This site makes extensive use of JavaScript.
Please enable JavaScript in your browser.
Live
PTR
10.2.7
PTR
10.2.6
Beta
The generation that doesn't read
Post Reply
Return to board index
Post by
Jubilee
From the brainstorm thread
Fewer and fewer children pick up books for anything but school. What can we do to get children to read more in today's world?
As an active reader, I like this question the most.
There are, the way I see things, two reasons children - and not only children, adolescents and young adults too - refuse to pick up a book. First, they were never shown how interesting books can be. Their only interaction with the written world(s) has been through school, and we all know how interesting school books are. This sets a very bad precedent, because books are steadily associated with boredom.
To complement this, we have the second issue - social pressure. I am not sure how, when, or why, but at some point in our history being knowledgeable, well-read, and sophisticated became far less relevant than being "cool." Out of my pre-college friends, probably fewer than five read books for entertainment, and out of those few about half consider having gone through
Harry Potter
and
Twilight
a significant achievement. Note that I am not hating on those books (in this thread) - I am merely pointing out that those two are neither high level prose, nor are they terribly long and deep with meaning. But I ramble. The problem is that I've met more than a few people who would laugh at me when I tell them that I read books for fun. Which is a very, very sad thing.
So what can we do? For starters, I think schools need to stop shoving boring prose and poetry in the hands of students whose deepest thought tend to revolve around how to get the parents away from the house for the weekend. I will admit my own library is strictly limited to fantasy fiction (which I plan on expanding with some science fiction), so I can't really recommend anything other than this, but fantasy novels are
cool
. Because, come on, who doesn't like listening to tales about heroes and heroism? Fantasy books tend to offer the reader the ability to step out of this boring reality and go to a world that let's them do orgasmically cool stuff. The only argument against fantasy books I have seen is that they are childish - which, in easily over 99% of the cases, is wrong. I often find more philosophy and meaning in a fantasy book than in a short story written by some guy who's been dead for hundreds of years...
It is my experience that a good 70% of fantasy books are bad for one reason or another. In many cases it's what I believe to be what you call childishness, in other cases it's just bad prose, and in some cases it too convoluted a plot.
Now before I say more, I want to make two caveats. I'm a literature major, and I've spent the last 4 years critically reading books for no other reason than to write 10 pages of critiques. I cannot read any work of prose anymore without doing that. OZ can tell you what I did to the first 3 pages of his work in progress ;) Secondly I read
a lot
of fantasy. By a lot, I mean an average of 10 fantasy books a month for the past decade, which means I've probably read a lot more mediocre books than most people.
That caveat aside, I do not think an undefined diet of fantasy books is the best idea. If kids
want
to read fantasy books, I have no problem with that, it's much better than nothing at all. If, however, anyone is actually looking to do something about having kids read more, I would actually make a very specific suggestion: golden age science fiction. There are several reasons I believe this to be the optimal place. In the first place, this is a time period (1930 to the mid to late 50s) where everyone's grammar, diction, and syntax was impeccable. There was no Stephenie Meyer back then =P Second, science fiction, like fantasy, is fun to read and that should help with getting people to
want
to read. Lastly, this era of literature had a profound impact on contemporary literature and culture. Many of the ideas they toyed with and the conflicts they worried about were almost prophetic.
That's just what I thought of when I saw your mention of fantasy.
What other thoughts do people have on getting children to read?
Post by
Adamsm
Have another author like J K Rowling come along and introduce another generation to reading?
Post by
530888
This post was from a user who has deleted their account.
Post by
470415
This post was from a user who has deleted their account.
Post by
Squishalot
You don't need new fantasy books. You need to teach children to enjoy reading at a much earlier age than they can appreciate 'fantasy' (as defined by the literary genre).
The challenge shouldn't be to get 13 yr olds who don't read habitually to start reading cool books. The challenge should be to get 4-6 yr olds reading habitually in the first place, and letting that habit carry them into teenagehood.
Edit: I know it's slightly off topic, but I don't think the quality of the books are an issue - it's the fact that kids don't read at all in the first place.(##RESPBREAK##)8##DELIM##Squishalot##DELIM##
Post by
Atik
The problem, as I saw it, was the way reading was treated in school. Every book had to have some sort of deep meaning. We were never allowed to just sit and tear through six or seven chapters. Every three pages or so, we would stop and talk about what english scholors though the author meant somehow.
