Deprive boys of video games to make them read...

[Nieroshai]

Ah yes, THIS article, read it in print and HAD to use it in my paper supporting games. I used it because it shows the terrible logical leaps the opposition makes, like you're not reading a good book unless it was written by Homer. It was written towards an older audience that loathes our newfangled whatchamacallits, what else can I say?

 

[Quazimofo]

Rational, logical suggestion...

Is something this idea certainly isn't. This will only make them hate reading (and probably their parents) all the more, instead of just being uninterested in it.

damn, I could not agree more

Jackpot. My mom tried something like this with me when I was younger.
It didn't end well, only "festered the problem", and all that stuff. (ex. now that I distanced myself from her, its become an integral part of my being)

iunno, I enjoy reading. its nice from time to time, but i'd rather play a game (and potentially use my head) than read and just picture things.

yeah basically this, but im still only 15 so i havent really distanced myself from her, she just backed off realizing that school (and some amazing teachers there) as well as peer recommendations, made me learn to like reading (at least some genres of books) more than viedo-game/television/computer deprivation ever did. and now she kinda backs off, and is always open to get me books, but never forces me to read anymore

but seriously, my sixth grade language arts teacher has the illiad , gilgamesh (both translated and simplified a bit for 6th graders), and Percy jackson and the olympains: the lighning thief as most of her cirriculum (we did a bit of romeo and juliet i think that year but that was all we could cover, as we went quite in-depth in all these things, especially greek myths) and now i love greek mythology (i heard they make great bedtime stories too)

 

[LittleJP]

Please, I made a god damn crossbow, spear, and axe, at the age of 11, and set forth on a grand expedition in my then suburban backyard, from being god damn bored. Anyone thinking that there wouldn't be some serious shennanigans going on is a bit touched in the head.

 

[RedEyesBlackGamer]

What the hell?! Clearly whoever thought of this doesn't have children.

Anyways, I love reading, and I read MORE after over-stimulating myself with electronics.

Funnily, he said he had six sons. Me thinks he needs to stop having sex and read more.
OP: That is how I got to be the rather literate person I am today. I read books that peaked my interest at first (Mostly Sci-Fi and fantasy novels), then moved on to more "sophisticated" (slight sarcasm) literature like Frankenstein and The Adventures of Kavalier and Clay (Books that I love).

 

[ScotRotum]

As someone who has voluntarily read for an hour+ most days since childhood; I am the wrong person to ask. Regardless of my dubious qualifications I would suggest that a teenager will be fairly unlikely to take up reading do to luck of stimuli and far more likely to jack off go out or sleep. What kids really need is simply a good book, and not necessarily a classic. For Sci-Fi I recommend Dan Simmons Hyperion or for realistic action Andy McNab or for what's more or less the blockbuster movie of books something from Matthew Reilly. Somewhat related I never read the codex entries in dragon age origins, writing encyclopedia style should be reserved for encyclopedias and internet comedy.

 

[Vault101]

You can lead a horse to water but you cant make it drink

You cant MAKE somone interested in somthing, all you can do is convince them to give it a go, plus forcing somone to enjoy somthing is just going to piss them off

what you need are things that are fun for them to read, for example a guy back in the 80's was trying to teach kids to read when he realised most books at that level were completley crap and uninteresting, so what did he do? he started writing short stores, thease storys had plenty of gross out stuff , but they also had relateable charachters and were actually good and interesting

This guy was Popular Australian author Paul Jennings, I like Im sure many other Australians grew up on his books and THATS what got me to like reading, and Im sure it helped alot of kids who had trouble reading,

I also got into the series of unfortunate events, brillant books with tons of nightmare fuel and dark themes but kids love that stuff

 

[Vault101]

As someone who has voluntarily read for an hour+ most days since childhood; I am the wrong person to ask. Regardless of my dubious qualifications I would suggest that a teenager will be fairly unlikely to take up reading do to luck of stimuli and far more likely to jack off go out or sleep. What kids really need is simply a good book, and not necessarily a classic. For Sci-Fi I recommend Dan Simmons Hyperion or for realistic action Andy McNab or for what's more or less the blockbuster movie of books something from Matthew Reilly. Somewhat related I never read the codex entries in dragon age origins, writing encyclopedia style should be reserved for encyclopedias and internet comedy.

its not like the codex are essential for understanding whats going, but its good that they are there so you can get a sense of how big and well thourght out the world is and understand it better

I read the Mass effect codex

 

[TheTaco007]

My parents didn't allow me to watch TV or play video games until I was 10, and even then I could only do one of them for an hour a day.

The trick isn't to starve a kid of electronics, it's to never introduce him in the first place.

