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Why do you think some people hate reading?
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I grew up in the immediate post-war era, when reading and radio drama were the only readily available solitary diversions for a child. Both required engagement of the user's imagination and developed the ability to mine one's objective world to flesh out the visual elements of the story.
I have since since lived through and worked in two major revolutions in communication--television and the internet--neither of which make such demands.
As an experienced newsman at a New Orleans network affiliate, I watched the young reporters who were products of the first generation that couldn't remember a world without TV struggling to write a coherent news story and imagine the flow of film clips to illustrate it.
My friends in the academic world were complaining that their students of the same age group couldn't reason effectively from cause to effect, nor, for the most part, could they write with any fluency. It occurred to me that those shortcomings had a common source: their world had made no significant demand on their ability to envision either a situation or a scene.
The internet has continued that erosion by dramatically shortening the attention span of their successors and providing an immense universe of distractions.
If you can't reason and can't write, you obviously can't read with any facility and are likely to be lured to it only by the most simplistic and lurid tales.
I can only tell you why my son hates reading. I read to him almost every night when he was a child. He began reading on his own and enjoyed it, although he wasn't a fast reader. Then he hit middle school, and they had this program called Accelerated Reader. My son would spend hours reading a book, and then he had to take a multiple-choice test consisting of 5 questions for each book. Miss 2, and you fail. It killed his love of reading.
My mother used to read to me and my sister when we were very young. The Watchbirds, The Goops, Little Golden Books, Winnie the Pooh, and so forth. It was fun and I soon knew some of the picture books by heart. If children aren't read to, you've missed the best opportunity to turn them into readers. I read to my children, too, a restful time before bedtime, always a pleasure. Now they read as adults.
Scout wrote: "I can only tell you why my son hates reading. I read to him almost every night when he was a child. He began reading on his own and enjoyed it, although he wasn't a fast reader. Then he hit middle ..."what's the point of being a fast reader if you cant enjoy what you're reading, then? :(
Anthony wrote: "I grew up in the immediate post-war era, when reading and radio drama were the only readily available solitary diversions for a child. Both required engagement of the user's imagination and develop..."A very cogent argument, Anthony. I think you are so right. I could never understand the appeal of Twitter, because what can you possibly say in 140 characters? It obviously taps into this instant, choppy, hurry-up world. I love technology, but really don't want to use that one. I don't really understand texting either. My son uses it, and I asked him why bother typing stuff into a phone, when it's actually easier to call someone. He had a valid point. He's a music teacher, and he can get texts during lessons without being disturbed and then answer them later. I do text now, sometimes, but I refuse to use all those stupid abbreviations. I will LOL once in a while, though. But only if it's truly funny. Some people use it like a period in a sentence.
Scout, that's a very sad story! Education at its worse.
This is a very interesting discussion. Thanks everyone for giving me lots to think about.Scout,
Multiple choice tests sometimes confuse students who think more. I am sorry about your son.
Anthony,
You brought up the strong link between reading and writing. I think the ability to express yourself in writing flows naturally from exposure to good reading.
Robert,
Your daughter is so lucky to have you as her personal teacher. We know a lot more about reading disabilities these days, but still not enough about how to overcome them.
J,
I think it is so important to read aloud to children, but as others have pointed out, it doesn't automatically produce kids who love to read themselves.
At a party given by one of my writing teachers some years back, another guest-not from the writing program (where, mind you, I was meeting a lot of younger people who didn't read much!)--asked the typical question: what do you do?When I said I was a writer, a following assumption was expressed that I therefore must read a lot, which I acknowledged. There were a number of remarks about how much our hostess read, and then one woman said to me, "I don't know, I've always been more of a do-er."
Which leads me to the statement: ignorance makes people hate reading.
This discussion reminds me of the book Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking, which I thought was really interesting. It discusses some of the differences between introverts and extroverts, but also some of the changes in society that value more of those extroverted and action-oriented traits, often at the expense of quieter activities like reading.It's sad to see how many of the posts point to something at school - a teacher or a practice/assignment - that contributed to a child being turned off reading. It's such a different experience from mine, in that whenever I was challenged in some way, even by an assignment or criticism, I turned to reading as a way to deal with it on my own.
An educator once told me that crawling facilitates the ability of the child to read? She said to encourage crawling and exploring, then your child will read well. Any thoughts as to the truth of the statement. She had a PHD in child developement, but I had never heard or read any other confirmation.
Carol wrote: "An educator once told me that crawling facilitates the ability of the child to read? She said to encourage crawling and exploring, then your child will read well. Any thoughts as to the truth of t..."I recently read something (I can't remember the source) that ties in with that, I think, Carol. The article said many new parents tried to encourage early reading by teaching the alphabet, by using flashcards, by having their children memorize letters. Which is all fine, the article said (although it said memorizing the alphabet didn't really do much). But it said the single best indicator of a good reader was if they were a risk-taker. It said playing on the monkey bars was better than learning flashcards. I thought to myself that my grand-daughter Lily could read well before she was adept at monkey-bars. But I think I get the point. So by encouraging your child to explore the physical world (such as crawling) you're helping build the foundation for a good reader.
