Where are the kids?

It seems to be one of those things that's presumed by everyone, and yet completely wrong.

Kids read comics.

Well, unfortunately very few do. I'm not exaggerating for effect. It's really true.

Why?

Well, explanations run from the standard "It's video games" to my own explanation, which is that we lost an entire generation during the comics bubble of the '90's and were never able to pick that thread up again.

Some people blame the cost, which sounds simple but from my experience probably isn't true. For one thing, kids are entirely willing to spend money on things they really want. And secondly, there are lots of cheap comics available, if they want them. Same with sports cards. Cheap brands are constantly offered, and kids turn their noses up at them.

Or, perhaps, comics got too adult for kids. But that is a chicken and the egg argument. My own experience is that comics got adult because kids stopped reading them, and the only option for survival was to continue to appeal to actual readings. And again, there are plenty of kids comics out there if you are willing to look.

Another reason people talk about, is lack of access. You can't find comics in a spin rack at the local grocery store, usually. You pretty much have to go to a specialty store, which can be inconvenient and intimidating for the newbie.

I think there might be yet another reason though.

There is a front page article on Salon: "UNLEASH OUR KIDS: Crime is at a 40 Year Low, but Nervous Parents are Limiting Their Kids Freedom to Roam -- and it Hurts Urban Life."

I'm pretty sure kids were a big segment of my business in my first decade of business, in both comics and cards. (By 'kids", I'm talking from young, say 5 years old, all the way through high school.)

I didn't bother to keep track, because I had no idea that things would change. Why would I think thing would change?

There was a time I was ordered by the city to install a bike rack in front of my store, because we had some many kids just throwing their bikes down on the sidewalk.

Today? Not so much a problem. In fact, it just never happens.

I can point the child abduction media frenzy (mid-90's? earlier?) as the moment we stopped seeing kids wander in the store. It took a while, but it was like someone was squeezing the hose, and the flow just stopped.

It got kind of ridiculous. There was a 10 or 12 year boy in my store once, and I greeted him, and he turned away. Later, I thought he probably had a question, and again, he turned away. The parent came over and informed me that he had been told not to "talk to strangers."

Hey, you came in my store! What were you planning to do, use hand language?

So, there was that.

This kind of ties into the "access" reason above. Kids not wandering around are less likely to buy comics.

But more importantly, kids with parents are less likely to buy comics -- or they'll be forced to only buy comics that mommy and daddy like, and try to get a 12 year old to agree to that!

I had one parent ask; "Is Mad Magazine something a parent would approve of?"

"Mad Magazine is something a parent isn't supposed to approve of! That's the whole point!"

Well, "approve of" wink, wink, if you know what I mean. Because Mad is actually pretty tame, but it gives you the impression of 'rebellion.' I think comics used to be the same. Mom and Dad would sigh at their kids reading comics, maybe mildly disapprove, and that was probably catnip for the kids.

So what we got now are kids coming in with parents, and that is a whole nother ballgame. One that doesn't work out so well for kids buying comics.

Too bad. I think the kids are missing something. If nothing else, they are missing a little bit of early independence.

Not sure what the consequences to society are, from that.