New children's literacy campaign: should Mumsnet sign up?

[RowanMumsnet]

Hello everyone

The charity Save the Children, with whom we've done a bit of work in the past, is asking if Mumsnet can give its collective support to a campaign to improve children’s literacy here in the UK.

Save the Children say: “Reading is the key to a child’s future: it unlocks their potential and opens up a world filled with possibilities. For our poorest children, reading well is their best route out of poverty, but thousands of children from poorer backgrounds leave primary school not reading as well as they should.”

As ever, we'd like to know what you think about adding Mumsnet's voice to this. The aim of the campaign is to ensure that every child is a confident reader by age 11, but Save the Children's position is that to achieve this we all need to play our part. The campaign hasn't launched yet, but Save the Children will be working with a coalition of organisations, communities, parents, teachers and schools, businesspeople and politicians. They are working with a range of media, including The Sun. They don’t want to give away all their campaign tactics before the launch (understandably) but if you have any specific questions about the methods and aims of the campaign, let us know and we'll see if we can get answers for you.

Please do also use this thread to let us know what you think about Mumsnet officially getting behind this one.

Thanks,
MNHQ

[PinkSquash]

If a parent isn't interested in helping their child to read, then targeting them in a newspaper isn't going to help either. Schools need the correct training and equipment to work efficiently at teaching children how to read in a way that is suitable for them, not just one set method.

[mrz]

We tried a mixture of methods which resulted in the current situation PinkSquash.

Why do people think Michael Rosen should be involved? Yes he writes great childrens books but how exactly does that make him an expert on teaching reading? He seems to believe all children can learn from osmosis!

I find it strange that Save the Children are being so reticent about their exact plans

[mrz]

Just to clarify by "we tried a mixture of methods" I mean schools in the UK

[petalunicorn]

I understand the reservations about The Sun - I do, but I sometimes think people on mumsnet live on another planet.

In many households The Sun will be the only material with printed words coming into the household. It is better for the children to see their parents reading The Sun than not reading at all. They will read it themselves and see that it is normal to read a newspaper. It is better to read The Sun than nothing. If that paper has words in it about it being good to read than even better. Many households would not switch to The Mirror due to political allegiances. Many readers are not capable of reading the more complex language in other papers.

I'm not sure why Mumsnet would want to get involved. The campaign obviously wants as many 'names' associated with it as possible, hence the approach I guess, but what could Mumsnetters do? The campaign will either need to target professionals working with children or parents who don't/can't help their children. There are better ways to target those professionals than Mumsnet and the parents who post on mumsnet are not the demographic being aimed at. Could we have more information on how mumsnet would be involved?

[ChazzerChaser]

I totally understand that the Sun is prevalent in homes, and could be the only printed word that comes in. One of the reasons I know is from having read Clare Short's book which gives testimony after testimony from girls who were in exactly that situation and how it made them feel about their bodies, their sexuality, their worth, their family etc etc. I'm not going to sell them down the river when it's unnecessary - it's not this or don't teach them to read is it? There are plenty of other possible strategies.

Imagine how it would feel to be one of those girls wondering if it was OK to be exposed to this kind of stuff, was it just them feeling this way, and then seeing Save the Children's logo showing they were endorsing the paper. Why would Save the Children not care about that? It baffles me. Reminds me of the Amnesty debacle to be honest. Do girls not count?

[mrz]

Perhaps they should look at the schools that teach every pupil to read for guidance.

[Campaspe]

I would be prepared to actively support this campaign.

[SacreBlue]

In many households The Sun will be the only material with printed words coming into the household. It is better for the children to see their parents reading The Sun than not reading at all. They will read it themselves and see that it is normal to read a newspaper. It is better to read The Sun than nothing. If that paper has words in it about it being good to read than even better. Many households would not switch to The Mirror due to political allegiances. Many readers are not capable of reading the more complex language in other papers.

I can't agree with this. Having had to unpick 'news' stories with the underlying message of misogyny, xenophobia, and outright hatred of certain groups of people in society, I would not be happy to support a campaign on literacy via the Sun.

I think that papers like the Sun promote hatred and non-thought. And people read and believe this shit.

There are so many good papers & orgs who promote literacy and free-thinking. I find it unbelievable that MN and STC cannot find better partners.

I think its great that my son is internet literate. No problem with him accessing a variety of sites to increase his internet literacy.

I wouldn't be directing him to porn sites to make him more internet literate though, and I would think that a stupid and counterproductive move to do so.

