They don't read books -- and don't want to, either
"It's a new attitude, this brazen disregard of books and reading. Earlier generations resented homework assignments, of course, and only a small segment of each dove into the intellectual currents of the time, but no generation trumpeted aliteracy ... as a valid behavior of their peers.''
"It's a new attitude, this brazen disregard of books and reading. Earlier generations resented homework assignments, of course, and only a small segment of each dove into the intellectual currents of the time, but no generation trumpeted aliteracy ... as a valid behavior of their peers.''
25 comments:
Who says I don't want to read? I love to read!!! And many other people love to too. Yes I admit I go on the computer and watch T.V., but there should be no harm in that. My parents always say you can't learn anything by watching T.V. or playing on the computer but I learned tons. When I was younger I would play Math games on the computer and watch Magic School Bus on the T.V. Math and Science right there. That's why I understood addition and subtraction and mammals and stuff. All from technology. Reading does teach you a lot and maybe I should read more but this guy makes watching T.V. and playing on the computer seem like some sort of crime when it's not.
I would like to say that not ALL kids don't read . Also.. to tell you the truth , everytime i have spare time i don't read,. i usually play sports. but once in a while i do if it's really interesting or if someone recommend it to me.
i can't really answer to this question because most kids in our generation don't read. they watch tv and do things on the computer because it's more interesting to them . Also i admit to that i watch t.v and use the internet alot , but that doesn't mean that i don't learn anything.
sometimes i learn more on the internet than school ...
I agree and disagree. Back then, there weren't many things to do (Weren’t as many as today.) So reading books was an enjoyable thing to do. But today, there is a lot more, as I explained in my last posts. So there aren't as many readers today. But that doesn't mean we're not interested or we don't enjoy it either.
I somewhat agree with the point the author made "We don't want to." We do not like reading as much as the last generations, but we still enjoy the right book. For the literature assignment, I couldn't keep my head out of the book I was reading!
There’s a whole other side to this point the author made. Maybe books are changing, not us? Maybe the books our teachers and parents read to us when we were little didn't suit our interests? Or maybe the books and authors just aren't as good?
But at the same time, my generation has so many things to do, that books aren't a priority in our “Fun things to do" list. Some of us don't want to because we have more "chocolate cake like I mentioned in my first post.
Ok, seriously? Is he really saying that? And again with generalizations! Sure we now have other things to do for fun like television and the internet, but that doesn't mean we don't enjoy reading. Heck, half of time students get in trouble in French, it's BECAUSE they're reading! Some of our generation may not read books as much as in the 1970's- I'll give him that, but reading is still a nice way of relaxing and a valuable way to spend our time. But honestly, he needs to start seeing the potential in our generation. We are more capable than you think, just give us a chance!
Don't like to read?!?? Not everyone likes to read, but I do! Maybe kids of our generation don't read as much as kids/adults from past generation, but he can't say we don't read. Faisa put in her last comment on #1 we read on the internet all the time. We also have E-Books, and all this technology just for reading.
Some people just don't like to read, people in the past had their opinions of reading my Mom told me when she was a kid she did not like reading AT ALL. So I think it depends on if you like it or not. We have more technology now, then people of the past, we can entertain ourselves without a book.
Also what gets me annoyed about stereotypes from reading is that just girls read. Really? Guys read all the time, look at Raj he reads a lot and there is nothing wrong with it! I remember at the beginning of the year Vedran was reading a book I think How to kill a Mockingbird. And people were like “Whoa look Vedran's reading a book not assigned for class?? OMG” But seriously everyone reads, some people don't read as often as others and some people like different books too.
Plus, he adds that if we do read it's cause of our peers. No it's not at least I think. You read because you want too. I'm not going to say “Oh look Hilary's reading...hmm.. which book, OK maybe I will read that!” Maybe we've done that but you can't FORCE, not a school assignment or anything, but for your after school fun reading purposes to read a book they don't want to read. I feel it has nothing to do with your peers and that it's just what your opinion of reading that counts!
I know I don't read as much as I would want to because I'm caught up with a lot of things after school, Music, Sports, etc. But I love to read, I read whenever I want too, and if I have the time.
It's not true that our generation doesn't read because we do. Many of us do read in our spare time and are reading by choice not by force. It is true that some of us don't read at all unless it is for school but that doesn't mean they are dumb. They probably have lots of other interests that they like better than reading. It is true that a lot of people these days spend their free timeon the computer or tv. And to tell the truth I don't think that a whole lot of it is educational, I mean sure their are math games and documenataries you can play or watch but how many people do that?! I think that going on the computer or TV is fine as long as you are not obsessive about it and spend every waking minute staring at a screen. Yes sometimes it can be hard for some people to resist the urges of technology and that's just them. So I think if we can limit ourselves we should be fine.
