Why do certain kids hate reading?

[rekabdarb]

Why take intake from one of the slowest methods of speech when you have flashing lights and explosions from the television/monitor.

On that note i'm gonna ignore Night watch which has been sitting on my to read list and go watch some television. Possibly play Star Wars.

Although i didn't really 'get' into reading until i was in middle school. or it might of been high school.

Pretty sure high school. Although my favourite genres ad a little bit narrow i still read a ton in those genres.

 

[lacktheknack]

I was an extremely avid reader as a kid. Four things went right:

1. I had a little Phonics Board toy that taught me letter sounds.

2. I learned to read at age four because Mom and Dad left "Calvin and Hobbes" and "Asterix" books on the coffee table. They were fun to look at, but if I wanted to know what was going on, I had to use my newfound phonic abilities to make coherent words. Mom says she thought I was talking to a spider one day, but when she looked into my room, I was just trying to read one of Calvin's improvised poems.

3. I got addicted to a little Sierra edutainment game, "Yobi's Basic Spelling Tricks", at age five. They don't make edutainment like that anymore. It expanded my vocabulary a lot.

4. In grade one, there was a year-long contest where we would write down the titles of the books (albeit of any length) you read and got an adult to verify with a signature. Every hundred books got you a free book, and the winner got five more.

I won, with 816 books.

 

[II Scarecrow II]

It made me rather sad that there were people in my year 12 class that were unable to string more than a sentence together when we were reading, and I'm not talking Shakespeare here either. 12 years of schooling and some people still could not read. I think that is a failure of the curriculum if anything is.

I have always been an avid reader, probably because I started at a very young age, hell I was reading Wilbur Smith at age 10. Reading is something that you have to be interested in though, and unfortunately, the books that schools attempt to force down your throats severely lack that. While I don't doubt they have a huge value in terms of teaching literature, many of the books fail to entertain this generation, and that is the purpose of books. Personally, I enjoyed reading To Kill A Mockingbird or Macbeth, but I am sure I was a minority in school.

I think the belief that many people hold is that reading is for nerds and is uncool, especially when it is something forced on them by teachers. Reading needs to be something you do of your own free will, and you have to find something you like. I can list numerous series that I thoroughly enjoy, and those books I can read in under a few days because I just enjoy the so much. Hell, I finished Inheritance in four days. Reading is addictive, you just need to find your drug.

EDIT: To the person who commented about Tale of Two Cities... I agree with every freaking word. I actually went and borrowed it of my own volition, and I don't think I ever finished it because it was just so damn boring. Again, I'm sure it has a lot to teach in terms of literature, but as a story, I think it fails in modern culture.

 

[TomLikesGuitar]

*raises hand*
I read Catcher when I was 16 and hated it, honestly. I could see what Salinger was going for, but I actually ended up finding Caulfield less and less relatable as the book went on.

That book is right up there with A Separate Peace as the worst book I ever read, for school or otherwise. Go figure.

The worst book you've ever read?

You either haven't read many books or the books you've read have all been spectacular, because that's ridiculous. I think the worst book I read was probably Tom Clancy's Net Force Explorers: Virtual Vandals or maybe like a Hardy Boys book or something...

 

[II Scarecrow II]

*raises hand*
I read Catcher when I was 16 and hated it, honestly. I could see what Salinger was going for, but I actually ended up finding Caulfield less and less relatable as the book went on.

That book is right up there with A Separate Peace as the worst book I ever read, for school or otherwise. Go figure.

The worst book you've ever read?

You either haven't read many books or the books you've read have all been spectacular, because that's ridiculous. I think the worst book I read was probably Tom Clancy's Net Force Explorers: Virtual Vandals or maybe like a Hardy Boys book or something...

Ahaha, I remember both of those series. In retrospect both of those are so ridiculously childish, I'm not even sure why I finished them

 

[TomLikesGuitar]

*raises hand*
I read Catcher when I was 16 and hated it, honestly. I could see what Salinger was going for, but I actually ended up finding Caulfield less and less relatable as the book went on.

That book is right up there with A Separate Peace as the worst book I ever read, for school or otherwise. Go figure.

The worst book you've ever read?

You either haven't read many books or the books you've read have all been spectacular, because that's ridiculous. I think the worst book I read was probably Tom Clancy's Net Force Explorers: Virtual Vandals or maybe like a Hardy Boys book or something...

Ahaha, I remember both of those series. In retrospect both of those are so ridiculously childish, I'm not even sure why I finished them

Wow haha, I can't believe someone else read those Tom Clancy books... The premise was cool, but the writing was terrible.

 

[II Scarecrow II]

I remember hating reading when I was little. I got over it as I grew older though.

Probably one of the books that really got me into reading was Silverwing. It was back in Middle School and we got to choose our own books. It was one of the few books I found myself having trouble putting down.

But yeah, I think you may be right in saying that kids don't really enjoy reading when it's forced upon them. I know I sure didn't back then.

Silver Wing was an amazing book and part of a brilliant trilogy. It's been probably more than a decade since I read it, but it was pretty awesome from memory.