Some partnerships are borne of necessity, some of expediency, I would absolutely think less of MN, and Save the Children, entering into a partnership with the Sun.

Objectification of women is either ok or not.

I am not an object.

My son is not a rabid objectifier of women.

His literacy is not increased by exposure to sexist, racist material.

MN can help literacy without supporting the objectification of women.

And I, for one, am tired of explaining why casual misogyny is wrong.

[HarveySchlumpfenburger]

I could be wrong, and admittedly Save the Children haven't said what their plans are, but I'm not sure it involves getting children to read the Sun. I'm not sure how valid your child using internet porn sites comparison is.

My assumption is that Save the Children are likely to be using the Sun as a vehicle for providing information/resources to a target demographic of parents who are already Sun readers. They could target it at those papers who promote literacy, but I suspect that would be a rather pointless waste of money.

[mrz]

Isn't it stereotyping to imagine that the parents of the target pupils will read the Sun?

[Badvoc123]

Everything that sacrebleu said!!
MN is losing the fecking plot IMO.
Partnering with The Sun?
What next.....a Murdoch buyout?
:(

[HarveySchlumpfenburger]

It is a stereotype to an extent. But the Sun is, by a considerable margin, the most read daily newspaper in the country, IME across a fairly wide demographic. If you decide to run a widespread media campaign across all newspapers but specifically exclude the Sun you are going to miss a lot of people who could have benefited from it.

If that is the extent to which paper is involved, then I don't think it particularly hypocritical of MN to back the campaign. They just happen to be 2 of many organisations who have signed up to support a literacy initiative.

If it's more than that, then I do think it is a problem.

[Linskibinski]

From a very young age I used the written word as a form of escaping from a tough early start. I would hide in the toilet and read the back of toilet cleaner. I walked to my local library and read everything I could get my hands on. I didn't care who wrote it, how well it was written or the ideology of the person who wrote it. The more I read, the more I learned. Eventually I made my own decisions on what newspapers I wanted to read. As a child books, newspapers, even bleach bottles, gave me a way to escape. I was able to make decisions because I had access to every viewpoint. I'm not a sun reader and think page 3 is a ridiculous waste of a page but I can put up with their involvement if it means more youngsters get access to books. I say go for it mumsnet!

[mrz]

I don't know many people who buy / read the Sun or indeed any daily national newspaper.

[LadyIsabellaWrotham]

We need to know what the plan is. If the Mumsnet ethos means anything, to me, it should mean well-evidenced, properly thought through plans as opposed to soppy motherhood and apple pie sentiment. I'd happily chip in a fiver for a gag for Michael Rosen though.

[Feenie]

^^ This. Agree totally.

[HarveySchlumpfenburger]

I'll throw a fiver into the Rosen gag support fund.

Given that I think the MN primary forum is one of the best forums I know for getting good quality help and information on supporting children who are struggling with reading, it would be a shame to put their weight behind an ill thought through campaign that went against that.

We know what gets poor children reading. It isn't a secret. We just need to get on and do it.

[JohnFarleysRuskin]

I wouldn't want to be involved with a campaign that the Sun was involved in.

I don't see why promoting literacy can only be achieved alongside the objectification of women. There must be other alternatives.

[HalfSpamHalfBrisket]

YY LadyIsabella. Esp. about the gag for Rosen (on the list for the next Mumsnet Giving week perhaps?)

[maizieD]

I'll throw a fiver into the Rosen gag support fund.

Put me down for a fiver, too!

RafaIsTheKingOfClay says it all. Without emphasis on the knowledge and skills which are fundamental to successful reading, and which are vital for struggling readers, these campaigns go nowhere.

[mrz]

Perhaps MN should start a "gag Rosen" campaign

[HumphreyCobbler]

It seems clear from what Michael Rosen says that he really has no idea what phonic teaching actually is. He seems to think it means teaching phonetic spelling for some reason.

I really like his work but wish he could confine himself to what he actually knows about.

[HumphreyCobbler]

yy to mrz's comment about looking at what the successful schools do and learning from that.

IMO if people actually taught phonics properly in every school (and remember that good phonic teaching does not preclude other effective literacy teaching, such as creating a sense of excitement and wonder around stories) then there would be much less need for any more campaigns.

How can we support any campaign when their intended method is not spelled out?

[SeagullsAndSand]

You'd have to check the starting point of such schools.No point if the kids going into rec were all on the verge of reading anyway.