Why do certain kids hate reading?

[Mister Eff]

I think a lot of it simply isn't interesting to people who're around 12-17. When I was in school, around the age of 13-15 I had to read Steinbeck, Whitman, Twain, Shakespeare and whatnot and I despised it. Now, they're some of my all time favourites and I'd quite happily sit down and read Leaves of Grass. I do, quite often. I still don't enjoy Shakespeare, but that's just down to personal preference.

But stuff like that just doesn't stimulate a lot of today's youth. They don't find it relevant to their lives and it's quite difficult to comprehend the themes behind it at a young age. I mean I'm only 21, which doesn't sound like much of an age gap, but anyone who's 21 plus I think will agree that there's a massive gap in intellect and maturity between the end of high school and the end of university (or that age). I don't mean to sound condescending, but that's the case with many younger people. I know there are exceptions, many of them likely here, but for the majority, I think I'm right.

That said, I'd prefer to be taught the classics to kids rather than half the modern crap that's coming out these days. I'm looking at you, Twilight.

 

[JaceArveduin]

Eh, I don't remember being read to much, and was a kid that wasn't really reading much. Then I hit the science fiction/fantasy genre about 5th grade or so (whenever the first HP movie came out) and started to devour books, getting into LOTR and Eragon and lots of other little series. And now I read when I find a good book or get bored.

 

[Tazzy da Devil]

Reading isn't everyone's cup of tea. Personally, I love to read, but I don't watch TV because I just can't get interested. I suppose it's the other way around for some people.

 

[Sexual Harassment Panda]

It's fair enough. I like books, films, games...but I don't care for plays or musicals. Why don't the kids like plays and musicals?

In my opinion, films are the go-to entertainment because they're great. I'll take a film over a book everytime, I just think it's better.

 

[Erana]

I'm just too busy, honestly. Every week, I already have to read +200 pages of POSTMODERN BULLSHIT JESUS CHRIST THEY WROTE THIS TERRIBLY ON PURPOSE! Seriously, these people won awards for how bad they wrote. I just-
*ahem*

Honestly, I think the act of reading a physical book is put on a bit too much of a pedestal. Why not let kids have an audiobook if they don't like reading? Sometimes the voice actor just makes a book for me.
I think part of the problem is that by being so sacred, it makes it more intimidating or even just more boring. Books aren't exactly advertised as something to go keeping on your person unless you're the stereotyped egghead.
ANd I don't think that is a matter of "Oh, I don't want to be an egghead!" I feel that its more of, "I am not that person. I don't have the social expectation to be the sort of smart guy who reads books, so I'm not going to bother."

The "reading is for smart people" idea is just stupid. Reading is for everyone.

 

[Talshere]

Some kids find it hard to read. Other find the prospect of picking up a book daunting because its too long (most fantasy books are like 400 pages). Some cant get into books.

Mostly, its because they havent found the right genera. They dont care about main stream books that you see on TV or that are in the "charts" or "bestsellers" and there are no easy ways to find out about a new genre, its always guna be time consuming with the risk you might not like it and many genres used to though less and less come with a certain social stigmas attached.

 

[DanielBrown]

I'm 22 and have always hated reading books. It has nothing to do with school though. The problem lies with my short attention span.
Ooh, shiny...

 

[CrustyOatmeal]

i stopped reading because of teachers telling me not to read the books i liked and i continue not to read because of an eye problem. me left eye sees a copy of whatever image im looking at slightly below and to the right of the image which makes readying text really difficult

i think if teachers and parents fostered their childs exploration within reading and make it come off as exciting it would make kids learn to love reading again but as of right now teachers try and force kids to read "high brow" books with deep meanings (which the kids are usually to young to realize) and parents would rather watch tv

 

[loudestmute]

I remember I used to enjoy reading. Took down three books a week in the school library, six a week in the summer thanks to a hard-working library being within walking distance of my house. And then, things started slowing down. I can and will blame a good part of it on my school faculty's refusal to share lesson plans with each other, causing me to re-read the Outsiders every year for seven years. I hadn't thought about how I stopped reading until one of my classmates in college showed off some of his published works. I felt embarassed for the guy having his name attached to what I thought were shoddy books at best, but then it hit me: I haven't touched a book for myself since junior year in high school. How can I properly judge?

So I've been chipping away at a massive cardboard box I've liberated from one of my uncles (his bookshelves were literally buckling under the mass of his collection) and assorted stuff I picked out of Borders. Y'know, back when those guys existed and everything.

As for why kids these days aren't reading more, I think we can chalk it up to the way reading is generally treated in schools. When you're asked to interpret books for the majority of your education, it's treated more as a test of comprehension than interpretation. While this process works well enough for the early years, it gets ridiculous when applied to your teenage coursework. What you're supposed to feel after reading Chapter 7 or Act II is supposed to be an objective fact, and if you can't put it into one of the bubbles on your multiple choice test then you must be wrong. That kind of thinking eventually instills a fear that you're not reading something the "right" way, and not even Cliff Notes will give you any idea of what the proper solution should be. So tell me this: After being told implicitly for years that books are a pass/fail form of entertainment, would you be more interested spending a week reading a book only to feel like you've screwed something up at the end if it doesn't blow your mind like the blurb on the back says should occur? Or would you rather dick around on your Xbox and be told you're winning every 10-15 minutes on average?

