GalleyCat
 
Receive mediabistro.com's Daily GalleyCat Feed via email


Daily Media Newsfeed Click here to receive mediabistro.com's Daily Media Newsfeed via email.

Wednesday Dec 19, 2007

Reading: Too Much Work, Or Just Too Much of a Chore?

Yesterday's post calling for less negativity about trying to get people to read drew some interesting comments about why teenagers abandon much of the enthusiasm they had for books when they were younger. "I can tell you from experience, [kids] stop reading because once they hit middle school reading is no longer entertainment, it's drudge work," emails Melanie Lynne Hauser. "At the middle school my kids attended, they not only were required to read X amount of books for English (both required lists and "free choice" books), they had to have a book in hand, at all times, in all classes—if they were in math and finished their test early, they were required to then take a book out and read it, for example." (Geez: I used to get in trouble for that in my junior high math class. Times change!)

"You shove it down kids' throats like this—and I'll allow that it's probably well-intentioned, initially—and they just tune out," Hauser continues. "Soon enough they equate books with school (and learning, and homework, and all the attendant negative images), and videogames, Internet, TV—anything they turn to as soon as the come home from school and ditch the backpacks—with entertainment. How on earth can we expect them to turn to reading as a form of relaxation and entertainment, when it's literally shoved down their throats in the school system? Yes, both my kids had, on occasion, a favorable reaction to a required book in school. But more often it was a negative reaction, due to the poor, outdated choices the public school system makes. I'm not a big fan of the whole Gossip Girls generation of YA, but you have to admit that those books get young readers hooked on the concept of reading as entertainment—which is what they need to retain, as adults, if books are going to be relevant in the future."


An anonymous GalleyCat reader echoes Hauser's sentiments. "I was in Advanced Placement high school English classes. I was an English major at a respected school with a literary history," this person writes. "And yet I was a senior in college before any teacher seriously inquired whether I had 'enjoyed' a book assigned during class. All those hours spent discussing books. And the subject of fun never came up. Our current method of teaching literature is so consumed with symbolism and structure and character development and other difficult topics that it's no wonder kids don't want to read at all."

"I had a high school English teacher that browbeat us with analyizing The Lord of the Flies for five months. Every day for five months. When it was all said and done, everyone in the class wanted to vomit at the mention of the book. I'm not saying that serious explication shouldn't be taught and doesn't have it's place. But if more professors at the high school and college level left their self-aggrandizing positions in the ivory tower, then kids might have some fun in English class. I'd suggest altering reading lists to include some popular works. Sure, make 'em pour over The Stranger but also let them see the merits of The Broker. Teach students to recognize WHY they respond positively to J.K. Rowling in addition to teaching them to identify the symbolism in Hawthorne. When we approach our subjects in a self-important, impossibly dry, and serious manner, then children are going to respond accordingly. But if we insert some joy, fun, and amusement into the discussion, then they'll see reading as a hip activity."


new on mediabistro.com

Improve Your Web Life: New Sites, New Uses, New You

Streamline your online life with a tour of sites and tools you don't know about, tips for using the ones you do, and sources for easy, free software.
Watch the video

Email This Post

Fill out the following information and click on the Send button in order to send this post, Reading: Too Much Work, Or Just Too Much of a Chore?, to a friend.
Friend's name
Friend's email address
Your name
Your email address
Note to your friend (optional, max 200 Characters)

Read more on GalleyCat >

Interested in advertising on GalleyCat?

GalleyCat.com: the first word on the book publishing industry

galleycat-sidebar-shadow.jpg

Editors: Ron Hogan
Andy Heidel

Contributing Editor:
Emily Gould




rss-feed-icon-64x64.jpg

more feeds from mediabistro.com

Anonymous Tips

Guidelines For Use

Favorite Posts

galleycat-sidebar-shadow2.jpg

The Last Whiny Editor Email We Ever Ran


Where Will We Find Literature's Radiohead?

