Reading is a chore?

[Cyndi]

Some kids were walking by my house on their way home from school. They were bantering amongst themselves and I heard one of them complaining that they had to read five pages of some novel and answer questions about it as homework. Didn't catch the title of the book.

But it kinda saddens me that in this era of video games and the internet, that reading is falling out of practice or being seen as a "chore".

I can't think of anything more wonderful than getting lost in a good novel.

Now I never understood "Great Expectations", which I found boring as heck, but that sure didn't turn me off of reading other books. A lot of the time I got in trouble because instead of doing homework I was reading another book I'd checked out of the library!

These days, I bet the number of books most kids have read can be counted on one hand...does that bother anybody else?

[purplebunny]

These days, I bet the number of books most kids have read can be counted on one hand...does that bother anybody else?

That makes both my hubby and I pretty sad! We're both extremely avid readers and have been since we were both very young - in fact, I can remember getting in trouble in grade 1 for having a novel hidden inside my reader! As for my husband, he'd already read Lord of the Rings before he started kindergarten.

I try to encourage reading among the kids I have contact with - I'm 'pen-pals' with my twin flower girls (having moved right after getting married) and I usually give them books for Christmas/birthdays (along with something else like a small toy).

[Lisbeth]

It saddens me...I love to read.  (Thus my screen name.)

But novels don't seem to work too well in Ebook format-I think that's a big part of the reason why tech-driven kids don't like to read them.  No flashy graphics or links in a paper book.

[DottyG]

Absolutely saddens me.   As an avid reader, this really is something that's upsetting to me.

But, it also illustrates why teachers (and parents and friends and strangers and....) need to encourage kids to find what THEY love to read.  I know there are books that have to be read in school.  And, that's fine.  But, teachers also need to let the kids know that they need to find the genre that works for THEM and makes THEM get lost in a world outside their own.

I wouldn't want to read Science Fiction.  It's just not my thing.  But, it is someone else's.  And, that person needs to read SciFi and get lost in a good book about it.  That person may not love what I love.  But, it's what transports ME to another place.

Kids need to understand that there is a WORLD of books out there.  It's not all Shakespeare or Longfellow or even Dickens.  It's new authors and old authors and stories about whatever interests THEM.

Books shouldn't ever be made to be boring.  It's finding the niche that works for each person.

The desire to share my love of reading is also why books are what every new mother gets from me for her baby shower.  I give a selection of books that the parents can start reading from Day One.  Ones that get new readers started as early as possible.

[amiboo]

"But it kinda saddens me that in this era of video games and the internet, that reading is falling out of practice or being seen as a "chore"."

I was a kid in the 70s, long before video games and the internet and most of the kids I went to school with also thought of reading as a chore.   I always thought it was sad that they didn't read more.  I've gotten so much enjoyment from reading thru my whole life that I always wanted to share that with others but few of my friends were ever interested in the latest book I'd read.  I've found that there are lots and lots of people out there who do not enjoy reading.  They're really missing out, that's for sure.  

Luckily I've married a man who loves books as much as I do.  

[pblair38]

"But it kinda saddens me that in this era of video games and the internet, that reading is falling out of practice or being seen as a "chore"."

I was a kid in the 70s, long before video games and the internet and most of the kids I went to school with also thought of reading as a chore.   I always thought it was sad that they didn't read more.  I've gotten so much enjoyment from reading thru my whole life that I always wanted to share that with others but few of my friends were ever interested in the latest book I'd read.  I've found that there are lots and lots of people out there who do not enjoy reading.  They're really missing out, that's for sure.  

Luckily I've married a man who loves books as much as I do.  

Same here.  My mother, in the 70s, was always on me to "get up and DO something", when I preferred to have my nose in a book.  Everyone else, it seemed, always complained about having to read.  So, it's not a new phenomenon.   

Penny

[Alida]

It is sad.  Though, unfortunately, I believe a lot of it has to do with their parents' views on reading, also.

Our home has a bookshelf in every room (well, technically not the baths!).  DH and I are voracious readers and always have been.  DD was read to almost every night from the time she was in the crib.  To her, reading is a joy.

Yet I have been in home where there were NO bookshelves whatsoever.  No books in evidence at all anywhere in the house.  I find this so hard to understand.

Now - back to the book I was reading :-)

[Brentwood]

"But it kinda saddens me that in this era of video games and the internet, that reading is falling out of practice or being seen as a "chore"."

I was a kid in the 70s, long before video games and the internet and most of the kids I went to school with also thought of reading as a chore.  I always thought it was sad that they didn't read more.  I've gotten so much enjoyment from reading thru my whole life that I always wanted to share that with others but few of my friends were ever interested in the latest book I'd read.  I've found that there are lots and lots of people out there who do not enjoy reading.  They're really missing out, that's for sure.   

Luckily I've married a man who loves books as much as I do.   

I knew kids like that too - I went to school from 1971 to 1984.