I agree with Rohini, we got our books taken away BECAUSE we were reading in french class. Pretty funny, what do you think of us now Mr. Author.
So basically what they said was NO1 of this generation reads books and they will not read books, except they phrased it in a way that is difficult to understand.
I must say that is the biggest lie anyone has ever told, I read, the class reads, everyone reads, if we don't read how is it that we are reading this book? Unless he in referring to reading in our spare time which kids still do.
This just proves that Mark Baulerein or however his last name is spelled is a man who has nothing to back up his claim, he says we can't read give me proof. The scenario is equivalent to me challenging newton's law of physics, which I know nothing of. Mark is truly a stereotype.
And just because we don't read it doesn't mean we are stupid, we just don't read as much, like sierra's post we learn stuff from TV like discovery channel and the Internet example Wikipedia the world's knowledge on a website. And we read tons of stuff on the computer, it's just different compared to the books adults read, classics against walls of text.
Even so I read alot, last 3 books I read : Zombies versus Unicorns, Black Hole Sun and Hell's Heroes. More than 90% of books I read are fiction so there isn't much to learn except a couple of facts and some vocabulary.
And plus with all the new stuff like Internet, televison and facebook around us it's hard t o make time for reading books added on our extracurricular stuff like sports and homework. Say you have nothing to do, don't feel like surfing the web or have no sports to play just pull out a book YOU like and watch the time fly. For me I read the most at night, I'm in my bed and I just read beside my lamp for 30 minutes or so unless I get really hooked at read till like 10:30.
So yeah Mark Baulerin = Stereotypical attention *****, and apparently on the back of the book it says he has kids, I wonder what he thinks of them?
You people gotta realize that when he says "they", they are NOT talking about YOU directly, but this generation as a WHOLE.
First of all, I am baffled by people who disagree with this. Yes, everybody can read...and yes, everybody has read books. But MAJORITY of us don't read books for leisure purposes, (or, because they WANT to). There are maybe 5 or 6 people in our class who read because they want to. Not that it is a terrible thing to not read very often. Some people just don't ENJOY it, and that's perfectly sensible.
I read a lot, because i find a lot of advantages in reading. Reading greatly increases vocabulary, and you can often tell someone who is well-read and someone who doesn't read much, simply by the way they speak. Not only that, i find it more captivating then movies, video games, etc. It also makes me more aware of MANY other cultures and backgrounds. Books have no limit, because, for some people it can take them far away from their own troubles, or it can relate to their own miseries.
So in the end, reading is basically a personal choice, BUT people who rather spend hours on the WEB and TV have a lot to loose by not reading. The other thing is availability; there are countless library's and even more types of books, so everyone should have a type of book they enjoy; be-it romance's, action, war etc.
Reading is also a good habit to get into. When you find yourself in University, you won't be able to magically read 300 page books in a couple days, witch is something you have to do OFTEN. And by reading now, you'll learn to analyze and think critically, witch will be an asset in your future.
i agree with sophia's and wang's comments .
It is true that now days kids our age have way more choices with technology, kids won't read in their free time thanks to the internet to surf, movies to watch and video games to play so this statement he makes is true. Back then all you could do was basically read. Sure, plenty of people our age read tons of books (Ahem Lydia) but he is not pointing the finger at our class he is pointing it at everyone in this generation.
And to be honest with you if I was going to right a book the dumbest generation, most of it would be about this generation not reading enough.
And if you want to make this debate bigger to add with our generation not reading enough then take a look at texting. It is true that we are so "dumb" in the sense that we can't spell properly without grammatical errors. This is thanks to 1 no reading and 2 fast ways to spell things on msn texting etc, even some people writing their responses on the blogg are using u instead of you etc. And Im not saying i don't but it is a true we all do it nowadays.
P.S. Raj, just because I don't read in the middle of french class does not mean I don't read
I think everyone should stop taking this so personally. He (the author) is not talking specifically to you. I think this is what Mr.Oickle was talking about when he said people at our age think the world revolves around them. I'm not saying you're wrong to think that, but this is a good example. When people say that they read online, Mark Bauerlein has a whole chapter on that aspect. Reading improves your vocabulary, as playing sports will improve your physical abilities etc. Leisure reading is a hobby, and not everyone will have the same hobbies.
I think that that's true, but also somewhat not.
