SHOULD CHILDREN READ COMICS?
/ REGENT window-displays announcing "Children’s Book Week" in many New Zealand bookshops will have re-opened in the minds of some people the old argument "Should children read comics?" Although answers to this problem (by parents and educators alike) vary considerably, and have been
thrashed out often enough, there is still room for debate, not only because comics are apparently as popular as ever, but also becatise of certain new (and perhaps disturbing ) trends in the fantasy world of children’s reading.
paper shortages and supply difficulties, the old familiar English comics so dear to childhood were rather scarce. But this period saw, on the other hand, an expansion in the production, by Australian and New Zealand firms, of such comics of American. origin as Brick Bradford, Hurricane, and Climax. Another recent feature is the so-called Classic Comic, which seems to enjoy a phenomenal popularity at the present time. The first question which’ comes to mind on this subject is, "Has there been any adequate survey of the comicreading tastes of primary school children in New Zealand, from a: sociological, literary or educative point of view, which can be used as a guide by parents and teachers in, their advice to children?" If not (as appears to be the case) one can then proceed to such questions as: Is the comic-reading habit a harmful one? Can comics be adequately replaced by other forms of reading or by, say, film cartoons? Do they -inculeate wrong social attitudes in children? Have they any educative value? Do they stimulate interest in reading generally, or in good literature? Do comics take children away from the good books which are to be found in libraries and shops? ~ What is "Undesirable"? It is necessary first of all to have some idea of what is understood by "undesirable fiction." Lewis Terman and Margaret Lima, of Stanford University, who made a survey of children’s reading in America in 1926, divide undesirable ‘books into two categories: (a) worthless, and (b) directly harmful, By worthless they mean that the child gains "nothing either in information, inspiration, or lit--erary appreciation," and state further that this applies to "a large part of children’s reading to-day," Direct teferences to comics can be found in such statements .as "impossible adventure, pseudo-heroism, athletic prowess, or unreal school life, " They say that this reading matter has "no regard for literary style," but gratifies the child’s desire to be heroic; and so on. "When a child is stimuleted to useful activity by the stories of accomplishments of others the result is well worth while; but when the exploits of the hero are too fantastic to admit of duplication in teal life, the results may be extremely harmful." They then cite as an example the boy who, instead of learning to swim, was content to read about the daring aquatic feats- of others. Of girls they say that the sentimental attitude must be guarded against, and also the giving LB pony the war, because of
of a false conception of -reality, for "girls are especially prone to seek their ~ companions in books rather than in real life." What is "Desirable"? The extent to which these statements can be applied to the comics read by primary school children in New Zealand is a matter for the experts to decide, but let us first see what Terman and Lima understand by desirable roading, They list four necessities: (1) It should inculcate worthy ideals of conduct and achievement which can actually motivate the child’s life. (2) It should serve to cultivate an appreciation of the beautiful. (3) It should add to the child’s fund of desirable knowledge. (4) It should arouse a desire for further reading of good literature. What it seems necessary to find out is whether these criteria can be satisfactorily applied to stich all-time favourites as Rainbow, Chick’s Own, Comic Cuts, Girl’s Crystal, The Champion, and others like Classic Comics, and the Brick Bradford and Red Ryder the Fearless Cowboy type of paper. Librarian’s Viewpoint In a series of interviews The Listener discovered conflicting opinions. The supervisor of the Children’s Section in the Wellington Public Library admitted that comics were, from her point of view, "a problem." She said the Library’s policy was to "attempt as far as possible to crowd them out" of children’s reading, and to inculcate better reading habits by displaying on the shelves at- . tractive editions, containing plenty of pictures, of the great classics.. When the so-called Classic Comics were mentioned she said that in her opinion these were of ephemeral value and did not provide a lead-in to the actual works themselves. She did not think that comics of this type would necessarily encourage children«to read more classical literature when their minds were more developed. She conssidered that if there were no comics on sale the children would buy more good literature, and come to the libraries more. On the other hand, she admitted it to be possible that the children who read many comics were also great readers of books generally. "But if we didn’t — have comics in the country our problem ~ would be much easier," she concluded. Opposing Opinion _ Almost exactly the opposite point of view was presented (with qualifications) by a bookseller who specialises to a certain extent in the sale of comics. His qualification, which should be stated first, was "I don’t handle the Buck Rogers type of comic." But he was all_ in favour of the two other types. of (continued on next page)
