Life in the Dairy State (original) (raw)
Pizza Hut's Book It program is now evil and wrong
Ok, this article pissed me off for various reasons. First of all, Book It? Come on don't we have better things to get upset about then a program that rewards kids for reading?
For those that don't know about the Book It program, its for elementary students. You read so many books in a month and you get a free personal pan pizza along with a sticker for a button that you can wear around.
We had it at North Salem Elem. I participated in it and loved it. As a kid with low self-esteem and no athletic ability whatsoever, here was something I could do and do well. Every sticker on my button made me proud. And as a kid that was constantly picked on in school, a moment of pride was a luxury. It wasn't the pizza that made me read each month, it was the act of getting that certificate each month in front of my classmates. It was the act of shattering the goals my teachers gave me each month, because I could. Reading was the best thing I had going in those earlier grades of elementary school. And damn it getting rewarded for that meant something to me.
Here's what the critics are saying, "In the name of education, it promotes junk food consumption to a captive audience ... and undermines parents by positioning family visits to Pizza Hut as an integral component of raising literate children," Linn said. (WHAT THE ^&*#%? Honestly.)
Again I go back to the image of the kid with low self-esteem. Book-It was my time to shine. Every month my family would go into Pizza Hut and I would be treated like a princess by that restaurant. Again it wasn't the promise of a free pizza that drove me to read. Sure for some kids it might be and so what if it is? A free personal pan pizza once a month won't make a kid obese. And if it opens a kid up to reading that otherwise might not give a damn, I say give them all the free pizza they can stand.
This article made me very sad about society.