Friday, May. 02, 2008

Journalism just might be the answer to a parent’s prayers

By Ken Robertson, Herald Executive Editor

This time of year, parents are busy thinking about how to give a boost to their high school students’ grades and chances of succeeding in college.

Though it may be too late for the Class of 2008, I can offer an almost sure-fire tip. Encourage your student to participate in a high school journalism program.

That’s the good news from a new study involving more than 31,000 students recently released by the Newspaper Association of America Foundation.

Now I know newspapers are so 20th century by the standards of many folks today. But consider this, straight from the NAA study:

1. “Students with journalism experience in high school have significantly higher first-year college GPAs than those without such experience. (2.80 GPA vs. 2.73)

2. “Those with journalism experience scored higher in their first college English course than those without it. (3.05 GPA vs. 2.94)”

Lest you scoff at the numbers, the NAA says the GPA difference was significant if it was higher than 0.01 point.

And the study also found higher scores for student journalists on the ACT test’s composite, English and reading scores by as much as eight points and on their high school GPAs in English, math, social studies, science, foreign languages and art by as much as 0.15 point.

The student journalists even outscored their peers in math, by reputation the weakest area for most practicing journalists.

What else did the study find out about student journalists? They’re more likely to hold a student office and more likely to press for change in school rules, procedures and policies.

Best of all when it comes to getting into college, 50.9 percent of them receive an award or special recognition for leadership, compared with 38.4 percent of their peers.

So, parents, after buying lots of Mozart to stimulate your brand-new baby’s mental development and then signing her (or him) up for music lessons, get your child a newspaper subscription and aim him (or her) toward a high school journalism program.

You might think newspapers are going out of fashion. But good high school grades and better performance on college entrance exams and in college remain very popular with college admissions officers.

Ken Robertson: 582-1520; krobertson@tricityherald.com