I love to read and am encouraging the same love in my children. My first grade daughter has already read 140 books for her Book It list since the beginning of the school year (bearing in mind that for first graders, each chapter of a chapter book can be counted as a book).

My son, almost 5, reads books, magazines, cereal boxes, newspapers, labels, billboards - anything and everything he can get his eyes on.

[MelJill]

Well, one thing that I will say ... reading for school was a chore for me despite the fact that I am a very avid reader (I read through my town's library--about equivalent to a branch library in a city system--by age 17, and I mean I read everything in the library except the reference books).

I think it had to do w/ the way that the books were taught ... we were so bogged down in the minutiae.  Imagine, if you will, reading The Count of Monte Cristo and missing the importance of the revenge theme.    And every single book was ruined in a similar fashion by the English teachers.

I tend to think that this method of teaching books may have a significant influence on why people think that reading books is a chore ... because it was an exercise in tedium in school.  I think that is almost criminal, to kill a love for reading before it's even had a chance to develop.

[Alida]

See, my daughter and I love that, though.  We love discussing themes around the dinner table.

Then again, the other night the three of us read poetry to one another all night long.  From Dickenson to Neruda to Poe :-D

[TZ]

Well, one thing that I will say ... reading for school was a chore for me despite the fact that I am a very avid reader (I read through my town's library--about equivalent to a branch library in a city system--by age 17, and I mean I read everything in the library except the reference books).

I think it had to do w/ the way that the books were taught ... we were so bogged down in the minutiae.  Imagine, if you will, reading The Count of Monte Cristo and missing the importance of the revenge theme.    And every single book was ruined in a similar fashion by the English teachers.

I tend to think that this method of teaching books may have a significant influence on why people think that reading books is a chore ... because it was an exercise in tedium in school.  I think that is almost criminal, to kill a love for reading before it's even had a chance to develop.

I totally agree.  I was always a good student, but it got to a point where I would read certain books before school began because I didn't want school to ruin them.  The Great Gatsby, for example, is, well, great, but the way that teachers dissect it is boring.  Even in kindergarten, I remember the teacher choosing boring books (Barn Dance, Owl Moon) to read aloud, just because they had "beautiful illustrations".  Don't get me wrong, I respect teachers.  In fact, I am working on my masters in literature and teach a survey course to college freshman.  It's just that I'm lucky my parents taught me to love books early on; I probably wouldn't have learned to love reading in school.

[Evil Duckie]

That is a shame. My entire family loves to read. We have been known to have to go and take flashlights and books way so they would go to sleep.

Most kids who don't read live in homes were there are few books and have no idea what they would like to read.

Unfortunately some teachers can ruin any book by the way they teach it. I have had teachers that ruined every piece of literature because you always had to look for the hidden meaning and symbolism. I have also had teachers that could make any book a real treat.

[RoseRose]

I love to read.

I hated to read and DISCUSS books for school, except with a few teachers.  I may even have loved the reading, but the discussing was miserable, because I often didn't agree with a teacher's interpretation, and often the book would be ruined for me by the teacher.  Now in college, the books and teachers are better at not killing the interest in reading.

[Sandi Papaya]

I love to read, and once I learned the finer points of "reading between the lines" (ie, literary analysis), and discovered there was more to what I was reading than just the words, and the imagery produced by the words, reading became much more of an adventure to me. It's not a wonder that I have a degree in English, and contrary to popular belief, earning a degree in English is no cakewalk. It does require a love of reading, because you're going to be doing a LOT of it, and of writing - because you're going to be doing a lot of that too.

It saddens me to think that anyone would think of reading as a "chore" - but that's by no means really a new phenomenon. It's a more noticeable one as technology advances and there are fancier "entertainments" by the day like video games, high-definition TV, home theater systems, etc. My brother, my polar opposite, didn't have a lot of video games (we had an NES, and then later we each had a GameBoy, but I bought my own GameBoy), but to this day, he hates to read and sees it as more of a "chore." My mom read to us every night as children, we had a full library of books, and he's married to a teacher, also an avid reader - but he just doesn't like to read.

He's by no means unintelligent, but at least he doesn't begrudge me and my SIL our love of books, and our intent to pass on that love to my new niece and nephew.

[Balletmom]

Well, as a reading teacher, what saddens me more is that teachers don't always know how to make all books more interesting to students. If you are excited about a book...kids will be. If you hold up a book and say. "Oh! Listen to this, I LOVE how the author does blah, blah, blah here..." the kids will tune in, too. If they are answering questions and they don't see a purpose in that, then again, the teacher is responsible.

They aren't going to like all books. That's okay. They should know that, too.

Even when I do a read aloud of  a short book, I usually start off with " I LOVE this book! It is so funny/beautiful/moving/challenging."  If, after I finish, they say "I didn't think that!" I say, "Well, that's okay!"

Also, you should know that sometimes kids just whine. It's a bonding exercise. Sometimes they complain about something they all have in common...just to have something in common. Sometimes they agree even if they DON'T agree...just to bond.