning in time.  By encouraging them to ask simple questions we can help them learn to ask authentic questions and to enjoy the “thrill of the hunt” that is research and learning.   

Retrieved October 9, 2010 from http://doug-johnson.squarespace.com/blue-skunk-blog/2010/10/5/whats-an-authentic-question.html

"Clean" book..."Dirty" books....

Warning: Strong opinions shared here!

In her article “Clean Books, Please” on School Library Journal’s Blog A Chair, a Fireplace and a Tea Cozy, Liz B gives her reaction to the question “I need a list of clean books!”  This is a question that all librarians are most likely going to face at some point or another in their career.  I will apologize now, because I’m sure my views on this are not going to be “popular”.  I respectfully, utterly and completely disagree with her rant.  Just because someone comes to you and asks for a list of clean books does not necessarily mean they consider all other books to be dirty!  Since when is wanting to read a “certain kind” of book a bad thing?  She certainly has no problem defending the reverse side.  We should all read and make available everything that is out there just because it’s there?  Why?  Where does the line get drawn?  I’m not saying people shouldn’t read what they want to read, because I will never try to make choices for another person because I believe that to be wrong, but I also believe that sometimes things go just a little too far, and that is my right.   

Some people are trying to get back to traditional family values, and as a patron of your library shouldn’t they garner the same amount of respect as the person asking for “questionable” materials?  In her case, she immediately has a negative view or outlook towards this patron because they do not subscribe to her beliefs in literature, though she may say differently.  Haven’t we consistently been warned against that as librarians?  Isn’t that censorship in reverse?  We tend to rabidly defend a book that is challenged even if we do not like it just because we believe in “freedom of access”, but when someone wants something a little less controversial we seem to look down on them for it.  Why?  Isn’t that their right to choose not to read certain books?  From what she was saying it doesn’t sound like the patron is trying to stop someone else from reading those materials, just that they want something different.   

If a teen came to me and asked for “clean” books I would most likely ask some clarifying questions about what they considered “clean” and then proceed to do the best I could to find them exactly what they were looking for.  Likewise, if a teen were to come to me and ask me to find them books of a more controversial nature I would do the same thing and find them exactly what they were looking for, not because I agree with whatever they want, or because I think it’s right or wrong, but because I have taken an oath, if you will, to provide people with the best level of customer service and access to information that I can. 

After reading her article or post (whichever you want to call it) I begin to wonder if she has any values at all, if she can so cavalierly mock others beliefs, values and choices.  If you want tolerance for your literature choices then, for heaven’s sake, have some tolerance for other’s choices as well, or cease you griping.

B., L. (2010).  Clean books, please.  A chair, a fireplace and a tea cozy blog on School Library Journal. Retrieved September 29, 2010 from http://blog.schoollibraryjournal.com/teacozy/2010/09/21/clean-books-please/

Ethical Behavior?

I found a link to a presentation given by Carrie James at the Social Good Summit 2010 on Professor Harlan’s Twitter account that made me stop and reflect on what the presenter was talking about.  I have seen many issues with Internet use among teens and tweens, but I have never really thought about it in ethical terms.  The study that was done though Harvard covered many aspects of social media usage and how the users view their time and contributions.  One girl pointed out that, “I do what I want online…I don’t feel like it’s anyone’s business to tell me what I shouldn’t do…I don’t feel responsible to anyone…it’s for me.”  The thought that teens and tweens might think this way is incredibly shocking to me, but not completely unexpected.  I have heard the same thing from numerous adults.  What worries me the most is that if the youth are seeing that lack of ethical thinking or personal responsibility in adults, then how can we expect them to cultivate it?  This idea that whatever chosen social media, whether it be Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, video games, etc, is a free-for-all, or just for fun is rather alarming to me.  One of the suggestions the author makes is to encourage youth to think beyond themselves to the public spaces they are contributing to, and what kind of an effect their contribution could be making.  She uses the phrase from Spiderman, “With great power comes great responsibility”, and when we think about the power that the Internet, specifically, has it brings to my attention the great need we have to encourage ethical thinking and usage of the social media sites the teens/tweens around us might be using.  There are many ways we might go about that, but I believe that the most efficient is example and teaching.  If we articulate our choice to be circumspect or thoughtful about how a comment or action online might affect others they will see that and it might spark a thought in their head the next time they are encouraged or offered the opportunity to participate in something questionable.  My closing question turns the tables back on us, as the adults…how are we in our behavior online?  Are we as ethical as we should be?  Do we think beyond ourselves and our small group of associates to how our comments, actions or shared thoughts are being taken and processed?   