And if you asked a question or thought the book mean something different? Oh man, you were about to get chewed out something fierce at that point.
All of this has a large tendancy to push people AWAY from books, as the way they are taught isn't enjoyable and takes the fun out of reading.
Post by
470415
This post was from a user who has deleted their account.
Post by
Pwntiff
You don't need new fantasy books. You need to teach children to enjoy reading at a much earlier age than they can appreciate 'fantasy' (as defined by the literary genre).
The challenge shouldn't be to get 13 yr olds who don't read habitually to start reading cool books. The challenge should be to get 4-6 yr olds reading habitually in the first place, and letting that habit carry them into teenagehood.
Edit: I know it's slightly off topic, but I don't think the quality of the books are an issue - it's the fact that kids don't read at all in the first place.
Pretty much this. There are countless amazing books that deserve to be read, and the list covers books for all ages. If you teach a child to enjoy reading at an early age, that child will likely enjoy reading for most of his* life.
* I hate that "his or her" has become the new standard for non-specific pronoun. It's too cumbersome.
Post by
Monday
The problem, as I saw it, was the way reading was treated in school. Every book had to have some sort of deep meaning. We were never allowed to just sit and tear through six or seven chapters. Every three pages or so, we would stop and talk about what english scholors though the author meant somehow.
And if you asked a question or thought the book mean something different? Oh man, you were about to get chewed out something fierce at that point.
All of this has a large tendancy to push people AWAY from books, as the way they are taught isn't enjoyable and takes the fun out of reading.
Oh, and this, this so much.
I hate having to answer questions on books, as I don't get to actually enjoy them when I have to sit and think about them.
Agreed.
Post by
ZombieJesus
I used to read and write fan fiction books based on my video game experiences when I was at 'aftercare'.
Only because I had nothing to do, which was about 3 hours a day so I got pretty into it. Of course they were terribly written and had a million spelling mistakes, but reading and playing so many 18+ video games taught me some pretty big words for my age.
So, I guess you could say people have too many other things to do. I could understand why reading a book would be !@#$tier than playing a video game for anyone under the age of 14.
rawr
Post by
HoleofArt
Honestly I think it stems from the parents. If the parents don't show their children a reason to be interested in reading for entertainment, and the schools certainly don't provide it, then this
Have another author like J K Rowling come along and introduce another generation to reading?
becomes one of the only ways for a child to have an even slight inclination towards finding books that are entertaining. With a popular series, peer pressure will also influence a child. Nothing bothers a kid more than seeing everyone do something and not being a part of the group.
Without either a parent helping the child, or a series that captures everybody, I would say that 'forcing' fantasy or science-fiction would be just as harmful as forcing poetry. Kids don't want to be forced to do anything, let alone read when having no background in it at all.
At least.. that's how I got into books. Maybe it doesn't help and the next generation is doomed.
Post by
Atik
If I could just add one more thing:
I would love to find out the book that got all of us into reading for entertainment. For me, It wa the "Pit Dragon" trilogy.
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/PitDragonChronicles
The entire book spoke to me. The action, the romance, and the raising of the dragon were all the pieces I needed to keep with it.
Post by
Adamsm
Honestly I think it stems from the parents. If the parents don't show their children a reason to be interested in reading for entertainment, and the schools certainly don't provide it, then this
Have another author like J K Rowling come along and introduce another generation to reading?
becomes one of the only ways for a child to have an even slight inclination towards finding books that are entertaining. With a popular series, peer pressure will also influence a child. Nothing bothers a kid more than seeing everyone do something and not being a part of the group.
Without either a parent helping the child, or a series that captures everybody, I would say that 'forcing' fantasy or science-fiction would be just as harmful as forcing poetry. Kids don't want to be forced to do anything, let alone read when having no background in it at all.
At least.. that's how I got into books. Maybe it doesn't help and the next generation is doomed.
Well to be fair, she did get a lot of people reading again, of all ages.
Myself, I learned to read by the age of four and went from there; could never get enough books to read, and my personal library proves that heh: 600+ books and still climbing.
Post by
HoleofArt
I don't keep 70% of the books I've read, and a lot of the ones I do have are from when I was way younger and got many as gifts from family members or whatever. I've probably read more in .pdf files/online than I have in physical books.
