Is Reading a Dying Pastime?
Raising Kids to Read
My 12-year-old grandson doesn’t like to read. He says it’s boring. He would much rather spend his time doing things on his Chromebook. It’s not that he can’t read well. He can. He is a smart kid and exceptionally creative. He just doesn’t like to read, and I know he isn’t alone.
In May I concluded 36 years of teaching English and history, and I experienced the same phenomenon with my students. It seemed that with each passing year, the students enjoyed reading less and less. It didn’t matter what we were reading either. I could take them to the library and let them choose any book that looked interesting, but it didn’t matter. They still resisted reading and would have much rather spent their time on a Chromebook or on their cell phone.
I am aware that young people are micro-dosing on dopamine for hours upon hours, and that finding something more exciting than the online dopamine delivery is a tall order. Still, if we don’t try, we are dooming future generations to the prison of illiteracy.
The question is where to start.
My Parents Were Always Reading Something
As far back as I can remember, my parents were always reading something. Mom had her Readers Digest on the kitchen table, where she would read the…