Crawling- reading? I only have four children so I couldn't comment other than to say in my experience that is a dubius statement.An ingrained curiosity, looking for small detail in things, an overwhelming need to know- children like this will read.
My son when a baby refused to flip over and crawl- so I was told to put his toys out of his way to make him do it.
Oh no, he had other ideas. He just had a look, saw he was on a blanket and pulled it till his toys came to him. Problem solving. He now reads like it is life itself.
I like Susan's comment- an incident at school or teacher can turn a child off reading/learning.
All the more important to have teachers who can 'read' children.
Kitty wrote: "Crawling- reading? I only have four children so I couldn't comment other than to say in my experience that is a dubius statement.An ingrained curiosity, looking for small detail in things, an over..."
Smart baby! He certainly was creative and I'm sure that has a lot to do with having a love of reading, too.
But for arguments sake , crawling ,exploring and attention to details, are small motor skills right?
I'm not sure about specifically crawling and physical risk, but "free play" has been found to be important. Kids develop curiosity and imagination and, to some extent, risk taking. It also gets kids actively engaged, which enhances their ability to learn. Plus, kids get to do things on their own, rather than having everything structured for them - they figure out what they like.
I crawled through Dostoevsky's books, so the argument has merit.
Newengland wrote: "I crawled through Dostoevsky's books, so the argument has merit."You make me chuckle.
Sara wrote: "At a party given by one of my writing teachers some years back, another guest-not from the writing program (where, mind you, I was meeting a lot of younger people who didn't read much!)--asked the ..."People say the same thing to librarians, though I have in fact encountered non-reading librarians. What really puzzles some people is that during a part of my career I was a professional reader -- that is, as a book selector I found it necessary to read several hundred books a week. This doesn't count as reading to some. It seems like an industrial process, anti-reading and very unlibrarian-y. The unfortunate truth is that a great many books are industrial products and do not repay more than a few minutes time. But those who do love books and reading love to swim in the vast ocean even if they can get no farther than the tidal wrack. Amid the dead fish a piece of amber may sometimes wash ashore. Perhaps this is not well understood by non-readers. Of course, you do have to have access to thousands of books a week, something not everyone has.
Susan wrote: "I'm not sure about specifically crawling and physical risk, but "free play" has been found to be important. Kids develop curiosity and imagination and, to some extent, risk taking. It also gets kid..."Interesting that you mention "free play". When many of us were young (perhaps most), that's what a lot of our play was. As for myself, a turned over chair was my doll's houseboat. The large rocks in back of the schoolyard was our summer fort -- or whatever we wanted it to be. Imagination was everywhere as we didn't have much else.
I feel bad for the children who get every prefabricated toy when all they really need are some boxes and pens and imagination and maybe their parents' help.
This same imagination and parental help led me to reading.
Sara wrote: "...one woman said to me, 'I don't know, I've always been more of a do-er.' Which leads me to the statement: ignorance makes people hate reading. "Sort of a vicious circle, isn't it?
Carol wrote: "An educator once told me that crawling facilitates the ability of the child to read? She said to encourage crawling and exploring, then your child will read well. Any thoughts as to the truth of the statement. She had a PHD in child developement, but I had never heard or read any other confirmation...?"The problem with academic research is that if one writes papers that confirm the old thinking, they don't get published. To become a star in Education (to name just one field), one must write papers that contradict old theory. There's a huge temptation to torture the data until they say what one wants them to.
I suspect any perceived correlation between early crawling and later reading ability is attributable to underlying intelligence level and not some putative motion-to-reading mechanism.
Paulina wrote: "I think reasons for disliking reading are numerous - most of which have been mentioned and likely change with time. As a person who didn't start out "loving" reading, I can share my reasons!
Hig..."
Interesting article in last Sat. WSJ:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001...
"Who ruined the humanities?"
I am an optometrist and I have found that the majority of my patients with focusing difficulties have told me that they hate reading. Many of these vision problems cause the person to lose their place when going from line to line and require so much energy to remain focused that the person has very little comprehension after reading for a short time. Any child who is resistant to reading should have an eye exam that goes beyond the standard measurement of acuity.
-Because they're easily distracted by technology. -Because they hate reading..maybe their teachers in high school forced them to read, and now they see the act of reading as a chore.
Learning to read can be a chore; I've always felt that many non-readers never got across the bridge from "chore" to pleasure. I also believe that the switch from phonics to sight reading, making reading largely guesswork, is responsible for lack of fluency in reading. Even as a college teacher, I could tell which students had been taught phonics because when they came to a new word, they could figure it out for themselves. The sight readers looked to me to tell them the word. "Why Johnny Can't Read" and "Why Johnny Still Can't Read" 25 years later were right on target. I also agree with many of the above comments, especially those about TV hindering children's ability to "make the movie in their minds" as they read.