(continued from previous page) comics generally on sale. "A person looking for harm in English~comics is the kind of person who sees evil in everybody," he said. They filled a definite place in the development of the child’s reading habits. Sales of comics were, in his opinion, as high as ever. Some parents deposited a sum of money with the instruction that he should supply them with up to six or nine comics a week for their children, at his own choice. He considered that a Classic Comic did not spoil the literary value of the book itself for the child and, linking comics with the cinema, said there was nothing to educate the child like a picture on the screen. He thought the present boom in comic sales might be partly due to the fact that there was "more money around to-day," and that many children were more precocious and determined to get their "ten bob’s worth." Is the Standard Improving? A prominent education authority with whom we discussed the subject expressed the opinion that comics were harmful in effect because they were mass-produced and aimed at a standardised age-level which must necessarily be fairly low, Yet he thought that in recent years the makers of comics had been gradually raising the age-level aimed at. This seemed to indicate that they were aware of this aspect of their work. Comics of the Chick’s Own type, which aimed at the lowest reading age, fulfilled a definite function because a child must have fantasy, to be able to escape from reality and picture himself as doing great things in the world. Nevertheless this fantasy could be better produced by works of a less standardised nature. Classic Comics were bad because they were, in fact, just making a comic-strip out of a work of literature, and were standardised like all comics. Of the Brick Bradford type he said that they did emphasise a certain moral aspect in that the "goodies" always defeated the "baddies." This applied also to the many adventure or mystery stories in English comics such as the Champion. When asked. if comics had any effect on the child’s social attitudes or thinking, whether for instance they inculcated an anti-democratic or Fascist state of mind-the attitude that "might is right" --he said there was no way of proving their effect harmful or not until we had some way of measuring this effect on the children, This was not yet possible. Questioned as to the educative value of comics, he instanced the case of a teacher in an American Junior _ High School who used comic strips as a basis for imaginative and creative work such as writing a story illustrated with pictures. His own attitude, however, was that education should try, much as the _ libraries were doing, to "beat comics on their own ground" with better and brighter editions of children’s books. English Comics Are Conservative Representatives of a film which dis- , tributes comics in New Zealand told us that the American comics had been "jn circulation for some years, but that they had been given a boost during the war years because supplies of English comics were restricted, while Australian and New Zealand firms obtained the printing rights of the American types. Though they could sell during the war all the English comics they obtained, they were now faced with a certain surplus. There were several explanations for this, in his opinion. One
of the principal ones was that the English comics were still persisting with the same kind of story which had been popular 40 years ago. (For example, the Bruin Boys, Marzipan the Magician, Tiger Tim). Times had changed since the war, and children had a greater desire for the kind of adventure featured in American comics, They were produced in brighter colours and with a more attractive layout. This could be seen reflected in the English comics, too, as they featured fewer of the familiar school stories and more of an adventurous type. As an English critic, George Orwell, said in 1939: "These papers .exist because of a specialised demand, because children at certain ages find it necessary to read about Martians, death-rays, grizzly bears, and gangsters." Another reason was, of course, that there were now much greater supplies of English comics than was the case a few years ago. Positive Approach Needed A teacher who had studied the problem both in his professional capacity and as a parent said that, since children love comics and will always read them, we need to have as good comics as possible. He considered most comics to have a "sensational, monotonous story, to be poorly illustrated, and of a doubtful moral flavour"-to be, in fact, "often quite objectionable." The central problem was then one of discrimination and taste-discrimination amongst comics in order to get the children to discriminate against them after the age of, say, twelve. Beyond this age comics should not be read. The problem of the teacher and parent was to wean childfen from comics to books. A positive approach was needed rather than the negative one of prohibition. He was in favour of Classic Comics and quoted the case of a boy aged 14, who, after reading the classic comic Moby Dick, expended a considerable sum of his own money on buying the book itself. In some instances the comic tends to have the same spirit as the book, even to the language and dress, in the case of a historical. novel like Ivanhoe. He concluded that comics as’a whole can be an approach to literature provided there is a positive attitude on the part of parents and teachers,
Permanent link to this item
Hononga pūmau ki tēnei tūemi
https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/periodicals/NZLIST19470912.2.35
Bibliographic details
Ngā taipitopito pukapuka
New Zealand Listener, Volume 17, Issue 429, 12 September 1947, Page 16
Word count
Tapeke kupu
1,859SHOULD CHILDREN READ COMICS? New Zealand Listener, Volume 17, Issue 429, 12 September 1947, Page 16
Using this item
Te whakamahi i tēnei tūemi
Material in this publication is protected by copyright.
Are Media Limited has granted permission to the National Library of New Zealand Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa to develop and maintain this content online. You can search, browse, print and download for research and personal study only. Permission must be obtained from Are Media Limited for any other use.
Copyright in the work University Entrance by Janet Frame (credited as J.F., 22 March 1946, page 18), is owned by the Janet Frame Literary Trust. The National Library has been granted permission to digitise this article and make it available online as part of this digitised version of the New Zealand Listener. You can search, browse, and print this article for research and personal study only. Permission must be obtained from the Janet Frame Literary Trust for any other use.
Copyright in the Denis Glover serial Hot Water Sailor published in 1959 is owned by Pia Glover. The National Library has been granted permission to digitise this serial and make it available online as part of this digitised version of the Listener. You can search, browse, and print this serial for research and personal study only. Permission must be obtained from Pia Glover for any other use.