 

[The Wooster]

Ah Spence publishing. Purveyors of such literary gems as

Left Illusions: An Intellectual Odyssey
The Church Impotent: The Feminization of Christianity
The Art of Political War/Hating Whitey
Feminist Fantasies(totally not as cool as it sounds)

and my personal favourite; 7 Myths of Working Mothers: Why Children and (Most) Careers Just Don't Mix.

 

[Gudrests]

Video games consist of tons of reading. What makes one form of reading better than another? They need to make games that increase reading skills that don't stink.

well some...and anytime the media says video games we know what there thinking.......Postal 2 and Grand Theft Turnpeopleintorapists....

Edit....and maybe if some books were more interisting....OHH IDK...some people would read them more....i hate most books...but Enders Game and things of that nature...FUCKING AWESOME

 

[Mudze]

I was showered in games (three older siblings with extraordinarily different tastes) when I was young, and yet I read as avidly then as I do today. It has nothing to do with video games, it's personal taste. Make books as appealing as games, it's not hard.

 

[LittleJP]

My parents didn't allow me to watch TV or play video games until I was 10, and even then I could only do one of them for an hour a day.

The trick isn't to starve a kid of electronics, it's to never introduce him in the first place.

While that worked in the 90s, now, with all these iPods, and so on, I'd suggest that proper self control instilled by the parent into the child would be a better thing. Has more applications beyond just reading anyway.

 

[Chris646]

I grew up with video games and books like a few other people here. My mom got her degree in English, so she encouraged reading from a young age. I learned to read rather quickly. I'll attribute that to Pokemon. I found a few books that I liked, then more and more. I don't read as much nowadays, kinda getting back into it, so yeah.
Tl;dr
No, depriving boys of video games to make them read is a stupid idea.

 

[Veldel]

I play games and enjoy some books my thing is I cant read when its forced on me

 

[Angryman101]

What's so special about reading? If someone wants to experience a story or learn the writer's message, whatever it may be, there are plenty of other ways to go about it besides reading a book.

Terrible idea. Chances are the kid will spite you and not even read. Then what? He's permenantly pissed at you for taking away his source of entertainment. And what if he does read? Where's the guarantee that he'll find a book that speeks to him? That keeps him interested? And also, what is the point of reading for pleasure? To get a narrative right? To experience conflict and characters in a well written world. Video games (good ones) achieve the same if not better effect then books.

/eye roll
Books are a documentation of the past, hopes of the future, ideas, themes, dreams, and of the soul of humanity. Unlike most of the other types of entertainment, almost all books contain deeper, more meaningful themes used to educate people on the human condition. Video games, on the other hand, are made to make money and provide entertainment. I love video games, but a comparison of the two is a fucking joke.
Anyway. What I would do as a parent who wanted my child to get into reading, is have them get the same number of hours playing video games as they do reading books/studying. For every hour reading a book, they get an hour of television/computer/gaming time. I'd say this would continue until they were about...12-13? Then they could spend however much time they want as long as they keep up with their studies.

 

[Loki892]

Personally, I love reading and do so on my own with absolutely no coersion necessary. On the other hand, I've had the experience utterly destroyed in school. And not just reading either. It seems like saying to anyone that they have to do something is the best way to make sure they hate it.

So basically, I'm agreeing with everyone else I guess. Make them want to, don't tell them they have to.

That took way too long to get to...

 

[Scabadus]

Society seems to think of reading as some sort of 'holy grail' of entertainment, much more refined than Movies or Videogames. Now films are starting, slowly, to become accepted as I'm sure games will in twenty years time, though for every Inception and Mass Effect there will always be a Die Hard and a Manhunt, so these mediums are obviously flawed. Nevermind how for every Lord of the Rings there's also a Captain Underpants (yes this is a real book series; it's primarily aimed at children but may I remind you all that (at least) the origional Pokemon games had NO age rating?).

Reading isn't as big a deal as many people like to think; personally I enjoy it, but my brother hates it. Really hates it. But even though he's never read more than about ten books in his life he just found other hobbies to fill the time, hobbies that he's much better than me at because I was stuck reading while he was learning them!

 

[freakydan]

When I was a kid, my mom bought me Goosebumps books. I read them because they had weird shit on the covers, and they were kinda spooky. At the end of each book, there was a preview chapter of the next book. I'd read it, get hooked, and eagerly await the next release, and this is how I was hooked on reading. All this without being deprived of video games.

But seriously, the reason some people don't like reading is the same reason some don't like sports, or television, or video games. We're all wired differently. If your kid doesn't like to read, there may simply be nothing to do about it. Why is this so hard to grasp for some people.

PS - Captcha = athatt Xenopus.