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| Can reading children's books help tackle knife crime? | |
| (about 13 hours later) | |
| I felt utter dismay as news reached me that yet another young life had been taken away on the streets of New Cross, south east London. In this case it was the 17 -year-old Myron Yarde who had been stabbed to death on Sunday, 2 April 2016. By all accounts he was a very talented young musician and songwriter. I have known families who have suffered the ultimate loss. Myron’s passing struck just as hard because he had attended Deptford Green School (which also has a fabulous book group who are members of our site DG readers), an institution I had visited only recently to celebrate World Book Day – I had presented my eventful life story and my two YA novels to students who find it difficult to engage with reading. | I felt utter dismay as news reached me that yet another young life had been taken away on the streets of New Cross, south east London. In this case it was the 17 -year-old Myron Yarde who had been stabbed to death on Sunday, 2 April 2016. By all accounts he was a very talented young musician and songwriter. I have known families who have suffered the ultimate loss. Myron’s passing struck just as hard because he had attended Deptford Green School (which also has a fabulous book group who are members of our site DG readers), an institution I had visited only recently to celebrate World Book Day – I had presented my eventful life story and my two YA novels to students who find it difficult to engage with reading. |
| Following these pointless fatalities, I am perpetually asked what can be done to address the problems of knife crime and how to challenge the mindsets of those young individuals who inflict such devastating trauma on families. As a writer, I’ll never pretend to have all the answers and solutions to a complex problem. However, I would point to a Cambridge University study by Maria Nikolajeva, professor of education, who surmised that “reading fiction provides an excellent training for young people developing and practising empathy...” | Following these pointless fatalities, I am perpetually asked what can be done to address the problems of knife crime and how to challenge the mindsets of those young individuals who inflict such devastating trauma on families. As a writer, I’ll never pretend to have all the answers and solutions to a complex problem. However, I would point to a Cambridge University study by Maria Nikolajeva, professor of education, who surmised that “reading fiction provides an excellent training for young people developing and practising empathy...” |
| Related: Reading a book is best for empathy | Related: Reading a book is best for empathy |
| For me, encouraging young people to read is not simply about them learning good grammar, sentence structure, increasing their vocabulary skills and enjoying a rattling story. Healthy reading can also promote empathy, compassion, respect of life and understanding of other. I’m heartened by the initiative taken by a number of schools which I have visited for their reading for pleasure periods and the positive roles school librarians play in establishing student book clubs and recommending novels to hard-to-reach readers. I recently attended the Wandsworth FAB Book awards where students in the London borough’s schools and academies had the opportunity to vote for their favourite children’s novel of the year – a brilliant initiative that should be imitated all over the UK. | For me, encouraging young people to read is not simply about them learning good grammar, sentence structure, increasing their vocabulary skills and enjoying a rattling story. Healthy reading can also promote empathy, compassion, respect of life and understanding of other. I’m heartened by the initiative taken by a number of schools which I have visited for their reading for pleasure periods and the positive roles school librarians play in establishing student book clubs and recommending novels to hard-to-reach readers. I recently attended the Wandsworth FAB Book awards where students in the London borough’s schools and academies had the opportunity to vote for their favourite children’s novel of the year – a brilliant initiative that should be imitated all over the UK. |
| Related: Books to breed tolerance: what children can read after the terrorist attacks in Paris | Related: Books to breed tolerance: what children can read after the terrorist attacks in Paris |
| Of course we can do more. We should definitely publish more diverse fiction that engages and relates to working class students and tackles the issues and concerns they are facing today. Reading doesn’t just belong to middle class kids - all children need and deserve to see their lives reflected in books. YA fiction is leading the way in this respect with writers like Malorie Blackman, Eve Ainsworth, Juno Dawson and Louise O’Neill to name just four. It’s incredibly frustrating that such groundbreaking writing is confined to the margins of our newspaper book reviews and children’s fiction “round-ups”. | Of course we can do more. We should definitely publish more diverse fiction that engages and relates to working class students and tackles the issues and concerns they are facing today. Reading doesn’t just belong to middle class kids - all children need and deserve to see their lives reflected in books. YA fiction is leading the way in this respect with writers like Malorie Blackman, Eve Ainsworth, Juno Dawson and Louise O’Neill to name just four. It’s incredibly frustrating that such groundbreaking writing is confined to the margins of our newspaper book reviews and children’s fiction “round-ups”. |
