Any program that gets kids to read just by offering pizza should be OK in everyone’s book.
The Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood wants schools to eliminate Pizza Hut’s Book It! Literacy Program because the group believes schools are not a place where kids should be subjected to marketing schemes, especially those promoting an unhealthy product.
But kids are constantly exposed to brand names, and the Book It! maps that hang in schools don’t even have the patented red roof on them. While some students may never eat Pizza Hut without Book It!, most would probably try it at some point in their lives.
The program wouldn’t exist if a company didn’t supply the pies. And the program should continue to operate because it has such a positive goal. Every child should be encouraged to read often, and Book It! creates this type of positive fervor about literature.
And the prize has to be something most kids desire. Pizza may not be the healthiest food choice, but it is something most kids like. Few children would enhance their reading habits to receive a free package of broccoli.
Pizza is almost the perfect reward for young students. Most kids will eat it regardless of if they get it for free or not. So if they are willing to read books for the opportunity to have a complimentary pan pie, then that is a trade off most parents should be happy to make.
By turning pizza into a prize that must be worked for, kids will learn that dinner is a special treat, not a mundane meal. And if kids think of pizza as a reward, this will help them develop a healthy eating habit with the food.
Most things, including pizza, are fine in moderation. Many people serve pizza at birthday parties and fun events because American culture links the food with celebration. Kids who read should have a right to celebrate each month.
The CCFC has no right to ruin the party that the kids participating in Book It! deserve.