Hmm, this thread is making me think of some of the books I read when I was still young....

The Tomorrow Series by John Marsden is simply brilliant. I read that in grade 5, it was part of the curriculum at my school in grade 11 :S

The Inheritance Series

The Northern Lights/Golden Compass - Movie sucked, books were pretty good.

Everything by Matthew Reilly - Scarecrow and Jack West are two of my favourite heroes.

The Red Wall Series by Brian Jaques. Pretty childish, but as an eight year old, I love it. Speaking of Brian Jaques, his series starting with Castaways of the Flying Dutchman was very good.

I think I was reading some stuff by Elizabeth Moon around age 12/13. Good Sci-Fi author.

Wilbur Smith was pretty good as well, though I don't doubt a fair bit of his work went over my head.


Alright, I'll stop. Many of these books probably aren't great in terms of teaching literature, but they were enjoyable books to read nonetheless, and many of those are great for children. Reading doesn't have to be a chore, there are plenty of good books out there for kids to enjoy. All they have to do is find a good one without having it forced on them.

 

[TehCookie]

I'd say because 90% is shit, just like any other media. (Alright not that high of a % but still...) I love a good book, but I hate finding a good book. A lot of kids won't look for good books and be forced to read terrible ones in class and just assume all books are terrible.

 

[A Raging Emo]

Of Mice and Men'.

I hope you've actually read that book. Sure, a lot of high school kids have to read it (I first read it when I was 13), but it was actually insanely good. Just because it's lighter than things like The Picture of Dorian Gray or 1984 doesn't mean it isn't as good.

Steinbeck was a very talented author.

And Shakespeare is a sort of "have-to" read. Even if you don't like it, Shakespeare was a massive influence on the English language.

(I apologise in advance if I have interpreted your post; my Sarcasm Sense was tingling).

 

[chaosyoshimage]

I think it's because schools try to force books that kids have no interest for down their throats too often.

While I don't think every kid is like that, I'm sure that's a major reason. They basically think it's a chore because the school made it into one. I rarely liked reading books for school as a kid (Never had to in High School though because my school was dumb), but I loved my own books.

 

[theheroofaction]

Really, there are two problems.

1. A book is the least engaging of mediums, holding nothing but words written in plain text. Even on a forum, such as this one, you've got a physical form to attach my words too, even if it is just "the fish guy"

2.Reading assignments in school. Namely, they assign the most boring and irrelevant books in the universe under the guise of classics. See, apparently, a "classic" has to be a cliche storm as well as a commentary on issues that were only relevant a century ago.

 

[Smiley Face]

I've always been a huge reader. Picked up Green Eggs & Ham and never looked back. Started on Harry Potter when I was... 6? Maybe younger? I dunno. Redwall at 7. Artemis Fowl & Series of Unfortunate Events at 8. I still love a good 'kids' book. Anyways, it sort of snowballed. It's a rare day that I don't have a book somewhere on my person.

It's a little hard for me to say why some kids don't hook on reading, just because my love of reading had absolutely nothing to do with my school environment. I was always reading way ahead of the rest of my class, and I was never bullied - I just read. When I hit Grade 7, though, we had a wicked sharp class, so we read Brave New World and 1984. The board dedicated to discussing themes had SEX in big bold letters, dead centre. Boy, that class rocked. Later English stuff was boring, except the Shakespeare, I've always been able to read it pretty easily. Richard III ftw.

I think there's something to the idea that kids who haven't learned to enjoy the benefits of reading, who are taught the skills and have to work at it, will see reading as busy-work, as is pretty much all schoolwork, rather than something that can have real rewards.

Strangely enough, my brother, who's very much like me in most ways, is not a big reader - he rejects book suggestions, and takes forever to get through a page - although with my constant nagging I've gotten him into some stuff (he's partway through Feast for Crows at the moment).

One thing I think it might be is that there a great many more accessible forms of storytelling out there - Television, Film, Video Games - They all serve to fill essentially the same role for me, and as such, as I've watched more and more TV Shows and whatnot, my reading level has gone down, it's more sporadic (which is probably an improvement from non-stop). They're different mediums with different strengths and styles, but they fulfill the same role, and I imagine for a kid, having to struggle slowly through a book isn't worth a story if you can just get it from TV, which they're very familiar with. Maybe that's why I read so much when I was young - I didn't get cable TV 'til I was 9.

 

[Trippy Turtle]

I love reading and I have ever since I first learned to read but school books almost turned me off reading. They couldn't pick a book that was at least slightly interesting?

 

[Palademon]

I don't enjoy reading books. I'm very good at it, I just don't like it. I always can't remember the exact point on a page I stopped, leading to me reading the same bit over and over without knowing, and many books I've read didn't clarify enough about a change of scene so when they mention the characters doing something in a new place I flip back pages and go "WHEN DID THAT HAPPEN????". People would say to use your imagination, and I say the author hasn't given me enough information to use my imagination.
I could never find books that interested me. Whenever we had to write stories in english, my teacher would always remind me to give my story a hook to make the reader want to keep reading, and I'd always reply "SHOW ME ONE BOOK THAT DOES THAT!".