Yes of course we're not reading "The Great Gatsby" or Shakespeare for fun (not for school), because it's uninteresting and isn't enjoyable for most youth. Just because we're reading things like Harry Potter, Twilight, Pretty Little Liars (which is a New York Times Bestseller), the Guiness World Records books, and Nicolas Sparks books, and other relatively new books, doesn't mean were just "following the trend" as he says all Harry Potter readers are. They are best-sellers because they are enjoyable, not because it's just a big trend. At 12:01 AM when Harry Potter and The Half Blood Prince was "released" Barnes and Noble, (which is basically Chapters or Indigo but in the States) sold 105 books every SECOND. That's not just a trend. JK Rowling created a whole different W.O.R.L.D. People laugh about Twilight since it was a romance novel and because Summit entertainment marketed like crazy.
I am not suprised that youth read less nowadays, since we have so many things, that unlike reading,don't actually need our brain to work, if that makes sense. When you read, your brain is working, but when you watch TV, you don't have to think.
Our teachers have made reading so unenjoyable that they have discouraged us to read. For example, Les Trois Mousquetaire. No offense to Mr. Obrien, but to encourage us to read in French, Les Trois Mouquetaires wasn't the greatest pick, since we can NEVER relate to anything in books our teachers usually give us. Like that book we read at the beginning of the year, which I forget the name of since it was so ridiculously hard to relate to. If we got to pick our books for reading, we'd be more encouraged to read I think.
Facebook, magazines, twitter, tumblr, tickets. coupons, video games, ect. I don't understand how someone can say that we don't read. All of these things/activities involve reading of some sort. Sorry if I don't like to read 'Romeo and Juliet' for fun, no these are the years that are all about us and what we want to do. Some people don't like to read and others do, this applies for all ages. I know my dad doesn't read anything but the news paper. He and loads of other audults don't like to read for fun. Sometimes they have to because of their jobs and don't read anything that doesn't involve their work. Same thing with school. I didn't start reading for fun until last year because I thought all books were BORING! But then I met Harry Potter! And just to be clear, Harry Potter is NOT a trend, it is a classic. Sure if the author doesn't like it, sure whatever, I couldn't care more, but he has NO right to insult it in a published book for 3 whole beaping beaping pages!
Anyway, some people don't like reading and ohers do, I don't understand why he's making such a big deal out of it, I mean adults do and don't too, so whats the difference?
Wrong and right! I believe it’s true some of us don’t care about literacy. A reason for that, is that all of us don’t enjoy reading as much as others. Saying that we just spend all our time on computers and the television is wrong. I read books, but I need to enjoy it so much that I don’t want to put it down. I just can’t read a book if it doesn’t make me feel like I’m the main character. I also do watch a lot of TV and use the computer a lot. On TV I watch the discovery channel, TSN and other reality TV shows about life. Also I watch the news like CTV and A Channel which teaches you a lot about the world. It’s not like TV is going to hurt us. I do believe that if ALL you watch is MTV, Jersey Shore, sitcoms etc, then those programs are purely entertainment. I think that watching TV should be balanced with daily activities.
Regarding computers you are constantly reading things like, Facebook: statuses, comments and other important posts. It’s not that we aren’t reading anything; it’s just a different way of reading. If the author is so adamant about us reading and learning new vocabulary then teachers should teach us new words and we will implement them in our life.
I agree with Claire when she said, Mr. O’Brien didn’t choose the best books, Les Trois Mousquetaires and Les Misérables. The reason he has those books, is because they are part of our curriculum and because they are out of our French reading zone. These boring books are to challenge our speech and advance our French vocabulary.
I also agree with Raj when he commented on our video games. Where in the world are we going to apply Call of Duty and our Halo 3/Reach/ODST??? I play my Xbox when friends are over because it’s something to do. Alone, I will rarely go downstairs and play COD and NHL 10. These games were made for kids to just enjoy playing with friends or alone. All the games are so unrealistic. NHL 10 for example, great graphics but rarely you see a goalie in the NHL do a 360 and punch the puck out of mid air.
I also have to go back to the computer thing. I have a friend that has climbed all of the highest mountains in the world. I could follow him through his website. If I didn’t know how to read I wouldn’t be able to follow him on his journey. Currently he is summiting Mt.Kilamanjaro leading an expedition.
I remember when I was really young I watched, “Dora the Explorer” and I say it actually sort of helped me in learning the small amount of Spanish I know. My verdict is that this comment towards our generation is wrong.
ok. I sort of agree with the author on this one. but i also sort of disagree. It is true that a lot of children now a days don't read books. The thing is there is more than just one way of reading, you can read e-books, kindles, ipods and even off the internet. But its harder to read off the internet because of all the adds on the screen.
