Since I purchased a kindle the amount of books I devour is slightly embarrassing, with easy access to books I cannot help but buy and read and repeat. When I mention, or recommend a good book I have just finished, the comment I always get from all different people is that they have no time to read and that they can never read a book during the school year and they never do.
I think this is becoming an increasing problem in our society, not so much us at a college level, even though reading is still good for us, but it is crucial for elementary students and younger generations to read, and they are not reading enough. Their mind is still developing and easily impressionable, now is the time for them to learn as much as possible. What and how kids learn when they are young will effect them 30 years down the road. As an example, that is why it is easier for children before the age of 12 to learn a second language, after that age, it is impossible to fully master the language.
Is this the excuse for all the kids, now that video games, computers, and other gadgets replace reading, that there simply is not enough time? I think there really is something to the “20 minutes a day” thing we were taught back in elementary. There are 24 hours in a day. Are we truly too busy to get all our work done in 23 hours and 40 minutes? Studies have shown a wealth of proof that putting away our game boys and iphone with its million apps will benefit us in short term and long term ways. Reading is shown to reduce stress, helpful in a country where coronary disease is one of the leading causes of death, increased social skills, improved and better lasting memory (in old age), and improved writing and analytical skills. These are just some of the findings from a wealth of research done. It will be our job to encourage our students to incorporate reading into their daily schedules. In an interview, Bill Gates said, “It is pretty unlikely that people will become knowledgeable without being excellent readers…” Coming from a multi-billionaire I will take his advice that there truly is something to the act of reading.
I really liked the title of your post and what you wrote made me start to think. I love to read, but often feel like I'm too busy during the school year and when I do have some downtime I end up on facebook or watching tv. If I can spend an hour on facebook, I should be able to easily spend 20 minutes of my day reading. I'm going to make it my goal to read 20 minutes a day at least a few times a week. Next time I'm bored, instead of scrolling through my newsfeed, I'll pick up a book instead.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with your post and really enjoyed reading it. I, like so many others, find myself saying that there is simply not enough time in the day to get all my homework done AND read for pleasure. However there is time to nap, go on facebook, see my friends and do a multitude of other things. Someone once told me, "You make the time to do the things that you want to do," and I completely agree with this. I think that it is important for college students to remember how important reading for pleasure is, but even more important for us to teach younger children to make reading a habit. In a world with so much technology, kids have the opportunity to fill their time in fully digital ways. However it is important that we teach them the joys of picking up a book and spending 20 minutes with it. I think that if you make reading a habit when you are younger, you will be more likely to continue as your progress. I loved reading when I was younger and when I pick up a good book, I will blow off other things to keep reading it. The time is there, we just have to make sure we use it wisely.
ReplyDeleteI agree with this post as well, I often say I do not have time to read for leisure. I have so much work in all my classes that reading for class let alone reading for leisure is not a main priority of mine. I do many other things during the day that take away from the time I could be using to read. From personal experience I agree with the statement that reading reduces stress. I have noticed that when I have to read a book, it relaxes me. Yes, the books were required for this class but it still helped me relax and I actually enjoyed doing it. This experience can lead to reading because I want to not because I have to. Reading is not a habit for me but I think it can become something I do on a regular basis. By beginning to read a little bit everyday, this can grow to reading for hours on end because I want to.
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