No? Well here is what it says on their web site:
"We want to create a world where everyone is reading their way to a better life. Research shows that reading for pleasure can promote better health and wellbeing, aids in building social connections and relationships with others and is associated with a range of factors that help increase the chances of social mobility."
Their statistics make for interesting, if worrying reading:
Children
The need for our work
- Statistics from 2014 show that one in five children in England cannot read well by the age of 11. 1
- Further research, conducted in 2015, found that similar percentages of 15-year-olds across the UK do not have a minimum level of literacy proficiency: 18% in England and Scotland, 15% in Northern Ireland and 21% in Wales. 2
- Students are less able to learn other curricula if they do not develop sufficient reading skills by the middle of primary school. 3
- Only 35% of 10-year-olds in England report that they like reading 'very much'. This lags behind countries like Russia (46%), Ireland (46%), New Zealand (44%), and Australia (43%). 4
- By the final year of compulsory schooling in England, the reading skills of children from disadvantaged backgrounds are on average almost three years behind those from the most affluent homes. 5
When it comes to Adults:
- In England, 31% of adults don't read in their free time, rising to 46% of young people (aged 16 to 24). 10
- Around 5.8 million people (16% of adults) in England and Northern Ireland score at the lowest level of proficiency in literacy (at or below Level 1). 11
- Low levels of literacy cost the UK an estimated £81 billion a year in lost earnings and increased welfare spending, impacting on 'the success of the economy as a whole'. 12
- Adults with lower levels of literacy are more likely to believe that they have little impact on political processes, and are less likely to participate in volunteer activities. 13
- Per capita incomes are higher in countries where more adults reach the highest levels of literacy proficiency and fewer adults are at the lowest levels of literacy. 14
- Reading extensively and for pleasure can foster the development of stronger reading habits and increase literacy skills at a greater rate than through formal literacy lessons. 15
You can learn more here: https://readingagency.org.uk/about/impact/002-reading-facts-1/
It seems that results in 2019 surveys shows a bleaker picture. How does this affect CBO? When I was at school in the 1960s on a rainy day or cold day we would stay in class and read comics. We had proper comics back then and not the merchandise rags of today. I actually passed my 11 Plus exam because of comics. Seriously. The examiner asked three questions and one involved "How tall can a human being grow?" -the week before I had read a comic that mentioned this and gave examples and the examiner was impressed with my response to all the questions. I had, of course, been reading comics since I was about 6 years old -just like generations of children.
When the fan boys got into comics the rot set in and (despite their trying to reboot history today) comics died. And if the comics are not there on the shelves then parents and kids cannot buy them.
While at Greenway Comprehensive Secondary Modern School in the early 1970's the head teachers decided that they could not be bothered to teach Pakistani, Indian and Bangladeshi kids English. It was sheer laziness and being unwilling to give up extra time. The head had just banned my school mag (Barmy The Magazine That Tells The Naked Truth) so as I had "nothing better to do" I got (I am not kidding) a 5 feet by 10 feet (1.5-3m) empty storage cupboard and was told to teach around six boys English. Comics helped out there, too.
Proper comics in the newsagents or other shops are a rarity -I looked in Asda and Sainsbury's the other day and it was depressing what were considered "childrens publications".
If you want to get your kids into reading then there is the Cinebook option as they cater for youngsters right up to adults. Bright colours and images tend to encourage youngsters to read. Take a look at Cinebooks web page if you want your kids to start reading, enjoy it and learn (the crafty part is not telling kids they are learning!).
As for adults -laziness might be one factor. But very few people admit to reading publications illegally uploaded. I doubt people putting together such surveys consider asking that question so it does tend to muck up stats to some extent.
I am no longer kind to people who do the wiggly "quotation marks" finger gestures these days when they say "I do "illegally" download comics but they are so expensive and what if I bought the comic and did not like it?" Thief. Before the internet, from school age up to adulthood if you got a comic and did not like it -never happened as we browsed through them in the shops:you can browse sample pages online but these people want the book cover to cover- you swapped it with a pal or gave it to someone or even gave it to a charity shop. You illegally, knowing read uploaded comics you are a thief and stealing not just from the publisher but the creators.
An example: Billy B works day and night writing and drawing his dream comic and then scrapes every penny together to publish "Adventures of Cacti-Man": it gets illegally uploaded and read (and usually reposted again) 546,000 times. He sells 50 copies. Rather than making thousands which encourages him to publish issues 2, 3, 4 and so on, he isn't even covering the cost of the printed books being mailed to him. Kick in the teeth 546,000 times. Billy B leaves comics. I know how he feels but I'm too stupid to give up.
Two of these "I illegally download to see if I should buy it" people have You Tube videos explaining the trials and tribulations as well as costs of getting...their dream comic published. Like Billy B these people depend on their 'fans' or followers to buy the book and make them money or else #2 is never going to appear and they will be emotionally devastated but it is okay, hopefully 546,000 of these 'fans'/followers will illegally download a copy to see if it is worth buying (but as they've read it online why bother?). I hope that they do not experience that because when you realise that just 2% of the illegal downloaders buying your book would have secured your financial future...you fall into a deep, dark pit.
