Kids Hate 'Boring' Classics, Want Manga And Yaoi

Today's cretinous high school cromagnons do not find the pretty prose of Jane Austen as exciting as slamming back a beer bong and pinching the breast of the prom queen. But when did they ever?

Dozens of schools have rejected gifts of free classic books because today's pupils find them too 'difficult' to read, it has emerged. Around 50 schools have refused to stock literary works by the likes of Jane Austen, William Shakespeare and Charles Dickens after admitting that youngsters also find them boring.

Numerous pinch-mouthed literary prudes are using this study to lament the state of education today. But as a literary prude myself, I have to admit that this hot librarian has a point:

But Helena Read, librarian at Cotelands school in Linconshire, said: "The bottom line is getting the pupils to read, whether it's a newspaper, comic novel or magazine. "In an ideal world, I would love it if the pupils came into my library and requested some of the classics, but the fact of the matter is that pupils today are living in a different world."

She added that pupils are more interested in Japanese comics rather than literary greats. "Kids love action and adventure," Miss Read said. "They want books that excite them and are current. They love fantasy."

Precisely. Classics don't remain classics forever. You can't expect each successive generation to slavishly adore the same dusty books as their great grandparents, and if there's any one lesson to be learned from the history of education, it's that no kid on earth has ever enjoyed a book he's been forced to read. Turning snob mode off and encouraging kids to read the books they want to read is the first step in inspiring the love of literature in a child.

Schools refuse gifts of boring classics [This Is London]