The only book I ever read all the way through by choice was Death Note's 180 page prequel light novel. I really enjoyed that.
However I bought L change the world after that and just can't get into it as much. I guess I just really liked how the other book focused on so few characters.

 

[Zorpheus]

I vividly remember in High School hearing someone BRAGGING that they don't read unless they are forced to.

And yes, schools are a problem in their mandatory reading. Classic literature isn't something easily appreciated by kids, and any school curriculum that forces people to read Wuthering Heights should have the school it is housed in burned to the ground.

If they must have mandatory reading of classic literature, put in some fun books as well. I remember in Elementary School, the teacher used to read us parts of a book after lunch, and they were usually fun books, like Goosebumps. Granted we never needed to write reports on them or anything. Maybe it's a combination of being forced to read books they aren't interested in combined with having to do work on them on top of that.

I also vividly remember being teased at school quite a bit because I chose to read recreationally rather than play at recess. Books that were far beyond my grade's typical reading level, even. The other kids would go as far as continually pester me to keep me from reading, throw stuff at me and occasionally even destroy my book. Kids will be kids, of course, but it was thanks to either the schools or their parents that made them think 'only nerds do that' when they see someone reading.

My favorite class in my High School Senior Year was called "Independent Reading". It was the model reading class. You'd read whatever book you wanted, and wrote in a log about what you read during the hour you were there. Periodically throughout the semester, you'd do some kind of report or presentation on it. I wish I hadn't decided to try reading the Lord of the Rings trilogy during that class, but oh well. At least I learned the class thought the name "Bilbo" was the height of comedy.

 

[Secret world leader (shhh)]

Why read when literally every other form of entertainment is so much more easy to get into? I'm 15 and even if i enjoy a book i have to force myself to read it to some degree.

I kind of agree with you, i can only vaguely remember enjoying one book i've had to read for school and that was in primary four or five. Schools don't encourage you to read for reading's sake, they do so they have something to make you write an essay about.

I was a little bit amazed when i finished reading The Picture of Dorian Gray because A) i finished it in two days i enjoyed it that much and B) i didn't have to spend months writing about the themes and memorising quotations.

On the other hand, there's Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry which is a decent book whose good name shall forever be soiled in my mind with memories being bored to shit writing essay after essay about T.J fucking Avery.

 

[mysecondlife]

If more schools let children pick a book they might enjoy reading, they could grow to love it.

Your school didn't have a library?

Your parents didn't read books to you from the time you were born and buy books for you or take you to the library throughout your early childhood?

I think what he means is that School should have curriculum which encourages kids to read what they like.

My highschool forced me to read 'Their eyes were watching god' and 'Housekeeping', none of which I was interested in.

But when my English class gave me a choice to pick and read European literature, I picked Sherlock Holmes, which I immensely enjoyed.

 

[Littaly]

I've been down that line of thought myself, especially while I was in 7-9th grade, but also in high school. I think there's definitely some truth to it. I used to read quite a bit as a kid, but I kind of quit when I came to transition between children/YA books and regular literature. Part of it, I think can be attributed to school forcing me to read books. Even in the odd case where I was forced to read a book that I kind of liked, it still felt like work. When you've spent hours reading the day's quota of pages in whatever book was your homework that month, the first thing that comes to your mind likely won't be "Hey! You know what would be sweet right about now? Some time alone with a nice book". At least that wasn't the case for me.

But at the same time, I'm not going to deny that at least a part of it has to do with me being part of the video game generation. I can definitely tell I have low tolerance for stories that don't go anywhere, books, even movies that take half their length to get going bore the crap out of me. Not to speak of books or movies where there is barely any plot at all. I don't know if that's because I was brought up on a diet of video games or if it's just how I am, but my short attention span when it comes to setup vs. plot has definitely kept me away from books just as much as school has.

Also, I want to add, I don't think you should necessarily stop teaching classic books in school. Even the boring ones. Some of them are definitely part of history and reading and understanding them is important to understanding a lot of things, especially when it comes to other works of art. And if we're not forced to it, kids like me are never going to do it, and who knows, down the line some of us may even benefit from it.

 

[Benni88]

I'm not sure the reasons, but they're certainly missing out. I've read since i was a kid, probably cos my dad read to me and then when we got older took us to the library, bought us books as presents etc, etc.

I think everyone has SOMETHING they can read, they just need to be introduced to it. Most of the battle is finding something which engages the reader.

 

[Rblade]

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.

I don't agree. You don't get someone into gaming by throwing them into competitive WoW PvP. You don't get someone into reading by making their first experience with it being some kind of complex 18th century word smith forging an elaborate narrative. You might like it but to most it will just seem weird scary and stupid. Thats how most teens work, what they are bad at or don't understand is "stupid". So you let them right nice stories, epic adventures, or funny tales. And then you slowely advance them into the more classic material.

I also think this is more upto parents then it is upto schools. Most young people don't like anything that is presented to them at school, just out of the principal of the matter.

you have to like it before you can learn it