Kids Identify with Goofus and Gallant®
By Tiffany Hoffman
"I felt like Goofus when I didn't study for a test," said ten-year-old Maria in the April issue of Highlights. "I felt like Gallant when I let my friend have the only swing at school," said nine-year-old Jesse.
Goofus and Gallant have acted as models of behavior in Highlights® for nearly six decades. This year, the Highlights editors decided to enhance the popular feature by including kids' personal accounts of how they have felt like "Goofus" or "Gallant" in their own lives.
Managing Editor Judy Burke, who writes Goofus and Gallant, says that publishing kids' quotes will show kids that one of the purposes of this feature is to help them evaluate their own behavior.
"In addition, kids love to see other kids' work," Burke says. "It enhances their ownership of the magazine, and it gives them the understanding that they helped create it in some way. It helps kids realize they're part of it."
Goofus and Gallant was first printed in Highlights in 1948 as a way to present kids with two sides of an everyday situation,giving positive suggestions in a fun way.
"We stay away from saying 'this is right' or 'this is wrong,'" Burke says. "Instead, we show kids both sides. We don't scold the 'Goofus.' We try to help kids be more thoughtful, and we hope that this feature will encourage kids to think about their own behavior."
Burke says she gets her ideas for Goofus and Gallant from times when she feels like Goofus or when she observes Goofus or Gallant behavior in kids or adults.
In the April issue, kids can see how Goofus develops a bad attitude when his sports team is playing a tough opponent, but Gallant gives his best effort. Also, Gallant shows kind behavior by holding the door for people, while Goofus lets it close on a friend.
"Kids seem to understand that there's a little Goofus and Gallant in everyone," says Editor in Chief Chris Clark, "but that life is better when we try to be more like Gallant."