| Dramatic adaptations of contemporary children’s literature on terrestrial television have become very rare. When is the last time we actually enjoyed watching a contemporary drama on prime time TV where the main protagonist is 16 or younger? And please don’t offer me Eastenders as hardly any young person I know aspires to spend their time in the local pub whenever they reach legal drinking age – not in my part of London anyway. | Dramatic adaptations of contemporary children’s literature on terrestrial television have become very rare. When is the last time we actually enjoyed watching a contemporary drama on prime time TV where the main protagonist is 16 or younger? And please don’t offer me Eastenders as hardly any young person I know aspires to spend their time in the local pub whenever they reach legal drinking age – not in my part of London anyway. |
| Related: Alex Wheatle: I was mesmerised by Tolkien’s inventiveness of language | Related: Alex Wheatle: I was mesmerised by Tolkien’s inventiveness of language |
| Recently, we lost the great Barry Hines, author of A Kestrel For A Knave. Older friends of mine still rave about the book and the impact it had in its day and indeed on their lives. They couldn’t wait to see Ken Loach’s film adaptation Kes. “The story is set in the north but it’s really about all of us,” friends would tell me – all of us meaning working class. So TV and film can play its part in shaping the morals of young people. But let’s not forget the source material – the children’s novel. | Recently, we lost the great Barry Hines, author of A Kestrel For A Knave. Older friends of mine still rave about the book and the impact it had in its day and indeed on their lives. They couldn’t wait to see Ken Loach’s film adaptation Kes. “The story is set in the north but it’s really about all of us,” friends would tell me – all of us meaning working class. So TV and film can play its part in shaping the morals of young people. But let’s not forget the source material – the children’s novel. |
| Once armed with narratives they can relate to, I would also encourage debates with pupils about the choices and moral decisions that young characters make in fiction and discuss the consequences and fallout from flawed decision making. I understand that teachers are not social workers or counsellors but many of our children need to form a moral compass for themselves because many do not find it at home – it’s an uncomfortable truth. Healthy reading can assist in that development. | Once armed with narratives they can relate to, I would also encourage debates with pupils about the choices and moral decisions that young characters make in fiction and discuss the consequences and fallout from flawed decision making. I understand that teachers are not social workers or counsellors but many of our children need to form a moral compass for themselves because many do not find it at home – it’s an uncomfortable truth. Healthy reading can assist in that development. |
| Related: Benjamin Zephaniah interview: To me it’s not about black, white, Asian; it’s about literature for everybody | Related: Benjamin Zephaniah interview: To me it’s not about black, white, Asian; it’s about literature for everybody |
| A recent YouGov opinion poll, commissioned by Amnesty International, concluded that more than half of the parents in the UK believe that reading books can help children learn empathy. If that’s the case, it’s a surprise for me that reading for pleasure is not a vital part of the school week up and down the country. | A recent YouGov opinion poll, commissioned by Amnesty International, concluded that more than half of the parents in the UK believe that reading books can help children learn empathy. If that’s the case, it’s a surprise for me that reading for pleasure is not a vital part of the school week up and down the country. |
| There might well be more Myron Yardes breathing their last on our streets. Those of us who are passionate about this issue understand how difficult it is to fight against a hyper-macho mentality and deeply entrenched peer pressure. I’m sure we will not be able to convince every young person to spend a few minutes of their school day perusing books in their library. But we have to try. If one novel, with its moral choices and difficult life-changing decisions, can ease the knife out of a young person’s grasp, it’ll be worth it. I particularly recommend The Mother by Yvette Edwards which tells the story of the impact of a death. | There might well be more Myron Yardes breathing their last on our streets. Those of us who are passionate about this issue understand how difficult it is to fight against a hyper-macho mentality and deeply entrenched peer pressure. I’m sure we will not be able to convince every young person to spend a few minutes of their school day perusing books in their library. But we have to try. If one novel, with its moral choices and difficult life-changing decisions, can ease the knife out of a young person’s grasp, it’ll be worth it. I particularly recommend The Mother by Yvette Edwards which tells the story of the impact of a death. |
| Alex Wheatle is author of Liccle Bit and sequel Crongton Knights, books that tell stories of kids living on poor, working class black kids living their lives. | Alex Wheatle is author of Liccle Bit and sequel Crongton Knights, books that tell stories of kids living on poor, working class black kids living their lives. |