Skeptical Books for Children - Part Three

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Following on from Skeptical Books for Children - Part One and Skeptical Books for Children - Part Two. You may note that I’m moving in a rather chronological fashion through the reading years, so I’d suggest you begin from the start if you’re new to the series of posts.

I’d like to untypically begin with an interesting news item from my town - Perth Nerds Seize Power at School Formal:

Dr Martin Forsey, an educational anthropologist from the University of Western Australia (UWA), witnessed a classic case of ‘revenge of the nerds’ during his 15-month, ethnographic study in a Perth public high school.

Dr Forsey, who presented his research at a UK ethnography and education conference in Oxford, says students on the fringe of the popular group used their final-year formal to usurp the power of the “beautiful people”…

…Dr Forsey says his study is evidence that school authorities need to reclaim control of graduation formals and to question how inclusive their senior formals are. “We are not looking to reaffirm competitive individualism, but celebrating the community we are in… Schools need to start asking how we might do that.”

He says it is a myth to believe that school days are the best days of our lives. “They are for some, for the majority they are ordinary and for some they are very traumatic,” he says.

This led me to ponder the judgment inherent in the word ‘nerd’ used in the title of that article, as well as the labels that are placed on young women in regards to being ‘in’ and ‘out’. Many readers might be aware of the non-fiction studies in ‘Queen Bees and Wannabes’ by Rosalind Wiseman that inspired the film Mean Girls. How does one assert individuality and acceptance in the non-mainstream? How can science literacy help build resilience in the face of groupthink? Should more psychological teachings and skepticism be promoted in aid of teenage well-being?

So, I turn to the older years of reading and sorting out a few ideas, as well as focusing somewhat on young women’s reading and encouraging a scientific mindset in particular. Don’t worry, I have more to come in regards to boy’s tastes in my next few posts - this is mainly because of a few great new texts I’ve uncovered and a recent look at gender differences and beliefs via my studies. Much of my part-time research work this year will look at resilience and improving the experience of students in secondary schools too!

Let’s face it, when you go to a bookstore, you’re more likely to be faced with the following teenage -target audience selection that I photographed here - lots and lots of female-orientated fiction that does not seem to particularly promote a pro-science message.

Yes, there is some science fiction on the second lowest shelf of my picture here; the excellent ‘Uglies’ series by Scott Westerfeld. In that speculative fiction collection, teenager Tally Youngblood is doomed to undergo the body modifications deemed suitable for all citizens, in order to become one of the vapid and clone-like ‘Pretties’. Either that or become a renegade ‘Ugly’ outcast or a terrorist working against the status quo. She makes the choice to stand out and her adventures make the series popular and engaging.

It also strikes a great cord with young people of both genders who wonder about cliques, pigeonholing and unreasonable expectations. I can even nod to the more realistic example in the film Mean Girls and how Cady’s ‘dumbing down’ of her mathematical skills got her some attention from the boy she fancied - which is why I previously recommended Math Doesn’t Suck by Danica McKellar!

One of the great things about science fiction texts is how they can allow for questioning expectations and mirror darkly the world around us - which is why there’s a lot of examples in the 2A model program for the new Philosophy and Ethics course in Western Australia. It can also encourage an interest in the real science behind the framework of fiction.

You may also notice the ‘Twilight Saga series’ on the last shelf, which I greatly enjoy too. The boom in popular paranormal romance texts includes the very Buffy-like Anita Blake series by Laurell K Hamilton. Of course, you can see that the shelves are dominated by Von Ziegesar’s Gossip Girl series and similar.

And that’s okay as far as I’m concerned, when it comes to fiction. Having watched young teens (of both genders) who were highly resistant readers become keen fans of science fiction and fantasy texts (and then leading onto other books) because of the link to TV shows like Lost, Heroes and Doctor Who (especially Sarah Jane). We’ve seen the boom in fantasy popularity thanks to kids getting into Phillip Pullman’s works and relating to the heroics of Lyra. I know it takes time. It is important, however, to encourage and support books that are more critical about the messages touted in the media and particularly in the health sciences.

It’s tough when the latest target of Gossip Girl’s attentions on Fox 8 is high on everyone’s priorities when you come home from school everyday. I mean, sheesh, even I have most of the series on my bookshelf… I think the tensions and conflicts that the character Blair faces reflects so many young women I know, which is an appeal that fashion sites appear have figured out too.

With other series like Clique by Lisi Harrison running up the bestseller charts, I do think that the YALSA (Young Adult Library Services Association) took the right approach by providing a book list: ‘if you liked Gossip Girl, try these texts next’ in order to extend and encourage, rather than just call any sort of burgeoning habit ‘rubbish reading’. The important thing is to allow a range of reading experiences and not make a stereotype the iconography for growing into womanhood, the same way we don’t encourage party-and-drug-hard clones to be the only example watched on our screens.

