Comics ARE Educational

I love comics. I use them often in my classroom with students, so I tend to read all of them, looking for any kind of connections I can make. Mary Worth, by Karen Moy and Joe Giella, is one I don’t read “regularly.” It’s more like a soap opera, so that each daily installment builds on the previous, with different character story lines. However, I do scan it, and I happened to pick up on it with this strip (September 1, 2008):

It turns out that character Toby has had her identity stolen – her credit cards have been abused, and she has to deal with feelings of helplessness at having her life invaded. However, as the strip continues, Toby takes steps to regain control over her credit record. This includes bringing in another character – Terry Bryson – whom Mary Worth recommends to Toby. Bryson helps Toby through this crisis, advising her on the tell-tale signs of identity theft (including phone fraud and reading credit card statements carefully – what looks like an error of a charge under a dollar could be someone seeing if they can get away with it).

This saga ends (so far – 10/12/08) when Toby has to “confess” to her husband, Ian, about having been victimized. At first frightened to tell him, to admit she could have been taken advantage of, he is compassionate, supportive and understanding. The way it should be.

What a great comic, probably most read by an older audience – those who might not be as aware of identity theft and what to do about it – but so incredibly applicable to ALL ages.

Don’t know Jack about identity fraud? Know someone who could benefit from the information? Know Mary Worth.