From "Texting Makes U Stupid" (Newsweek, September 11):
According to the most recent survey by the National Endowment for the Arts, the proportion of Americans between the ages of 18 and 24 who read a book not required at school or at work is now 50.7 percent, the lowest for any adult age group younger than 75, and down from 59 percent 20 years ago.
Back in 2004, when the NEA last looked at younger readers’ habits, it was already the case that fewer than one in three 13-year-olds read for pleasure every day. Especially terrifying to me as a professor is the fact that two thirds of college freshmen read for pleasure for less than an hour per week. A third of seniors don’t read for pleasure at all.
2 comments:
While I understand why the author chose the particular books listed, I would strongly disagree with forcing those particular titles down the throat of a reluctant teenage reader. Why not cultivate a LOVE of reading first by finding something that interests them (Harry Potter, Hunger Games, Twilight, Stephen King). I can't help but think that the reason they are not reading anything outside of assigned reading is that they do not enjoy their assigned reading and make the mental leap that all reading is boring. I also can't help but wonder what example their parents are setting.
I wonder, though i didn't click through to the article, whether most seniors simply don't have the time or brainspace for more reading. My senior year of college, i was spending so many hours a day reading, i didn't often have time for pleasure books...
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