First I will defend my choice of "kids" to fill the space in this weeks blogger idol topic by stating that I think being a kid *is* a full time occupation. Perhaps this isn't in keeping with the spirit of the question, but it was the best I could come up with.
I doubt anyone would dispute the fact that writing is a good thing for kiddos to do. A Blog gives an opportunity to develop writing skills in a medium that is very popular right now.
Writing on a regular basis will help develop self-discipline and set the stage for a lifetime of writing. Keeping a record of books read, places visited, movies seen, people met, or interesting news items, along with thoughts on each, can provide the opportunity to critique the things encountered in life. A blog can be a good way to express feelings and concerns and get feedback from others.
Reading blogs written by the under 20's crowd is a great way to keep in touch with what young minds are thinking. Which is something every over 20's person should take the time to do.
2 comments:
From 1993 until 2003, I spent a week each summer teaching creative writing to teenagers from the Cumberland Mountains of Tennessee as part of a missions program which I serve as a board member.
It's hard to do much with a couple hours a day for four days (the fifth day was spent preparing to a presentation for visiting parents and family members), but one message I always tried to drive home was the importance of journaling. Some of the kids in this program came from absolutely horrid home lives, and I felt strongly that journaling would be an important outlet for them. I told them that they could write for themselves without sharing it.
Blogging won't replace journaling, because there are some thoughts too private to blog, but I can see where blogging would provide a similar sort of outlet for many teens. Of course, many of the mountain teens with whom I was working had no Internet access -- but some of them did. If I were teaching that course today, I'd probably mention blogging to them as a potential outlet for their writing skills.
Hear! Hear! You're right on, all the way. Anything to boost literacy.
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