James, C. (2010).  Harvard study finds teens online lack ethics. Retrieved on September 20, 2010 from http://mashable.com/2010/09/21/ethical-consideration-online/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Mashable+%28Mashable%29

"Growing Up Too Fast"

I came across an article in an online database that I found very intriguing.  It is titled, “Growing Up Too Fast” and was published in American Libraries in 2008.  The author, Jennifer Burek Pierce discusses the research done by a librarian by the name of Sandra Steingraber.  Her research focuses on the changes that are taking place in youth and how that can affect their development.  One of her main points in the article is that the age of puberty is falling in the United States.  More and more girls, especially, are going through puberty at an earlier age; and the concern is that this trend of early puberty is something that needs to be addressed as a public concern.  As the author points out that puberty is something that takes place over a period of years and is not restricted to the reproductive system, but that the brain is changing and forming as well.  She states that, “the brain is also transformed during puberty…essentially we grow a new brain” (Pierce, 2008, p. 62).  These massive changes that are taking place, if happening at an earlier age in girls, have consequences.  It can create issues with learning and socialization.  She gives several factors that can contribute to early puberty including diet, living conditions and environmental toxins.  She points out that these girls are at a higher risk for breast cancer as well, which is something that I don’t believe most people think about.  She also points out that family dynamics can play a large role in early development, specifically singling out an affectionate, involved father as being a help in later puberty in girls.  The last thing that she discusses is a recent study about melatonin and the role it plays in regulating puberty.  The levels of melatonin “fall with prolonged screen time, yet rose again when time spent playing non-computer games with family members increased” (p. 62).   One thing mentioned is that it didn’t matter what the content was…just the time spent.  She urges discussion of this issue as a way to possibly help save lives because with early development in girls also comes negative self perception which has led to higher suicide rates. 

One might ask why I would choose to address a topic like this in a materials for tweens class, but as I was reading this article is was interesting to me the connection made between early and problematic puberty and ‘screen time’.  This is something that more and more researchers are speaking out about.  Notice that the author was sure to point out that the type and content of the screen time didn’t matter, but the amount.  This is something that I have felt strongly about for many years.  As librarians, especially public librarians, we need to be prepared to help and assist our patrons in any way; and when dealing primarily with the youth one needs to understand what is happening in their lives.  In understanding what is happening we can be better prepared to help and lead tweens.  Sometimes outside sources, such as librarians, have some influence on these kids simply because they are “outside”.  And by understanding what is happening we can be better prepared to help them make the best choices in reading material, and even encourage reading where there wasn’t much before. 

Pierce, J. B. (2008).  Growing up too fast.  American Libraries, 39(11), 62.  Retrieved September 5^th, 2010 from the SJSU King Library, Library Science and Information Full Text database.

Shocking Statistics!

While reading in Naked Reading, several things caused me to stop and think. The author refers to the conclusion made by Kylene Beers, which states that there is no one template for alliterates. This is something I’ve felt for a long time, but it never seems to be addressed in quite that way.


Something that caused me to stop and think was the point that was made about the emphasis on reading for the primary grades as well as in high school, but how the children in grades 4-8 somewhat fall through the cracks. The author also points out that there are not programs created for this age bracket; which after further reflection on my part, I begin to wonder if the reason we need remedial programs for reading in high school is because we ceased to give it importance in the school curriculum at younger ages. If we made reading a consistent concern through the first 8 years of schooling I think we might see an improvement in the reading levels and statistics.

Another thing that made an impression on me was the information that the average American reads fewer than 3 books a year for pleasure. This shocked me greatly. The other thing the author mentioned along with this sad statistic is that America leads the world in amount of pleasure reading done annually! To put it succinctly…HOLY COW!! Technology has taken over everything so completely that people cannot, or will not, enjoy something so simple as reading. I was one of those children that read at a very early age, was reading large books long before I was “supposed” to, and no one in my family ever thought it was strange; which is probably why I have remained a lover of reading and now consistently put away 3-4 books a week. Sadly though, I have several nieces and nephews that are what most people would consider alliterate. They think of reading as a punishment from the TV, computer, and video games. I wonder sometimes if the lack of independent imagination in children can be directly linked to dependency on technology for entertainment. Something to reflect further on…


Lesesne, T. (2006). Naked reading: Uncovering what tweens need to become lifelong readers. Stenhouse Publishers.