A Miss Is a Hit on a Different Target

Your Negative Attitude Won't Save Literacy

The More Book Critics Change, The More They Stay the Same

In Which Philosophical Enquiry Disabuses Me of An Insidious Preconception

It's Hard Out There For a Literary Novelist

jack-romanos-button.jpg
The Exit Interview with Jack Romanos

porochista-khakpour-button.jpg
Flammable Author Refuses to Be Silenced or Pigeonholed

michael-rogers-button.jpg
The Futurist in the Attic

diane-vadino-button.jpg
Don't Let the Pink Cover Faze You

Obscure Literati Cry Out for Amazon's Attention

The NYTBR and the Case of the Misplaced Corpse

ellen-litman-button.jpg
A Chat with Ellen Litman

kimberlee-auerbach.jpg
Tarot Memoirist Draws Winning Hand

Oh Noes! Peoples Stopped Reading! We Is Doomed!

vincent-lam-button.jpg
A Chat with Vincent Lam

eric-kampmann-button.jpg
Eric Kampmann Defends If I Did It Deal

America's Readers a Pack of Bloodthirsty Ghouls

rakesh-satyal-button.jpg
Going to a Town, Feelin' Like a Criminal

Lunch with Leslie & Lesley

anna-david-button.jpg
Chick Lit Is Never a Compliment

Touring the Met with Danny Danziger

Thomas Nelson's Densely Packed Brand Nucleus

Jumping on the Mattress of the Book Review's Deathbed

laura-albert-button.jpg
Laura Albert: "Not Sorry," Moving On

Our Exit Interview with Don Weise

Old Man, Look at My Blog

It's Not Just a Book Review Crisis

Blogs Under Fire in LA

Publishers, Techies Love Each Other Up

Pop Fiction Unaffected by Lit Crit Demise

Librarians Squirm at Cite of Scrotum


Why Does Maureen Dowd Hate Popular Women?

Maureen Dowd Discovers Chick Lit

Terry McMillan Still Bitter

jamesfrey.jpg
Haven't You Forgotten James Frey Yet?

Literary Showtune Parodies!


mb Blogs

TVNewser

PRNewser

FishbowlNY

FishbowlDC

FishbowlLA

UnBeige

MobileContentToday

AgencySpy

GalleyCat

Links

theBookseller.com

The Book Standard

Buzz, Balls & Hype

Danuta Kean

Eco-Libris

Publishers Marketplace

Publishing Contrarian

Publishing For Profit

Publishing Insider

Publishing News

The Publishing Spot
Publishing Trends

Publishers Weekly

PubRants

Shelf Awareness

Weekly Publishing Moves

...more...

Archives

May 2008

April 2008

March 2008

February 2008

more...


Recent

Forbes Thinks Amazon is the Future of Publishing

Recent Reading: Double Standards and Shame

NY Mag's Daily Intel Covers Books, Doesn't Read

cats by Clipart.com, a service of Jupiterimages

Subscribe

Click here to receive the Daily Media News Feed by email.

Job Listings

Featured Listings

Marketing Manager
Kaplan Publishing
New York, NY

Freelance Copy Chief
Radar
New York, NY

Content Editor
Girl Scouts of the USA
New York, NY

Associate Publisher, LHJ
Meredith Corporation
New York, NY

Become a partner


ADVERTISEMENT


mediabistro.com l Member Benefits l Jobs l Freelance Marketplace l Courses l Events l Forums l Content
mediabistro Blogs: Media News l TVNewser l GalleyCat l UnBeige l FishbowlNY l FishbowlLA l FishbowlDC l mbToolbox l PRNewser l AgencySpy l MobileContentToday
Site Map l Advertising/Sponsorships l Partners l About Us l Contact Us/Help

JupiterOnlineMedia

internet.comearthweb.comDevx.commediabistro.comGraphics.com

Search:

Jupitermedia Corporation has two divisions: Jupiterimages and JupiterOnlineMedia

Jupitermedia Corporate Info


Legal Notices, Licensing, Reprints, & Permissions, Privacy Policy.

Web Hosting | Newsletters | Tech Jobs | Shopping | E-mail Offers