Weekly Reader marks 100 years

STAMFORD, Conn. -- When hijacked planes crashed into the World Trade Center and Pentagon on Sept. 11, editors at the Weekly Reader were in a quandary.

How would the Stamford-based student publication, which celebrates its 100th anniversary this year, explain the horror to millions of schoolchildren across the country?

"We had a lot of internal debate," said Charles Piddock, editor-in-chief.

Editors knew the attacks were too important to ignore, but decided the topic would be too traumatic for their youngest readers. After consulting with teacher advisers, they agreed to publish a special edition on the attacks only for students in the fourth grade and up and to offer guidance for teachers on the publication's Web site.

The debate underscored the influence on young minds of the Weekly Reader, which has about 7 million subscribers.

"I think many, many people were influenced in their career, or their attitude towards this country, by what they read in the Weekly Reader," Piddock said. "So we're very careful about what we say and how we say it."

Mixed reviews

The Sept. 11 article avoided gory details, although it did include some graphic photos. The piece drew mixed reviews, with some parents upset that it was published at all. A later article on rescuers was popular, Piddock said.

R.J. Bavosa, a fourth-grader, said he didn't understand why terrorists would attack America until he read the Weekly Reader.

"When this came out, I understood it -- people who don't want us to live and prosper as Americans," he said.

For generations of students, the Weekly Reader has represented a Friday break from textbooks and tests. It was especially popular in an age when students couldn't turn on the computer to find out the latest news.

"You got something exciting," Piddock said. "It was such a relief from the regular routine of the classroom."

Thomas Murphy, spokes-man for the Connecticut Department of Education, remembers the excitement of getting his Weekly Reader while growing up in West Haven. Unlike textbooks that would be returned at the end of the year, the newspaper was his to explore.

"I can remember holding that thin paper in my hands and saying, 'Hey, this is pretty cool,"' said Murphy, 50. "The Weekly Reader was mine to have and mine to absorb. There's a certain power to that."

Teachers say the articles in the Weekly Reader spark lively classroom discussions.

"It gets the kids very motivated," said Janis Bender, a fourth-grade teacher in Stamford who has been using the Weekly Reader for 30 years.