Why is the art of reading dead in the youth of today?

Question

When I was younger, there was nothing better to do then read. We didn't have cable and after my sports were done, I would curl up with a book. Why do people look at me like I have a third arm gowing from my chest when I tell them I'm going to go home and read?

Answer 1

Because of Entertainment (TV, Movies, Music, Video Games) telling them that there are better things, more important more fulfilling things than to sit down and become absorbed in a novel.

Myself, I'm 16, I'm an avid reader and I love it. My parents taught me at a very early age and I loved it ever since. Personally, I love reading because you can imagine your own little world and become immersed in the story like you cannot do with a movie or tv show. You discover your own meaning then having it thrust out at you. Also, it does help in school improving vocabulary and grammatical skills.

Most kids I talk to do read, but very little outside of school because they are so "turned off" by our required reading (which to me is not that authors best work..) that they have no desire at all to read what might be a great read.

I can't answer for everyone, but that's just my assumption.

Answer 2

Good question.

Reading isn't dead, but it certainly is one of many options for today's kids. Growing up on video games, the Internet and fast-paced television segments reduces the patience and attention span necessary for real reading enjoyment.

Another important component -- people, kids included, learn in different ways. Some are verbal learners, the kind that have traditionally done very well in public schools. Others are visual learners, the kind that don't do well trapped at a desk with a book and a snappish teacher in a traditional school setting. Visual learners do better with photos and videos and multisensory information.

History tells us that people were visual learners from the beginning. Language, words and eventually books, came later. The visual stimulation available to kids from birth onwards today reinforces those visual learning patterns in the brain. As children grow, those visual learning skills are stronger, sometimes making books a less than attractive option, especially after a long day of "word" learning at school.

Psychologists are telling us that the way people are learning is changing back to more visual methods. Public schools are becoming painfully aware of the change as they face growing numbers of students they use to classify as "learning disabled." Many LD kids are really just kids that learn differently.

In a way, it's nice that people enjoy learning in different ways. It makes the world more interesting. It also makes it easier to get a hold of that new book at the public library -- less competition.

Answer 3

I get the same result when people find out I read! like I'm an alien or something! I belong to at least five book clubs and have a well stocked library of my own.
I'd rather curl up with a good book and relax.
I can't get my son to read, hates it. my daughter will read, but even then she doesn't read a lot.
I think nowdays, they'd rather wait for the movie...
plus there's video games and tv and internet
there is knowledge to be learned, hidden between the covers of books.

Answer 4

You know this proverb::: Picture is a worth of thousand words.

That's what happened with the youth nowadays when they were child, their parents put them in front of television and they started to watch cartoon channels, then adventures, sports, discovery channels for the geography and inventions, for jokes they watch the comedy channels or movies. And TV give the current information which they can watch, understand and think about it. Then they played video games. Meantime they were growing so they started to play sports in their schools and all this time they dint got the time to READ. When we read we are understanding it without watching and we just have to imagine it. Yes sometime you will see the picture in the book but that picture does have only two dimension and the TV shows you all the dimensions. I am not arguing that you should leave your reading habbits but As my friends tease me as a BookWarm still I read the book everyday after watching TV, Surfing Internet, Watching NFL, playing Basketball for my college team, and writing poetry for the fun.

Answer 5

The TV and the Internet is resposible. Why would children bother to read when they can slouch on a sofa with a can of cola in their hand and surf the channels? All they have to do is use their fingers a bit. Whereas reading requires them to use their dense and dead brains. The value of books is slowly going down. Even if teenagers and youth turn to books, they prefer thin ones with lots of pictures and big print. I'm talking from experience...

Answer 6

A lot of kids don't really know how to read anymore. Books are considered boring, and more often than not, are associated with negative things like schoolwork. I read sometimes more than 3 books a day ( I read really fast), and I think it's sad that more people don't find pleasure in sitting down with a good book anymore. In a world of constant activity and lightning fast transactions, taking time with a book might be considered a waste of valuable time, or even lazy.

Answer 7

Good reading habits are inculcated by parents at an early, impressionable age of pre-teens.
I can vouch for that; I am an avid reader and writer!
The youth of today have cable TV, mobiles, mp-3 & mp-4, shopping malls, and virtual sex and 'Free Sex' to entertain and titillate their senses--which you did not have! If you did, perhaps you too would have not looked at books but luscious lasses to curl up with!
Imagine what people who lived in the 14th century would have done!(even Before printing presses and Books were invented!) What did they curl up with??

Answer 8

TV. And MP3.

The Inernet? Only part of it - the Chat Rooms and Messengers.

Ironically, we actually have more to read on the Internet - just too much sometimes. 'Info overload'. But then again, most of it is non-fiction stuff, and quite a bit of it is just pure nonsense. Who can blame them?

When Google completes its digitization of all the world's books, maybe we might start reading a bit more of the proper books. And become more cerebral.
.

Answer 9

It's not just kids--and it's not the TV or internet. I work with a group of women, most of whom are old enough to be my mother, and they look at me like I'm nuts when I pull out my book at lunch. (Although I do look at them like *they're* nuts when they all start talking about their favorite reality show on VH1.)

I read because my parents always read and we always had a houseful of books. Without that very simple basis, why *would* kids read? When 120 stations on digital cable are what their parents seem to enjoy, kids will emulate that. I grew up with my mother saying "Don't bug me, I'm reading" and I wanted to know what all the fuss was about.

Answer 10

There is too much tv , game and computer time, people have gotten lazy and want to be entertained by electronics. It is rather sad since reading is the ultimate escape and entertainment or a great way to learn new things. I read every day and instilling a love for it is one of the best things my parents ever did for me.