Some people have called it the Harry Potter Literacy Phenomenon. The main idea is that children, especially boys, like to read more thanks to Harry Potter helping to raise worldwide literacy rates. But the Phenomenon is controversial because some experts do not believe that wanting to read more has any affect on literacy. They believe that there needs to exist more of a basic knowledge of readings skills before they can be successful. Below are both sides of the argument and I’ll let you decided how you feel. After all, embracing free thinking is all about coming up with the opinions yourself once faced with both sides of the argument.
Case for Increased Literacy
In 2005, the U.K.-based Federation of Children’s Book Groups took a look at what kids were thinking related to the Harry Potter Series. What they found was a trip. 59% of the kids interviewed believed that they had better reading skills thanks to the Harry Potter Series. And 48% of kids were reading more thanks to the addictiveness of the complex and enchanting story lines.
In Australia is was reported that three out of four kids ages 11-13 had read at least one of the Harry Potter books. 57% of boys in theU.S.are reading the series compared to 51% of girls, meaning that Harry Potter is having more of an impact on boys’ attitudes towards reading. And the books are available in over 40 languages worldwide.
Even kids with low reading levels are doing their best to power through the intimidating novels. Why? How would you like to be the only kids in your school who doesn’t know what a Hippogrif is? If you’re only relying on the movies to stay in touch with what’s going on, you’re about 2 – 3 years behind and missing some of the vital details that only the readers are able to get. And some kids with poor reading skills, who are sticking with the series, have seen an increase in their reading abilities bringing their reading skills above their grade levels in some cases.
Another way Harry Potter is changing the attitudes towards reading is through the parents. They are spending time reading aloud to their kids, not out of obligation, but because they’re genuinely engaged in the storyline. Some parents have even been caught sneaking into their kids’ rooms after bedtime to grab the books off their shelves. Parents take their kids to local bookstores for a midnight release party and spend hours in line at the theatre to purchase Harry Potter Tickets.
Parents are engaging with their kids in reading activities and they’re seeing the impacts of this. 85% of parents say their kids want to read more frequently thanks to the Harry Potter Series. And 76% of parents feel that the extra reading has helped kids with their school work.
Case against Increased Literacy
In 2004 a group called the National Endowment for the Arts released a study titled “Readingat Risk.” In it the following statistics were given:
- Adult reading rates dropped 10% over the last 10 years
- Age Group 18-24 is seeing the highest drop in reading rates
- In 2002 only 50% of the age group 18-24 was reading anything at all
The culprits are the same as they’ve been for the past 30 years, TV, video games, movies and social networking, all taking up precious time in people’s over-scheduled lives. Simply put, there’s just no time for reading.
When it comes to the kids with reading problems, Harry Potter is not always a cure-all. The length of the books and the mythical and sometimes complex vocabulary can be a deterrent for kids with major reading issues.
Not every child is getting immediate access to these books either. Low-income kids are not always able to afford to purchase the new releases. The excitement is lost on them as they wait for the books to become available through public libraries.
Not all adults are on board with the series either. When it first came out, Harry Potter was marketed as being big on witchcraft, mythology and mysticism which were a turn-off for some parents who have conservative, religious views when it comes to entertaining their children. This attitude leads to more than a few households banning the books.
Your thoughts?
What do you think? Is the Harry Potter series just a social fad that will soon flame out? Or does it hold the keys getting a new generation of kids to start reading again?
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The illiterates of today vary in age. From 5 year olds to 50 year olds. So promoting literacy was a bit of an issue as a lot of things had to be done to target people of different age groups. The Harry Potter book series was aimed just for leisure, but the story has everyone of any age interested. And thus I think people were focused to read this book and increase literacy in the process. Well, that’s how I see it.
Great observation. You’re right. People were focused on reading the book, getting through the pages, and the outcome was that they increased their literary skills in the process.
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Thanks so much Valentine. Hope you continue to be an avid reader. Don’t forget to sign up for email reminders so you know when my next post comes out.
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no no it’s no use reading the last book after seineg the five moviesyou dont know how much the movie lacks the real plotlineand the twists in the scripts are unimaginablea true harry potter fan would hate the moviesand i assure you you will enjoy reading all the booksbecause we all have
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The books are even better than the meovis. WAY better, although I like the meovis too. As for your other question, I highly recommend you read the other six books in their consecutive order before reading book seven. Book 7 has a lot of references to things that happened in the other books and things that are explained in the other books. It is best appreciated after having read the rest of the series. But you won’t have a problem because books 1-6 are also spectacular.
Great observations. I agree that the books are much better than the movies. If you liked this article, you may want to look at my most recent called Reading the Books vs. Watching the Movies
I would reccommend any of the thiligwt series as well. They are a great read for age groups 9-15 even adults read them.I got the whole series from pakayas.com. They’ve got some really good prices on the thiligwt books. Sometimes if they don’t have the book and you email them, they’ll put it right up.
I think it depends on the kids because some of the Twilight themes are little mature, but yeah, I would recommend this series as well as the Chronicles of Narnia, which I recommend for any any group.
I want a book and then i want a movie for my child she is 11 years old and she loves reading a book and then waitchng the movie.She read and watched the harry potter books, marley and me, and holes.
All great books and equally great movies. Though I took a box of tissues to watch Marley and Me.
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I have been absent for a while, but now I remember why I used to love this website. Thanks , I’ll try and check back more often. How frequently you update your website?
Hi Eldrige. I try and post twice a week normally. Unless I’m engrossed in a really good book. 🙂
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The books are better than the moives, but if you don’t read all the books then you will get a little confused when it comes to the last book, and just to let you know that the films leave out a lot of details, so if I were you, I would start from the bieginning at read them all!
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The books are much better than the moievs and create a vivid and more wonderful story and setting. If you read the last one first you will miss some threads that runs throughout the series, a reward Rowling give her loyal readers. The bad part is that you will come away feeling disappointed at the moievs a little.Read them and enjoy them. It won’t be a waste of time.
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I do use Twitter. You can find me @HippieBookworm
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this is a good comparison:movies = heehsry kissbooks = gourmet, rich, delicious dutch chocolate the best in the world.the books are a million times better than the movies. they’re AMAZING lol!!!! you should definately read them, but you probably won’t understand much of it unless you start from the beginning. i know, it seems like a lot, but i honestly go through a book a day, cause they’re so good.
I completely understand because I have a lot of experience, but obviously, you know a little bit more than me about it. I’ll subscribe to your RSS feed for more information. I’ll even tweet and share this on facebook because I’m sure my followers and friends would be very interested as well. Thank you for the post. See you soon :).
Thanks for the support Greg. Looking forward to seeing more of your comments.
I’ve started asking 8-12 year olds about their Harry Potter reading (I’m an author & performance storyteller and present to around 7,000 children a year). For a lot of boys it’s a huge turn off now (of the children who have never read an HP, or read only 1 – about a third of the groups – almost all are boys). As you note, a lot of hyped claims were made in 2005/6 but this is a series that quickly becomes “more appropriate for better readers” – and which after book 3 becomes far more attractive to girls vs boys, because of the romance elements.
I agree Ed. Another thing to consider is that the 8-12 group may have missed the Harry boat. Now that the movies are out of theaters and all 7 books have been written and published, we may see that more kids are gravitating towards the next “big thing”.
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