Kids Don't Read As Much Today

Here's an obvious news flash. Reading for pleasure is no longer at the forefront of activities for today's youth.  That is, fewer and fewer kids read today than in other recent generations. Common Sense Media conducted research that showed that the number of nine year old kids that read for pleasure once or more per week went from 81 percent in 1984 to 76 percent. The numbers are worse for older kids. Only about a third of 13 year old's reported reading for pleasure less than twice a year. Studies in other countries mirror this decline in reading among children.

We all know why. It's the electronic monsters out there who require only short burst reading and writing.  LOL has replaced stanzas of Shakespeare. Because reading is longer termed and not immediately gratifying like those video apps where a kid can zap 100 zombies and save the world in less than 30 minutes. The study confirmed what we have always known as the reason little Johnny reads for fun. It verified that children who read for pleasure tend to be those kids whose parents read to them and whose parents read themselves. The lucky kids who have parents that turn off reality Tv and instead read with free time,  spend about 30-60 minutes a day reading...... as opposed to none for the kids glued to American Idol on the tube.

I wonder how reading an be made appealing to a child over stimulated on electronics and hungry for instant gratification? Are we fighting a losing battle? Will the future be books as rare objects, with learning by video? I hope not. Will the imagination that books inspire be replaced with electronic diversions? But then, parents will determine the answers to that.

Parents are to blame in part for the decline of reading for pleasure in the lives of today's children because it is too easy to let television or the video games or the computer programs to act as baby sitter while parents are occupied with their work or home responsibilities. To suggest to a child today that they read a book is like to asking them to rake leaves or mow the lawn or vacuum the living room.  Hmmmm I can guess kids don't do those things much anymore as well.

Parents can encourage their little monsters to read more by reading with their children and to their children beginning at an early age to help ensure that the child sees the importance of reading. (Uh, that would mean no reading about the Kardashians...read age appropriate material). Parents have to to model reading for pleasure to their children so those little brats can see their parents enjoying a good book. After all, society is the beneficiary of having literate members.

Research shows a high correlation between reading and intelligence, and can anything stir a imagination better than a book? We do understand and interpret better after reading a book than after playing a video game. It's because books are personal and make us think in ways we do not otherwise think. They cause us to question deeply think deeply and escape with our imagination. What a shame that so many kids today in this country and around the world will never know it.