Why aren´t young people interested in literature so much?

Question

Please answer young adolescents.

Answer 1

I think thats a generalization. I think no matter what generation you're a part of there are readers and non-readers. There always have been. Sure video games, tv, instant messaging and whatnot could come into consideration when you're addressing today's youth. But the truth of the matter is that there are young people who like to read. It may depend on if you consider what they're reading to be "literature." If your question is "why don't people read classics" or "why don't people read Shakespeare or Dickens or Tolstoy" that's a whole other question. Tastes change. Young people may not like classics if they're forced into reading them in high school. I can't say I really blame them. I hated them in high school myself. Of course I've since got a bachelor's and master's in English literature, but the point is just because they may not "get into" it now does not mean it's a hopeless cause and a lost art. No matter what your age, what your generation there will always be divisions between readers and nonreaders and those who go for popular fiction as opposed to classic literature.

Answer 2

OKay I'm a young person, 13, i love books to death! I think the young people you see are the ones that adore celebrities, and are major conformists, cuz all my friends and i Love books as much as we love music, also maybe it because of music?

I love music soo much that sometimes i won't read a good book for months its not like there are only garbage distracting us, its beacuse we find something equal to the pleasure of reading a good book? Though you are still right i mean nowadays teen especially at my school agonize over reading a book from the library, honestly that is just sad, i really can't believe it sometimes.

But to end this, adolescents do like reading, its just a magnitude of things compare with it.

Answer 3

I have a 12 yr old son and a 10 yr old daughter....It's been a tough trick to get them to love reading as I do. IMHO, the reason for not liking to read as much as I did...movies. All of the great books I read in 4th grade and beyond have all been made into movies. Heck, even cherished short stories like The Cat in The Hat. Why take the time to "dredge" through a good book when you can veg out in front of the TV for a couple of hours and get the main idea of the story. Happily, My 10 yr old has foudn her way to books instead of TV. I bought her The Series of Unfortnate Events Books 1-12 last Christmas, and Book the 13th for her Birthday in October. The Coolest part to her about book the 13th, is that it wa published on 10-13-06...her 10th Birthday. lol I have also gotten her The Beatrice Letters for Christmas. My 12 yr old on the other hand is harder to convince that books are so much better their movie conterparts. He has the entire Harry Potter Series,...well books 1-6...still waiting for that 7th book here!...but I digress...He has only read the first book. And that was because he did it for a reading program at school.

me I love to read and always have...to me there is nothing on earth better than a good story...current ficition or great lit works from the past. Psst....I still love Reading The Great Gatsby.

Answer 4

I'm 16 and I love literature, a Library or a book store is the best place for me to be (not kidding) I just feel so good choosing books, and talking and discussing about them, though sometimes when I have too many favorites it's like picking a star in the sky. So, reading is the best hobby for me, but I guess that everybody has not the same opinion, and therefore they should be respected and understood as well, things cant be forced.

Answer 5

ok well i am a young person , so i'll take a crack at your question! i love books and i love to read them, other kids that i know hate books and would rather swim with sharks than read one. but im pretty sure why... some kids are social fanatics! they're more open to people than to read a book. (not that i don't have friends or go to parties...) some just flat out don't care, to them reading is waste of time and stupid, they'd rather be at the skate park practicing new moves. but i think kids just need to find a style of books that they like such as mysteries, or myths. for example: i have a friend and her favorite books are all adult books. her favorite author is Catherine Coultier (or something like that) and i always ask her what book she's reading. she gets deep into the book and won't come out until she's finished (haha). her and another friend always swap books, so one day i asked if i could swap with her, my answer was... "it's just not up your alley." and i was fine but offended.i understand completely though, im not mature enough to enjoy and cherish the book like she is (i am fine with this b/c i really am not mature to read the book, i am a total idiot!). so my point is, kids either don't care or just have a passion! i am very glad to be of help! and i hope now you understand why some kids aren't interested in literature! it's like they say, you either have brains or bronze

Answer 6

Well, I'm a 14 years old girl and I like to read "heavy" books by Shakespeare, James Joyce, Chekov, and any others. I enjoy to think what do the authors want to tell us about the book and I just don't like teenlits. my family said it's not my age, but I think it's fine. the reason why young people don't like literature so much is maybe because they prefer watching movies, and no wonder, bcoz game consoles are everywhere with interesting and addictive games to be played with for hours! But I just don't like it. It's boring and a waste of time. Right???