/end ramble

 

[Heaven's Guardian]

Depends. I think part of it is the "level" system, where it seems like kids get shamed out of reading books that are actually interesting. Worse still is the idea of finding books that are "relevant" to kids, especially boys. This, of course, means that they like to find books about kids and teenagers who are going through pretty much the same things that they are. I think I speak for most people when I say that I don't want to read books about my life, I want to read books that are awesome.

However, part of it is that some people just don't like reading. My younger brother has zero interest in written fiction. He appreciates story and characterization and all other such things in movies, TV and games, but just doesn't like books. It's not a matter of topics or lack of access or lack of encouragement: he just doesn't like them. It might be because of pacing or lack of visualization or a number of other things, but there are some people who just aren't huge fans of reading, no matter what the environment is, and now that it's a lot easier to find other entertainment people dismiss the mediums they don't care for.

 

[Saucycarpdog]

It's my dream to someday write and publish a successful novel....

You and me, both, old boy!

And here I thought I was the only one on this forum with such a dream.

If I knew about this series earlier those book reports may have been more bearable . I think that kids (by kids i mean like ages 12-18 xD)should give reading a chance. Have a look at your taste in films or video games and look for books that match those tastes.

While I love the idea of opening kids to genres that would make them read more, I don't think schools should give up classics to teach about modern books. However cheesy, the romance of Romeo and Juliet can beat Twilights any day.

 

[Yopaz]

My guess they're forced to read rather than encouraged. Kids who read are usually smart and smart kids get bullied. Because of that kids are unlikely to recommend books to their friends so the influenced that make kids read are parents and teachers who either want them to read something relevant to school or parents who usually aren't too pushy.

Also the entertainment industry is huge. We had 2 TV channels when I was young so TV wasn't really an option. Hopefully it will turn.

 

[Woodsey]

Maybe its because not all people like reading, and insisting they do something they genuinely do not like over and over and over and over is only going to push them further and further and further and further away from it.

Honestly, I think the act of reading a physical book is put on a bit too much of a pedestal.

This too. Plus, some of the shit they have you read in school... I'm doing English Lit at A-Level, and will be doing it at Uni, but most of the stuff we will read in class would send anyone in their right mind to sleep.

(18th Century 'comedic' plays aren't fucking interesting!)

 

[Dangit2019]

So Escapist, since I know a lot of highschool kids and even younger are on here, what books made you like reading?

There's a book called skulduggery pleasant, which was a dark comedy/fantasy with a skeleton playing the title character that I read when I was about 10. I cannot believe it's not as popular as other young adult novels, it had witty characters, believable dialogue, and an interesting premise. I get annoyed when my fellow high schoolers just dismiss reading as some boring, trivial activity getting in the way of their usual activities i.e. getting high and/or retarded.

 

[TomLikesGuitar]

I know they're regular curriculum books (at least they were when I was in high school) but Of Mice and Men and Flowers for Algernon both made me cry the first time through (I guess I have a soft spot for retards?).

And what angst ridden young adult doesn't relate perfectly with Holden Caulfield of Catcher in the Rye?

 

[Mariakko]

I enjoy reading and reading the books school provides for classes has never been a problem for me. I don't understand why kids don't read much at all.

 

[3 legged goat]

Nope, screw what the kids want. They're going to learn Shakespeare, they're going to read 'Of Mice and Men'. I was reading 1984 and Great Expectations in my own time at age 14. I don't see why kids would have trouble reading the literature school make them read, sound like laziness to me.

Ok look i know you don't always get to read a novel your interested in but schools select those texts for specific reasons, mainly because its damn good literature that you young whippersnappers can't appreciate.

Opinion much? I am 16 and I love reading! It really is about finding the right book. Not forcing them to read things they aren't interested in. In my opinion, schools should only force kids to read books like 'To Kill a Mockingbird' or 'Night'. Things about horrible events or racism seem to draw kids in. Then you can get them to read other things.

 

[Torrasque]

I don't know why kids don't like reading. Probably because gaming has become much more of an allure than it was when I was in elementary school <.<

Anyway, I've always liked reading. Even now I'll set down my DS or shut off the computer to read a history book on Stalin or ancient Rome. And I love fantasy/science fiction books. It's my dream to someday write and publish a successful novel....

"Why should I sit down and read a book? I get plenty of reading playing MW3! See, I am reading the names of guns and perks right now!"
*sigh*

I know why my little brother doesn't read: the books that he starts reading or tries to read, don't hold his attention. I've tried getting him into Harry Potter and many other series that I love to death. But he always says the same thing, "I got bored". How?! I know some books have boring parts like Wheel of Time and how it describes what everyone is wearing to what kind of fabric their underclothes are, but that immersion damnit! Even when I got him some books about dragons (he likes dragons like a fat kid likes cake) he said the same thing, "I got bored".
I think that because he didn't read that much when he was younger (or at least as much as I read), that he just hasn't gotten a tolerance to uninteresting parts. For me, I read through the "uninteresting bits" to get to the good bits. And even the uninteresting bits are interesting in their own way.
This same argument applies to games as well. It is maddeningly frustrating to see my brother play Borderlands more than I did, yet when I buy him a 3DS and give him my OoT 3D to play on it, he gets completely lost.

If kids do not start small when they are younger, they won't have anything to build on when they are older. So you get kids that don't like reading at all when they are older.

Also, I'd love to make several novels. I have so many damned ideas, but my writing isn't as good as I want it to be =/