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Dad helps young daughter eat a pizza slice while Mom sits next to her.
The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.
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Just this week, a viral video highlighted how some US high school seniors are at an abysmal literary level. The results are hard to watch.
Teens struggle to read the sentence, “She wore a silhouette of clothes that were extraordinary but somewhat gauche.” The high schoolers didn’t know how to pronounce “silhouette” or “gauche.” They also expressed total confusion at the meaning of the sentence. Even if they could technically read it, they didn’t have the proper understanding of the vocabulary words, phonics, or sentence structure necessary to understand what they were reading. Some of the kids quickly gave up, with one teen just straight-up admitting that she didn’t know how to read.
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In case you think it was an isolated incident, this kid also gave other students another sentence to read. They also struggled to parse: “The colonel asked the choir to accommodate the governor’s schedule.”
In an interesting update, the Philadelphia high school senior who filmed these two videos asking fellow students to read sentences, is now facing big consequences for the TikToks. He might not be able to go to prom, or graduation, and he might even be expelled from school, despite having a high GPA and an academic record that is in good standing. The school claims he’s in trouble for filming videos on campus, but it’s clear that he’s shining a light on an embarrassing issue for Philadelphia’s students, who have a very low reading proficiency rate.
Since we get a lot of our news via social media these days, this was a great platform to spark a fuller conversation on the issue.
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The reason that literacy rates have plummeted is multifaceted. According to the Nation’s Report Card, America’s high school seniors have the lowest reading scores since 1992. Multiple factors are to blame for this. For one, kids are spending a lot more time on screens than they used to. In addition, a lot of parents are spending more time on their own screens than reading to their kids, and that lack of engagement isn’t encouraging children to pick up a book. If parents don’t model this behavior, their kids may not get into it, either. Reading won’t offer the same instant gratification as rapidly scrolling through TikTok, or double-screening Minecraft and Netflix.
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Parents will have to have some involvement in the new and improved “Book It” program this time around! It looks a whole lot different than the program they participated in during their own childhoods.
For example, when the program began in 1984, eager readers were rewarded with bookmarks to redeem their pizzas. Pizza Hut also gave out buttons and stickers.
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Now, there’s an app for that! That’s right: the program is no longer giving away physical items for readers. Instead, it’s 100% digital now. Parents can track their kids’ reading journey via digital reading logs and digital certificates. Instead of getting a bookmark, a promo code is offered for those who complete the challenges.
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What matters more than the cheesy personal pan pizzas is that it’s working! It is inspiring young people to make reading a daily habit. A 2017 survey found that 61% of “Book It” participants went on to get a college degree. That’s higher than the average US population, which is less than 43% across all age ranges.
In addition, parents who participated in the “Book It” program are more likely to read with their kids every day. In an age where screens are sucking up all of our attention, getting parents to carve out time to read with their children is increasingly more important.
And, as a Harvard Gazette researcher noted, the program encourages young people to keep reading even if they’re not good at it right away. Kids can read whatever they please for the program; it can match their interests and keep them glued to the pages.
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Little girl eats pizza slice while parent sits next to her.
The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.
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As the “Book It” website explains, parents with kids in pre-k through 6th will set their summer reading goals over the months of June, July, and August. Enrollment begins May 1, and by meeting the monthly goals over the summer, kids can gain that coveted personal pan pizza.
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Let’s hope that today’s parents are still interested in trying to form that “core memory” for their own kids. Although it’ll look more like digital rewards instead of pins and paper coupons, we’ll need it if we want to give our young people back their attention spans.
After all, boredom is a thing of the past for today’s youth, thanks to the endless scroll of social media platforms, and algorithms that work hard to keep eyes glued to screens.
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Of course, the “Book It” program is just one literacy program run by one pizza company, so it’s certainly not going to fix a major, country-wide literacy crisis overnight.
But as one TikToker put it, “I can probably read today because of ‘Book It.’” And she’s certainly not alone. Whatever can get kids reading, whether it’s the promise of pizza, the opportunity to dine at a restaurant with their families, or the desire to hit a goal, this is a step in the right direction.
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Group of teens grab slices of pizza while dining at a restaurant together.
The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.
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