An article from the Concord Monitor talks about the reading habits of kids. In particular, the reading habits of boys is discussed and tries to examine why boys lose the desire to read at age 10 or thereabouts.
Boys like genres that often aren't considered the "good" or "right" things to read. At a very young age, when others read to them, they see books as something to be enjoyed, but once they get to school, reading becomes a set of lessons and tests. Girls tend to start reading independently at an earlier age, and boys struggle to keep up. Because girls read more, library programs end up being geared toward the books they like. Boys seldom see grown men reading, which leads them to think of reading as female behavior.And what should kids be reading? Anything!
"If it's comic books, great. If it's humor, fine. Science fiction - a lot of parents get alarmed, because when kids get into science fiction, that's all they read for awhile. That's okay."A question for the parents out there: Do you actively encourage your kids to read?
Comments (6)
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Posted by John DeNardo at Monday May 09, 2005 at 2:02 PM
© 2008 SF Signal
Damn right we do. We average 20+ books for the young lady every time we go to the libary. Christmas, birthday, etc., gifts include multiple books along with toys and games. Books are read just about every night, plus usually one other time during the day. Books during long car trips, books in the restaurant when we're waiting...Heck, I even volunteered to go to her class 1-2 times a week to help out in a kindergarten reading and writing development project.
You get the idea. My wife and I read a lot and we're doing our best to encourage the same in the budding paleontologist.
Posted by Fred Kiesche on Monday May 09, 2005 at 2:36 PM at 2:36 PM
I've actually seen this play out in my own life.
I was very into comics and later SF/Fantasy growing
up. My peers became less interested in reading and
more into running the streets (Bronx,NY). By high school,
a boy would not be caught dead with a Shakespeare play in
his hand. I think comics really helped me stay interested in
reading. From comics I could get into stories written for a
young male audience, a lot of it violent, true but a lot of times
they contained a moral subtext that made you think.
Posted by Vinny on Monday May 09, 2005 at 3:29 PM at 3:29 PM
I have read science fiction and comics non stop since about age 8. In that time I've also read most of what is considered "the canon" of western literature and a good deal outside of that as well.
I am completely off of superhero comics, with a few exceptions like Planetary. My ever-growing weekly stack consists mostly of SF, Fantasy and horror books. There are still a few good crime comics.
Though not a parent, I try to get kids to read. I'll take some of the kids in my neighborhood to the comic book shop or the used book store.
Posted by Jeff on Monday May 09, 2005 at 7:34 PM at 7:34 PM
Funny how the article doesn't really look into the impact of sports. The herding of children into organized sports teams has far worse effect on reading habits than what is considered "good."
Posted by Jeff on Monday May 09, 2005 at 7:37 PM at 7:37 PM
My parents read books - therefore I read books. My dad read regularly and thus I had a positive role model who promoted reading. He encouraged me to read the books that he read as a kid (Mercer Boys, for example) that I still have a very fond memory of.
My 6 year old reads a story with us every night - now he somteimes reads them to us instead of us reading to him, but we always promote how fun it is to read. I read him The Hobbit and CS Lewis numerous other titles so he would see that there are extremely interesting books out there. I'll be doing the same with 18 month old too.
Parents are the biggest influence - not school, peers, or organized sports (and Jeff, that's a pretty unfair swipe at what is ultimately important physical education.)
Posted by Scott on Tuesday May 10, 2005 at 11:42 AM at 11:42 AM
When I was a kid, every Classics Illustrated comic had a comment in a box on the last page. It reminded that reader that a comic book format could not include everything that's in the original story, and that if the reader enjoyed the comic, he should go to the library and read the book. I took this very seriously. (Of course, the book was invariably in the adult section of the library, and I couldn't borrow it without having a parent present...)
The comic books encouraged me to read. The librarians didn't.
Posted by Jan Province on Wednesday May 11, 2005 at 9:28 AM at 9:28 AM