Tests results measure reading retention. Reading retention requires using imagination. “Tests elementary and middle school children have taken since 1999 are obsolete” (Editorial, 2007). As words in a book are read, the reader puts together a mental video. Images of the place, sound, people mentioned in the book are imagined by the reader. Adults standing over children correcting every error they make interrupt thinking and imagination patterns. When put under pressured testing situations, the mental interruptions they have became accustomed too are automatic.
Learning develops when the child go off by themselves and figure out the story. No one is there to tell them what to think or correct as they go. Today by the time a child goes to school, wonderful fantasy age technology showed them how reading slows them down. Two year olds pick up DVD remote controls and operate it like an old pro. Literate parents spend 20 minutes trying to figure out how to get the movie to play. Today’s remote controls making all these wonderful things show up on the screen have no letters. Children are not going to read the book when they can watch the movie.
They much prefer to spend time watching television, not reading. Television programs are quicker. Television programs teach social skills, how to handle emergencies or how to solve problems in a few seconds. Programs are quick, short and non comprehensive. They cater to children’s short attention spans. Children learn at rapid rates. Learning at rapid rates and retaining reading information are completely different skills. Children’s reading skills are taking second to watching television. Information should they need to recall is instantly accessible.