Answer 7

i've got faith a splash obsession with Twilight and that i'm a married 30 something with 3 boys and that i've got an acquaintance that i've got faith is surely conquer with the obsession. So the activity is better than basically infants. That being reported there's a yearning for true love, romance, and belonging that the girls are no longer finding through fact through fact the generations pass alongside their expertise they forget approximately to coach their boys a thank you to love and admire females. Now on the different-area of issues i'm useful it could get tremendously complicated through fact ladies have been taught that they may be stand on their own and don't choose a guy and that we are no longer the weaker intercourse yet that we are equivalent. nicely i think of that screws with the organic order God made females to be the mans help mate. are not getting me incorrect we ought to consistently learn that we are able to hold our own if mandatory yet as quickly as we've a good loving guy it quite is okay to fall to his hands for help. WOW appears like I even have some subjects to paintings out. lol nicely whilst it comprises the classics i think of the books might convey a clean got here upon activity because Bella is so into them. additionally the muse for the books comes from the "provider provider Of Venice" says Stephenie Meyer.

Answer 8

My theory is because schools and teachers focus on the extrinsics of the story instead of the story itself. Instead of talking about what happened in the story and what it means, the schools will talk about the gender identity of the author when he/she was in the teens. I think these are important points but I think it puts the cart before the horse and creates a vague concept about what a story is. When we watch movies we don't analyze the writer's relationship with his or her mother. Instead, we focus on the story and what it means. This concept is lost in schools in favor of literary analysis and bores students because they have no concept of what a story is beyond seeing it and therefore they're bored. Most students don't understand literary analysis until they understand the fundamentals of storytelling, which isn't
taught anymore.

What is ironic is there is one place where you can still go to learn about how to tell a story: film school! And they wonder why students aren't excited by literature.

In the early 20th century through the 50s, storytelling was a requisite course for writers just as much as art was for painters or music for musicians. This became lost in the 60s and the loss of the craft of storytelling has been severe for the past two generations who have never learned how to tell a story. But they can tell you about gender identity, psychology of characters, and other facts that are looking at a story from the outside. But these facts won't tell you how to create a story.

Take a look at the curriculum of writing a story in film school. Look at the texts they use and compare them with the ones in schools today. They approach stories from the perspective of the storyteller. In film schools, they also don't send students through creative writing courses nor through literary analysis courses -- none of which help them to create a story.

The most popular book film schools use today to learn how to tell a story is Robert McKee's "Story". You can buy it on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0060391685/epact

He also has seminars you can attend.

When you look at what he teaches and compare this with what you learned in high school or college (even in a creative writing class) you will see why there is a low interest in literature because they've sapped all enjoyment out of them and placed it in the hands of literary critics who have all the fun making up the questions. I believe if schools approached literature from a storytelling perspective, you'll have the students naturally ask the same questions the literary critics are asking them and it would rightly place the horse before the cart.

Answer 9

well, I'm 24 and I read everyday. I try to read the classics too, and keep up with some modern authors. All of my friends are really into reading a lot too. so...I don't know. Some people just don't get into it. I know plenty of older people who never pick up a good book. I don't think it has to do with youth. Just interest, and habit, and maybe intelligence, though I'm not saying I'm more or less smart than someone who doesn't read, but come on, reading helps out a lot. anyways. good day to you.

Answer 10

You might want to consider the issue of relevance. Sure kids have plenty of other things to occupy their minds, but one has to wonder what A Tale of Two Cities really has to offer that kids want. This is a very information-based generation. They want things that have immediate practicality and relevancy. [Incidentally, writing them off as having too much television,video games, etc. is facile and inaccurate. I work with 40 adolescents every day and plenty of them like to read. Very few of them, however, like the 'Classics'}