Urgh, don’t start me on Foxtel, by the way. The Bio Channel here in Australia has just announced ‘Sixth Sense Saturdays’ (’Sick and Senseless’, more like) where the tasteless trilogy of Paranormal State, Psychic Detectives and Dead Famous pollute the paying audience during prime time. Since the “women’s” W Channel demonstrated their lack of critical thinking with continual screenings of Montel, Most Haunted and Oprah specials, there’s no real hope when a supposed non-fiction biographical station comes out with this muck alongside ‘true crime’ stories. Even non-commercial stations are subject, like when The Bent Spoon Award of 2007 was given to Marena Manzoufas, Head of Programming at ABC television, for authorizing prime-time broadcast during the former science show ‘Catalyst’ slot the Psychic Investigators show (aka ‘Preposterous Piece of Paranormal Piffle‘).

You may also be interested in what TV shows and online shows broadcast a positive reflection of women in science; I will note that just because they feature women doesn’t necessarily mean they’ll appeal to girls, but they’re worth pointing out in regards to the question of role modeling. Although recent research indicates the influence of peers is a major contributor as to whether girls take courses in maths or sciences, I still wonder if it’s the detrimental hard-drinking Paris Hilton party girl that dominates the scene. Certainly the Gossip Girl main characters do struggle to maintain a GPA whilst their inner-city lives revolve around Manolo Blahniks and boys. But a GPA alone just isn’t sexy enough apparently. So - what about the careers that good grades can lead to?

In the UK (and as many readers of my blog know), there is some fine representation of women in science and psychology and debunking via the four-week run on BBC2 of The People Watchers (’prepare to be amazed!!’). Emma Kenny and Sarah Clarke contributed very well as representatives of the applied-science approach in, what we have to admit is even reflected on TV shows, a primarily male-dominated field. The pair were snappily-presented, articulate and a vital component of the series. It’s one of the criticisms I have of The Real Hustle, that the very lovely and confident Jessica-Jane Clement is still primarily promoted as just ‘the female lure / sexy swindler’.

This show stepped beyond that stereotype and it’s clear from comments on my blog that the women of People Watchers are highly involved in its creation. Some of The People Watchers episodes have indeed made its way online and I am hoping (like the other show, The Real Hustle, which is now into Season 4) that the entire series and its sequels will do likewise.

Here’s The People Watchers‘ first of five parts of an ‘interactive’ episode, which reflects the range that they covered during the series:

Parts Two, Three, Four and Five hosted here!

In Australia, the ABC features shows like The Experimentals, with co-host scientist Bernie Hobbs who used to be the star of ChickScience in 2000. Plenty of science with women co-hosting reports turns up here as it does internationally, with the likes of Sleek Geeks and Catalyst (thankfully psychic nonsense shows in ‘07 didn’t wreak the timeslot). But as Michael McRae reflected, the ‘nerds in labcoats’ stereotype primarily prevails regardless of the presenter’s sex.

Thankfully there are also podcasts that represent both genders who have chosen science careers without pushing the nerdy image - I’d strongly suggest getting some fine examples presenting on line via the newly created conglomerate of Science Podcasts called SciencePodcasters.org, started by Brain Science Podcaster Ginger Campbell:

Our goal is to promote science podcasting and especially to increase the visibility of independent science podcasts.

Visit the site and make suggestions, especially for helping capture the questioning teen audience!

So, what other hopes have we got? As the main push of this series of posts is about print texts - I always turn back to the printed word and what there is out there in both fiction and non-fiction texts. Although I hesitate to firmly prescript ‘this is what a girl likes‘, as I was hardly an example myself of a ‘typical girl’ reader. I do note some that some of these books distinctly tend towards a female target-audience though. Firstly, there are indeed a few pro-skeptic fiction books that don’t push the nerdy image. Hopefully more are on the way and I’ll keep a keen ear to the ground!

‘Games’ by Robin Klein was my first introduction to a pro-skepticism book in the 1990s, which showed how the paranormal (particularly ouija boards) can be used to bully and alienate peers, creating terror in an isolated house where two girls play ‘games’ to emphasize their superiority over a shy newcomer.

More recently written - Zara by UK author Mary Hooper.  Teenager Ella is entranced by Zara’s manipulative trickery with palm-reading and horoscopes, all to fool the other girls at school into thinking they’re ’special’ and ‘popular’. But how far can these cheap parlor antics go and what is the motivations behind using them? I found this to be one of the best critical reads of the ’00s so far.

Sadly the novel Avenging Janie, written by Lynne Kelly, is no longer in print. But her story of a cult created from a pseudoscience joke gone wild is still highly relevant and worth tracking down. Her non-fiction Skeptics Guide to the Paranormal and continuing science investigation books on crocodiles and spiders are highly recommended and you should check out the two-part interview series on critical thinking and education on Brains Matter as well as her recent appearance on Point of Inquiry.

