Here's one idea that's practical. I read about an elementary school in South Burlington, Vermont, that discontinued homework at the beginning of the year. The parents were asked to help their kids convert the time spent on worksheets into reading time, and were asked to read to them also. There was no accountability tool used such as a log of the reading they did. The teachers and the parents were in favor and say they've seen good results from it.

http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/stor ... /89972744/

Personally, I think it's a lost battle. In fact, people read a lot, but what has changed is where, the media, and in this case the media is internet. But at the same time, it is increasingly becoming more visual, with videos, images, and also audio. And the next thing is the virtual reality, which will displace still more to the classic reading of books. At the end we will become robots ... unfortunately. Or maybe I'm pessimistic today, and tomorrow I may think otherwise.

DWill wrote: Maybe more than anything else, I'm aware that reading is sedentary, and I like to to be standing or moving quite a bit.

I take care of that problem with a tablet and a treadmill. And it pays off doubly because with a good book on the tablet I will spend more time on the treadmill than I would otherwise.
Looking around the gym, I almost never see anyone reading on the stationary bicycles or treadmills, but I do see a lot of ear buds and I don't think they're listening to audio books. I suppose, for most people, it's just so much easier to listen to music.

It is a real shame that readership seems to be declining. Most of my friends will binge-watch TV shows or have movie nights, but they rarely take the time to read a book - even if it's on an e-reader. Outside of my book club, I only have one or two friends who still read for fun. And my book club is primarily composed of teachers and librarians. I'm trying to remain hopeful for the future, though. Books are an artform worth pursuing and keeping alive.

I'm gonna have to blame electronic devices, too, even though I know there's not just one culprit. Young kids stuck to their phones when they might possibly have had their noses in a book years ago--a bad thing for development.

Well, my case is close to what people commented early. When I was a kid between 5 ans 10 years old I use to read everything. I read all the books in my small school's library. I used to go to the library with my mom, she used to read with me at bed Gulliver Travels, Jules Verne adventures, and even Don Quixote! I mean, was really interesting.

At high school was terrible because I had to read to pass some literature tests. Books I really hated. And this lowered my interest on reading. I had to read 6 or 8 books a year because I was obliged, but I used to go to library and get another book that I liked, to read on commute. It was a great time, without internet 24/7, games were offline... And reading at that time wasn't mixed with intense internet stimuli, online games, video streaming, etc.

At college I read only college related textbooks. The rest of my time was in the proto internet (before social media existed), on ICQ and MSN messenger.

After I graduated that feeling to read different stuff returned and I decided to read 1 book a month. At first it was hard. I was not used to do so. But after some years, now I read up to 5 books a month and it is great.

So, to answer the question. I believe that first of all the people have to place themselves out of mass media, understand that books require more effort than watching TV, binge some Series, or stay pressing buttons on a game controller, liking photos and videos on the social websites.

It is a matter of choice. But those activities I mentioned are way easier than the level of abstraction of a book. And most of them are faster. Lets say a book takes 6 to 10 hours to finish. A TV program is 40 min without ads, social media can be consumed in various "sips" of 10 minutes many times a day...

So, why read Jurassic Park if there is a movie about it, that I reach the climax in 30 min instead of 5 hours reading the book? Life in this century is immediate. If you can have a similar result in less time, people often prefer that. Movies over books for example.

In my opinion, book reading is a fading hobby. People read to improve their skills on their jobs, but read for pleasure is scarce

To me, the solution to improve reading is detaching from constant 24/7 internet and TV. But this is hard to most of the population because the activities are easy to engage and require almost no effort from the user. And for sure, teach kids to like reading.

Felipebf wrote:It is a matter of choice. But those activities I mentioned are way easier than the level of abstraction of a book. And most of them are faster. Lets say a book takes 6 to 10 hours to finish. A TV program is 40 min without ads, social media can be consumed in various "sips" of 10 minutes many times a day...

So, why read Jurassic Park if there is a movie about it, that I reach the climax in 30 min instead of 5 hours reading the book? Life in this century is immediate. If you can have a similar result in less time, people often prefer that. Movies over books for example.

In my opinion, book reading is a fading hobby. People read to improve their skills on their jobs, but read for pleasure is scarce

To me, the solution to improve reading is detaching from constant 24/7 internet and TV. But this is hard to most of the population because the activities are easy to engage and require almost no effort from the user. And for sure, teach kids to like reading.

You've offered a very insightful response, but this second half in particular resonated with me. It's so easy to check social media in short bursts throughout the day, but if you added all that time together, you could read a decent chunk of a book!

I know I joined Facebook in late middle school/early high school, so this notification culture has become ingrained in my mind. It's been said that the brain is more pliable than we realize and could be reshaped later than adolescence, but man will it require a lot of work and self-control.

Take your kids, and have teachers take their grammar school students, to the library. Now here's the important part: Turn them loose.

Do not guide them. Do not tell them what sections they do or don't belong in. Do not tell them they're too young or not ready or too old for the books they chose. Do not judge their choices. Do not tell them which books you like. If a third grader wants to check out The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, say nothing. If a third grader wants to check out The Joy of Sex, say nothing. If the librarian won't let a kid check out a book the kid chose, check it out on your own library card and hand it to him. Just give the kids the run of the place. Then don't nag them about reading the books. They'll come to you when they need you.

Get them in the library when they're young. Let them pick their books. Get out of the way until they come to you.

The point is books do not need a pitchman. Let the books speak for themselves. Don't try to talk them into reading; books will do that for you. The reason kids don't read is because they're told what to read. In 9th grade I was assigned Ethan Fromm. I didn't read it. The book was dark and cold and depressing. Now I can see the art and the ironies, but not then. Let the kids pick what they think they want to read. They might be wrong and not like the book but it doesn't matter because no one is nagging them to read it. (no one does that, right?) Let the kids bring the books to you with questions or for clarification.

I do not care how poor you are, if you have a child over 7-years-old your house needs a globe and an atlas. They are NECESSITIES. If I couldn't afford to buy them for my kids I'd go to every charitable institution and government agency that might possibly help and I'd beg. If nothing worked I'd steal them. Or try. I'm not kidding. This is not hyperbole. Ever see Jay Leno walk onto a college campus and stump students by asking them what the capitol of Chicago is? Or what continent Europe is on? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1NLXEV8Xvs4 Watch this. There are over 100 more films just like it. Go buy the globe and the atlas.

And let the kids pick their own books!

It’s much more important to teach children to love reading than force them to read serious pieces of art. In schools, the emphasis should be shifted from the speed of reading to the quality of understanding.
In the old days, there was no television, there were no popular science films, there were no computers and the Internet. Books were the main source of knowledge. Now on television and on the Internet there are alternative sources of knowledge - popular science films, for example. There are good sites, there is Wikipedia, there are training programs. All this reduces the number of readers, but this does not mean that the number of developing individuals is decreasing

Welcome Dianaris!