The "look-say" concept was an academic conceit. I can almost guarantee that it was based on studies on how people read, as opposed to how children learned to read. The greatest enemy to your child's education is a PhD candidate desperately trying to find something new to say in his/her dissertation.
J., I love your last sentence. It's funny, but I suspect it's also sadly true.
My daughter has just started Kindergarten and I am already concerned about the sight words method of teaching reading. It doesn't make a lot of sense to me.Cecilia wrote: "Learning to read can be a chore; I've always felt that many non-readers never got across the bridge from "chore" to pleasure. I also believe that the switch from phonics to sight reading, making re..."
Sherry wrote: "J., I love your last sentence. It's funny, but I suspect it's also sadly true."Thanks, Sherry. "Something new" is not necessarily bad, per se. The problem is that "something new" in such an overworked field may not be something true.
Cecilia wrote: "Learning to read can be a chore; I've always felt that many non-readers never got across the bridge from "chore" to pleasure..."I think that is very true (as are many of the other comments above). That's why it's so important that a child gets off to a good start with reading, and hence the first couple of years of school are so important.
I know many who say if their child could have an elite education for a couple of years, they'd pick the final two years of school, so the child could get into a good college or university. I think that's too late and the converse is true: if the child doesn't quickly get past the burden of learning, it's really hard to make up for that later. Even if they don't read much for pleasure, fluent reading is essential for much of the work they do in school, and indeed, life.
I got library cards for my kids when they were both 3 years old. I'm glad to say they both have developed a lifelong love of reading; they are each in their 40s now.
I don't think learning to read has to be a chore. I was born in 1954 and probably learned to read by some other method than phonics, but there was never a time I did not love reading. Read to your kids, expect and encourage weekly library trips to check out books, and give them time without their electronics to develop a love of reading. A bonus is that because of being a bookworm from such an early age, spelling correctly and writing also flow naturally and easily for me, while I see others struggle.
Cecily wrote: "Cecilia wrote: "Learning to read can be a chore; I've always felt that many non-readers never got across the bridge from "chore" to pleasure..."I think that is very true (as are many of the othe..."
I'm with you: if the foundations is missing, how can you build the house?
Lyn wrote: "I don't think learning to read has to be a chore..."Yes, perhaps "burden" was poorly chosen on my part. Nevertheless, however inspiring the parent/teacher and the book, the process of learning isn't always an unalloyed joy. The real pleasure comes from being able to read what you want to read, unaided. The real problem is those children whose circumstances mean they spend so many hours of boredom and frustration trying to get to the later stage, that even if they become fluent readers (and not all do), they never find the joy.
I had an insight while I was traveling this past week. It had to do with writing but is equally applicable to reading. I noticed that I was unable to enter the contemplative state necessary to open the other world I was creating. A great many of the beginning writing students I teach complain of this -- that they sit down to write and then are distracted. I used to think it was because they didn't grant enough importance to the activity, or had no habits or a place to write. I'm still not sure about that, but I had a personal experience of it that suggested more was at work. Hate reading may be too strong -- not to be able to read when you want to could be hard on your self-image, and incline you to piffle the business to avoid confronting it.
I think you have something there, Charles. A relatively quiet mind is needed to concentrate and be absorbed, either in a novel or in creating something with your own writing. I consciously noticed that when I recently started reading a Stegner novel, that it was likely going to be a worthwhile endeavor, but I had read so many page turner type novels this summer that I needed to slow down and quiet my mind. I actually meditated for awhile first. (And, as always, another reward for getting to a quieter mind is that your moment to moment experience becomes deeper and nicer).
I love to read as I have been read to as child but my I have to slow to absorb plot and also be interested in such.
Elaine wrote: "I love to read as I have been read to as child but my I have to slow to absorb plot and also be interested in such."Hmm. Plot is just what happens next, isn't it? Until you get to the end of the book and there's no next? Whatever it was, you sensed you were missing something but it didn't stop you reading. Why?
Tenacity , Charles. Although I will abandon a book when , like Ruth , I start skipping and scanning. Some books draw me in with plot, others with the characters and still others with the writing skill of the author. Right now I am reading a book that, I think, could use some better editing. I am still reading it , because I want to see where the author is going with her characters and story line. The First Rule of Swimming
Constant Reader
Books mentioned in this topic
The First Rule of Swimming (other topics)Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking (other topics)
Remembrance of Things Past: Volume I - Swann's Way & Within a Budding Grove (other topics)
Moby-Dick or, The Whale (other topics)
Moby-Dick or, The Whale (other topics)
That is interesting. I learn through reading. I would read books to my children when I was homeschooling them. They are auditory learners and comprehended a great deal by being read to. I, however, didn't remember much and had to flip pages to remember details so I could ask them questions. They still don't understand why I prefer so "see" the words rather than "hear" them.