General questioning-science-concepts texts like How to Fossilise Your Hamster and Why Don’t Penguins’ Feet Freeze by Mick O’Hare are clearly aimed at the secondary school reader. They’re by the New Scientist publication and such texts could be very useful for underconfident students wondering how to zip up a presentation or contribute to a science show with something that intrigues them and their audience. Yet I’m not convinced about the suitability of the alcohol-related experiments (how to tell if a martini has been shaken or stirred??). The grouping of experiments are done under ‘rooms of the house’, involving relevant ingredients or location (the bit about ‘white water drinking’ is a little like making a Long Island Ice tea; with ouzo and pernod… again, not ‘kid friendly’).

But extracting the iron from breakfast cereal and how to make eggs go green are indeed very cool concepts. Very accessible and straightforward, doesn’t talk down to the reader, which is vitally important for the older years - but it is an example of how you have to select carefully if you’re wondering what message you’re touting when promoting science!

An example of the ‘avoid’ texts - the pop-pseudo-psychology of Girlforce and Life’s a Witch. The former lead singer of Def FX has a lot to answer for with this goofy paranormal-based handbook and psychic-counseling claims.

Sadly yes, these are two examples of Australian texts that are right there in the non-fiction part of the bookstore that are directly aimed at young women. Along with all the usual horoscope love-guides, feng-shui your girly bedroom and more flower-power nonsense than will have you throwing crystals in disgust.

Thankfully, there are some non-fiction, health and well-being books which treat pseudoscientific and paranormal claims face on - I gleefully seized upon the latest by Kaz Cooke - Girl Stuff: Your Full On Guide to the Teen Years.

I’ve used her work with both male and female classes with great success, as her work features issues relevant to all young people. What this brand new book features amongst its highly detailed and comprehensive guide to pretty much everything a teen girl (or human being, let’s face it) needs - some damned good debunking and sensible attitudes towards pseudoscience and the paranormal:

There’s no harm in having a fortune teller or psychic read your palm or tell your fortune - unless you run your life by it, or take everything as a definite. mediums, who claim they can recognise ‘messages’ from the dead, are best left where they belong - in movies and TV shows. 

…think of your horoscope as one-size-fits-all advice that could apply to just about anybody, and just read the astrology columns for fun. 

… Karma: … is often used by non-members of these religions as a warning… don’t interpret this to mean that if you have bad luck, or get sick, it’s your fault. It isn’t. 

Strongly recommended - especially since her work has been used in health education and English classes for years after the multimedia packages were released online. That’s available to any country!

So, there’s a lot more out there, beyond what I have previously recommended in my earlier posts and shown in links throughout. The overall emphasis is still to enjoy reading and exposure to a wide range of texts, that will additionally encourage a scientific mindset with selection of key books. I hope you make some additional suggestions too!

Further Reading - See also Post One and Two:

Straight Dope - The Books by Cecil Adams - ages 14-16.

An Abundance of Katherines by John Green  - a novel, ages 14-17.

Daniell, Ellen. Every Other Thursday: Stories and Strategies from Successful Women Scientists. Yale University Press, US. 2006.

An Abundance of Katherines by John Green  - a novel, ages 14-17.

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon  - a great book in general, as well as excellent mathematical examples. Ages 15 up.

Karnes, Frances A. and R. Stephen, Kristen R. Young Women of Achievement: A Resource for Girls in Science, Math, and Technology, Prometheus Books, U.S., 2002.

McGrayne, Sharon B. Nobel Prize Winning Women in Science: Their Lives, Struggles and Momentous Discoveries. Washington, D.C.: Joseph Henry, 2001.

The Physics of the Buffyverse and Black Bodies and Quantum Cats: Tales of Pure Genius and Mad Science by Jennifer Ouellette - ages 14-18.

Rimm, Sylvia. B, Rimm-Kaufman, Sara and Rimm, Iionna Jane. See Jane Win: The Rimm Report on how One Thousand Girls Became Successful Women. Philadelphia: Running Press, 2001 (there’s also a youth-version aimed at grades 5 to 10).

She Does Math!: Real-Life Problems from Women on the Job (Classroom Resource Materials) by Mathematical Association of America.

Wasserman, Elga. The Door in the Dream: Conversations with Eminent Women in Science. Washington, D.C: Joseph Henry, 2000.

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Tags: ABC, Australia, Bio Channel, Chickscience, Csíkszentmihályi, Danica McKellar, Dead Famous, Fashionista, flow theory, Foxtel, Ginger Campbell, Gossip Girl, How to Fossilise your Hamster, Jennifer Ouellette, Lyra, Marena Manzoufas, Mean girls, nerds, Paranormal state, Phillip Pullman, psychic detectives, Rosalind Wiseman, Science Podcasters, Scott Westerfeld, series, The Experimentals, Uglies, W Channel, Why Don't Penguins feet Freeze