Alot of children DO read books. It IS huge generalization. just because you don't see someone reading at school doesn't mean that they don't read books at all. Some people need to find the right book before they start to read a bunch of books. I admit that i watch tv and surf the web. But now a days, who doesn't. I still read books, sometimes if i'm bored, I'll choose books over technology.
Also, the internet has alot of educational stuff on it! Say you were reading a book about math, because you are trying to understand alebra a bit better. Instead you can go onto youtube and look up those math videos that mr.oickle has been telling us about all year.
Well, I think I somewhat agree with the author on this one because it's true, we don't read as much as the past generation did and we don't read all the classic books.
But the thing is, I think the data is kind of empty, because you don't know what people are doing instead of reading, they could be doing something more productive in their opinion, whether they are playing sports outside, like basketball or soccer or taking lessons of some sort, like music lessons. You don't know that instead of reading, they are on Facebook or something, so really the data doesn't do too much for me.
Even so we still do read one the Internet as everyone had already said, from blog posts on a blog like ours to reading a book on the computer, we are continuously reading and absorbing information, whether the information is useful
is another discussion, but the point is we read every day whether it's from a published author to a email from a friend, it's just a little different now then it was 40 years ago.
as i see it, he's, once again, right and wrong. i dont think im the first person here to say that a lot of people Do read books, but most actually dont. but also, before we critisize what he says, have to look at this the way he does. how he sees it, is that we are getting dumber because we arent reading books and he believes that with his entire being. while i agree that our generation sure isnt getting any smarter, i dont believe it is because of the internet or computers at all. its all a very different from how he sees it but if i were to go into what it was i would just rant for 5 paragraphs and get completely off topic so im not going to do that.
i think kids dont read as many books these days because it's viewed as "uncool" (please dont argue, this is MY perspective not yours so but out.[lol]) and most of the kids our age are, or are trying to be, part of the group of people that's cool. the media and the libraries are basically going head to head for your attention but the vast majority of people prefer the media and putting up an image of popularity rather than learning; face it, not a lot of people these days are completely oriented around education. but on the other hand, while the surplus population believes reading to be something done for learning, that is not how it's viewed by the people who DO read. learning is simply the thing that just ads itself on while you're reading; most people who read probably dont even notice it.
so, in regard to what he says, my conclusion is that he is right about the vast majority of people not reading books, but wrong about how much it's affecting us. it doesnt affect us that much because a lot of the surplus who dont read, are actually to busy doing sports to read. and we all know, you learn a heck of a lot better anyway with a healthy brain and body, so they almost cancel each other out.
as a side note: i gree with raj, way to many people are disagreeing with this. yes you guys rwad, but wake up people! not a lot of other people do. i disagree however, with jeremy. you say "give me proof"....... have you looked in the book...... its nothing but fact after fact after fact. i also know that most of those facts arent true. parag and i are already narowing down how much of the references are actually proving anything or not but none-the-less some of it IS true. so far we've come to: 5.1% of his facts are based on generations previous to ours and a whopping 22.79% (49 studies) of it was from a book that was supporting our generation, but the author switched it around on us. that's 28.9% (more or less) that is altered. i looked at one of agatha's posts, and i also agree with that one. it is true that to many of us are taking this way to personally and maybe programs like "Twitter", "Myspace" and "Facebook" are over-inflating our egos. ( reference a book by eckhart tolle, "a new earth". it talks about exactly that. it's really interesting) maybe we all need to take a step back and think for a second: even if he is saying this about our generation, that is only an average, and in every average there is the upper end and the lower end. so we shouldn't take this so personally because we know the answers would be different if the test was taken in our class.
hope this wasnt too long. :P
ok, sorry this is late, and i DID NOT read anyones other posts or anything... seriously. ok so...
first of all, most people love reading! ya, in these days not everyone does, because there is so many other things to do now. electronic things. and also in school alot of teachers only assign really boring books that kids obviously wouldnt like, so kids associate that with just reading in general, so to them all books are boring and lame and -ugh!- eduactional. ew.
but all books are NOT! and ya, generalization much? seriously, everyone i know reads. what discourages poeple from reading is books like THIS ONE!
We read every single day. BUT not exactly books, we read stuff that interests us but on the internet like sports , drama , music ..etc, but its still reading. Alot of people still do read but when they have time. They dont have as much time as before. Not to lie, books are not the biggest thing , since we have alot of technology off what we can read. Also for some kids , reading is just not there hobby they would like to go outside and be active witch i prefer more than reading.
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