Hey girl we've got to get out of this place
There's got to be something better than this
I need you, but I hate to see you this way
If I were Superman then we'd fly away
I'd really like to change the world
And save it from the mess it's in
I'm too weak, I'm so thin
I'd like to fly but I can't even swim
The Kinks 1989
I’m running for King. Of America. In 2016. I’m looking for a few wealthy backers; if you’re interested please e-mail me. I’m cautiously optimistic about my chances.
My first decree as King will be to radically simplify and change the school curriculum. I’ll keep math, because business and financial success is so dependent upon thinking mathematically. I’ll keep science, although since no one ever remembers what they learned in science class, I’m not sure why. I think I would just feel guilty if I dumped it.
The rest of the day will be spent reading comic books.
Schools correctly figured out over the past few decades that kids learn much better when engaged in learning activities that are fun, as opposed to rote memorization from a chalkboard. The trick, of course, is to come up with fun activities that actually teach the fundamentals. Nothing does that better than comics.
The main fundamental is reading, and everything associated with it, like comprehension. The path to most advanced knowledge is the written word. Everyone learns what to do on their job from either being told or reading about it.
And that’s where comics come in. Unfortunately, I have zero hard evidence that a diet rich in comics is good for children; I just have anecdotal evidence consisting of.....one person. Me.
Around age 7 or 8, I got a hold of a comic and became an addict. My reading outside of school went from zero to all the time. I was soon reading many grades above my class level, along with massive improvement in comprehension, punctuation, sentence structure, etc. This all happened without me thinking about it, and had nothing to do with any brainpower. It was all the comics.
I probably have 2,000 of them lying around my old house in Kentucky. Within a few years I grew out of that stage, but the die was cast. I still think that comic books were the single biggest factor in becoming a lawyer. Or maybe it was my mom saying "You know, you should be a lawyer".
A few other quick things before I go. Young children don’t have the ability to look at the world in shades of gray. Comics do a good job (at least the old ones) of painting the world in a nice black and white colored foundation of good versus evil. Second, be careful when buying comics nowadays for kids. Most of them are geared towards adults, and are really, really inappropriate. You can download the old ones on your tablet. Try Comixology.com. Lastly, comics lead to a lifelong love of science fiction. Based on the recent success of all the superhero movies, I guess I’m not the only one.
Lastly and most importantly, we can increase our comic literacy in this world, and finally get answers to the most important questions in life, such as:
-Can Batman fly? (no, he’s a poser);
-How was putting on a pair of glasses enough to keep people from knowing Clark Kent was Superman?
-Who would win in a fight, Thor or Ironman? (My son recently asked me this, help!)
Have a good night everyone.
JR