Artemis Fowl, Harry Potter, the Narnia series, Eragon, and The Children of the Lamp were some of the first series that truly captured me into reading that I can recall off the top of my head. The one series that got me hooked on fantasy was the Bartimaeus Trilogy, though. Man, do I miss those books.
Post by
Perkocet
I don't keep 70% of the books I've read, and a lot of the ones I do have are from when I was way younger and got many as gifts from family members or whatever. I've probably read more in .pdf files/online than I have in physical books.
Artemis Fowl, Harry Potter, the Narnia series, Eragon, and The Children of the Lamp were some of the first series that truly captured me into reading that I can recall off the top of my head. The one series that got me hooked on fantasy was the Bartimaeus Trilogy, though. Man, do I miss those books.
OHMYGODBARTIMAEUS. <3
Post by
Adamsm
I don't keep 70% of the books I've read, and a lot of the ones I do have are from when I was way younger and got many as gifts from family members or whatever. I've probably read more in .pdf files/online than I have in physical books.I'm a massive pack rat though, and since at least 80% of the titles are ones I've bought myself, it's even harder for me to let them go. Though, I do read some things on the computer, but if I like them, I'll buy actual copies of the books as well; main case in point, World War Z and the Zombie Survival Guide heh.
But I have no idea what my first fantasy/sci-fi series was a kid....I think I started reading Dragonlance, Sword of Shanara, and Death Gate Cycle when I was...what? 10 or 11? Possibly a little bit older maybe. And of course, Star Wars was my start in Sci-Fi heh.
Post by
168916
This post was from a user who has deleted their account.
Post by
Patty
Fanfiction
can
help. Well, about 10% of it. I've been reading so much fanfiction lately, rather than actual books, and I can tell that my vocabulary has expanded quite a bit as a result. Obviously it's not like reading real published novels, but the quality of some fanfiction pieces is amazing. Some can be on par with, if not exceeding the quality of the original content. Film adaptations tend to help as well, but again that limits one's reading experience if they're quite exclusive about what they read (ie. waiting to see a movie, liking it, reading the book and then not reading any other books).
Post by
gamerunknown
n the first place, this is a time period (1930 to the mid to late 50s) where everyone's grammar, diction, and syntax was impeccable.
I think what a lot of people fail to realise is that this isn't true when considering the entire population. Reactionary people always assume that their generation will be the last competent one in the field of literature or, well, anything. Truth is, a far greater proportion of the adult population at the moment are literate than a century ago. Steinbeck was a brilliant novelist, sure, but I'm guessing for every Steinbeck there were thousands of his characters during the 1930s. One may have the impression that the past century was full of brilliant novelists while our generation is relatively barren in comparison, but there's a reason why their work has survived: it was constructed by someone more adept than the majority of their generation. As one travels further back in history, the fewer examples we have and the more profound their work is compared to what one might expect someone from that generation to produce: again, this is merely because out of the total literary output of the furthest reaches of history, only the very best has survived. Hell, for a long time, nobody thought that Homer could be surpassed. Perhaps he hasn't been, but does that mean that there were no flashes of genius in the past millennia?
That doesn't mean that literacy programs are misguided, just that one needn't predict devastation just yet. Whenever newspapers here lack a story, they have a guaranteed one with schools. If students are passing their English exams, exam standards have dropped significantly since the days of the readership. If students are failing their English exams, literacy rates are catastrophically low. My sister was actually featured in a newspaper segment on failing literacy programs, pictured reading a children's book far below her reading age. Edit: The picture was staged, the journalist arrived after most children were let out for school and my mother was there talking to a teacher. As the journalist needed a parent's permission, they had to use whichever children were on hand. My sister actually reads a novel a day and my mother used to read Jane Eyre and Black Beauty to her before my sister could read herself (my mother is an English tutor). So always keep in mind that the media has one primary interest: selling stories.
Post by
pezz
One reason I think school ends up sucking the joy out of reading for kids: We read
Crime and Punishment
as either juniors or seniors in high school, I can't remember. Orson Scott Card said this in the introduction to either
Future on Fire
or
Future on Ice
: kids don't like reading books that are a decade more mature than they are. If you can't get much out of a book, then you don't get much out of a book. Just because one guy wrote a master piece doesn't make several generations of school children excellent literary critics.
Post Reply
You are not logged in. Please
log in
to post a reply or
register
if you don't already have an account.