Are Comics Good For Kids
by: curvezilla 8 months, 3 weeks, 1 day, 15 hours, 8 minutes ago 2
Email Article Print ArticleThis is a story from my home town news channel on comics.
10/15/07 - Lufkin KTRE News
The Influence of Comic Books
by Tashun Chism
Waldenbooks in the Lufkin Mall has a huge variety of books, but you may be surprised to know what one of their top sellers is.
"We sell quite a few comic books but I think mainly what we sell is a lot of graphic novels, which is a compilation of certain runs of comics,” Waldenbooks manager Gary Makries said.
No matter what form they come in, comic books have become so popular, that kids aren’t the only ones reading them.
You’d be surprised. There’s adults my age buying comics, there’s people in their mid twenties. You’ve got lots of little kids discovering comics for the first time,” Makries added.
It’s the influence that comic books can have on children that worries some adults.
"I don’t like the body image that’s portrayed of comic book heroes. All the guys have six pack abs. All the women have these incredible bodies. And I don’t think that sets a good image,” Howard Cox, Angelina College English professor told me.
Some experts believe while the flashily pictures draw kids in it’s the words that actually serve as a foundation for more advanced reading.
"You get them reading, they find something else they like later on, they’ll slowly move through the phases of going through comics books, to graphic novels, to actual books, and then moving on forward after that. I don’t think there’s anything negative about it,” said Makries.
"It does get them to read and reading anything improves a person’s intelligence. Reading anything from a magazine to the back of a cereal box. Reading is reading and it can help you to grow intellectually,” Cox added.
I can’t believe the professor who said that because comic characters have great bodies that it gives kids a bad self image. If that is the logic we are going to apply then most kids should just stop studying because they are never going to be as smart as the kids at MIT. What a joke! Having something to aspire to is a good thing.
I wonder what body image Mr Cox projects and I wonder if he knows kids can tell the difference between reality and fantasy?
Should we also throw away any of the benefits of reading because it causes a young guy to think of a beautiful female form? Oh wait, guys are going to do that anyway.
At least he confesses that reading is a good thing.
Nice to know he isn’t completely out of touch with today’s pop culture or educational norms.