But let's not ruin the Christmas season for these thieves whop can enjoy Christmas while people like Billy B are looking at beans on toast as a full meal while worrying about non payment of bills and eviction.
In the UK there are few choices to get youngsters reading -depending on age there are the Childrens Classics Illustrated (I recommend) or Cinebook (again recommended). Don't use a blunt instrument to tell kids how lucky they are to have the ability and opportunity to read: the best approach is always "Just think how lucky you are to be able to read comics/books -do you know in some countries youngsters never get the chance?" Far better than "I paint good money for that -read it!"
Comics are easy to start reading with. Comics are sequential art and that is not some American invention because there are examples of sequential story-telling found in ancient cave art as well as on ancient monuments. It is simply the picture telling the story and text added -in the early days comic sets (strips) featured a picture and below it text to read. Looking at the pictures is fun and when you find out there is more fun in the text -how can you lose?
Child and adult literacy are very important and everyone -especially parents/grandparents- should actively encourage youngsters to read or help adults get a foothold onto the literacy ladder. I've done both -as have many others- but we need far more effort because a two tier well off, highly literate and not well off low literacy society is not good.
When the fan boys got into comics the rot set in and (despite their trying to reboot history today) comics died. And if the comics are not there on the shelves then parents and kids cannot buy them.
While at Greenway Comprehensive Secondary Modern School in the early 1970's the head teachers decided that they could not be bothered to teach Pakistani, Indian and Bangladeshi kids English. It was sheer laziness and being unwilling to give up extra time. The head had just banned my school mag (Barmy The Magazine That Tells The Naked Truth) so as I had "nothing better to do" I got (I am not kidding) a 5 feet by 10 feet (1.5-3m) empty storage cupboard and was told to teach around six boys English. Comics helped out there, too.
Proper comics in the newsagents or other shops are a rarity -I looked in Asda and Sainsbury's the other day and it was depressing what were considered "childrens publications".
If you want to get your kids into reading then there is the Cinebook option as they cater for youngsters right up to adults. Bright colours and images tend to encourage youngsters to read. Take a look at Cinebooks web page if you want your kids to start reading, enjoy it and learn (the crafty part is not telling kids they are learning!).
As for adults -laziness might be one factor. But very few people admit to reading publications illegally uploaded. I doubt people putting together such surveys consider asking that question so it does tend to muck up stats to some extent.
I am no longer kind to people who do the wiggly "quotation marks" finger gestures these days when they say "I do "illegally" download comics but they are so expensive and what if I bought the comic and did not like it?" Thief. Before the internet, from school age up to adulthood if you got a comic and did not like it -never happened as we browsed through them in the shops:you can browse sample pages online but these people want the book cover to cover- you swapped it with a pal or gave it to someone or even gave it to a charity shop. You illegally, knowing read uploaded comics you are a thief and stealing not just from the publisher but the creators.
An example: Billy B works day and night writing and drawing his dream comic and then scrapes every penny together to publish "Adventures of Cacti-Man": it gets illegally uploaded and read (and usually reposted again) 546,000 times. He sells 50 copies. Rather than making thousands which encourages him to publish issues 2, 3, 4 and so on, he isn't even covering the cost of the printed books being mailed to him. Kick in the teeth 546,000 times. Billy B leaves comics. I know how he feels but I'm too stupid to give up.
Two of these "I illegally download to see if I should buy it" people have You Tube videos explaining the trials and tribulations as well as costs of getting...their dream comic published. Like Billy B these people depend on their 'fans' or followers to buy the book and make them money or else #2 is never going to appear and they will be emotionally devastated but it is okay, hopefully 546,000 of these 'fans'/followers will illegally download a copy to see if it is worth buying (but as they've read it online why bother?). I hope that they do not experience that because when you realise that just 2% of the illegal downloaders buying your book would have secured your financial future...you fall into a deep, dark pit.
But let's not ruin the Christmas season for these thieves whop can enjoy Christmas while people like Billy B are looking at beans on toast as a full meal while worrying about non payment of bills and eviction.
In the UK there are few choices to get youngsters reading -depending on age there are the Childrens Classics Illustrated (I recommend) or Cinebook (again recommended). Don't use a blunt instrument to tell kids how lucky they are to have the ability and opportunity to read: the best approach is always "Just think how lucky you are to be able to read comics/books -do you know in some countries youngsters never get the chance?" Far better than "I paint good money for that -read it!"
Comics are easy to start reading with. Comics are sequential art and that is not some American invention because there are examples of sequential story-telling found in ancient cave art as well as on ancient monuments. It is simply the picture telling the story and text added -in the early days comic sets (strips) featured a picture and below it text to read. Looking at the pictures is fun and when you find out there is more fun in the text -how can you lose?
Child and adult literacy are very important and everyone -especially parents/grandparents- should actively encourage youngsters to read or help adults get a foothold onto the literacy ladder. I've done both -as have many others- but we need far more effort because a two tier well off, highly literate and not well off low literacy society is not good.
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