Tempest in a Wii-cup: Britain’s Abysmal Reading Scores Blamed on Videogames
Expanding a bit on one of Elgan’s media bits, England has indeed dropped from third in the world in primary reading to 15th over the last half decade in the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study, which comes out every year. The Sun lists the rankings:
1 – Russia
2 – Hong Kong
3 – Singapore
4 – Luxembourg
5 – Italy
6 – Hungary
7 – Sweden
8 – Germany
9 – Netherlands
10 – Belgium
11 – Bulgaria
12 – Denmark
13 – Latvia
14 – USA
15 – England
16 – Austria
17 – Lithuania
18 – Chinese Taipei
19 – New Zealand
20 – Slovak Republic
Said Sun Editor David Wooding: “We finished behind former Iron Curtain states such as Russia, Latvia and Bulgaria …”
Britain also finished behind the United States, by one point (no gloating, y’all). Here in the states such rankings are met with a collective yawn. That is, if folks even hear about it. If not for the web, most of us Yanks wouldn’t read as much of the British press. But in Britain, the news was met with horror by politicians and punditry. School Secretary Ed Balls announced a £5 million program to give books to nurseries and libraries, along with government-sponsored encouragement toward parental involvement in reading time.
It was Balls’ and other politicians’ statements concerning videogames as culprits that caused the most chuckles. But plenty of blame and embarrassment have been spread around. A Cambridge study showed little sign of improvement in the nation’s schools despite millions in extra spending, lending doubt that the £5 million on book distribution would do much good. The Torries fussed at Labour for blaming parents. The National Union of Teachers said there is too much teaching to the test, and not enough emphasis on reading for pleasure.
So there it is. If videogames indeed are the culprit in falling scores for British tots (despite copious reading often so necessary in advanced games), perhaps the government should spend that £5 million in purchasing Wii, Playstation, and Xbox consoles. Then they could send them to other countries where gaming is not as prevalent, in hopes of causing their scores to decline next year. So, even the playing field British pols. Instead of buying more books for British kids, buy more videogames for kids in countries ahead of yours. That should work.
References:
Wooding, D. (2007, November 29). Video games ruining reading. The Sun. [Online.] Retrieved Dec. 1 from: http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/article521951.ece
Update:
Kotaku notes a nice piece in The Guardian, “Is Our Children Reading,” by Steven Poole, who makes the case that many advanced games like The Legend of Zelda, Phantom Hourglass, require the equivalent of reading a paperback novel.
News headlines don’t tell you, for example, about the wonderfully batty series of games for the Nintendo DS starring Phoenix Wright. These games, in which you play the part of a defence lawyer in a series of increasingly surreal criminal trials, take place almost entirely through conversations that you have to remember and then sift for contradictions, before triumphantly shouting “objection!” in a crowded courtroom. At a rough estimate, one Phoenix Wright game contains at least as much text as your average children’s novel.
Meanwhile, another game for the DS, The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass, not only has innumerable scripted conversations and written signs to read, but makes you write as well – scribbling notes on your maps (via a touchscreen and stylus) so you can solve the puzzles and navigate through increasingly tortuous temples. A child playing this game is probably more passionate about reading its prose for clues and taking detailed notes, than he is about doing his homework. But that’s not the game’s fault.
Tags: British politics, Legend of Zelda Phantom Hourglass, Phoenix Wright, Progress in International Reading Literacy Study, The Sun
DS, Game Discussion, Game Studies, Harry Potter, MMORPGs, Playstation, Sony, Video Game Research, Wii, Xbox | John Rice | 
December 1, 2007 3:05 pm
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