 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
More Reading, Less Screen Time
Related Product
If you are interested in this story, you may also be interested in these parent videos.This Week's Top Stories
Most Popular Stories
| Wednesday, July 28th, 2010 | | CWK Producer |
“We don't listen enough as parents, or teachers. And if we listen and understand what kids really thrive on, individual kids, then we can find a book or a magazine that will fit their interest.”
– David Payne, former high school principal
Data from the U.S. Census Bureau suggests some small changes in the way Americans spend their leisure time. Time spent reading for personal interest and playing games or using a computer for leisure varied greatly by age. Individuals age 75 and over averaged 1.0 hour of reading per weekend day and 26 minutes playing games or using a computer for leisure. Conversely, teens ages 15 to 19 read for an average of 5 minutes per weekend day while spending 1.0 hour playing games or using a computer for leisure.
Encouraging kids to read for pleasure might be more challenging than ever before. But it can be done.
Alex and Jessica used to spend all their free time watching T.V., and they never opened a book.
"I used to hate it. Because I was forced to do it and I was forced to read all the time. And I just did not like it at all," says Jessica, 13.
Now it's poetry, Harry Potter, fashion magazines and books about soccer. According the Census Bureau, today 47 percent of teens have restrictions on how much T.V. they can watch. That's up from 40 percent ten years ago. At the same time, the number of parents reading to their kids has risen from 46 percent up to 51.
Experts agree that small changes may be just the nudge some kids need.
"Well I think kids aren't hooked on reading. And so as adults we have a responsibility to pull them in and get them interested in books," says David Payne, former high school principal.
He says kids get hooked on reading when they see their parents read and when parents bring home books that they're interested in.
"We don't listen enough as parents, or teachers. And if we listen and understand what kids really thrive on, individual kids, then we can find a book or a magazine that will fit their interest," says Payne.
So, Tina and Mike dragged their daughters to the bookstore and library, and told them to chose something, anything, they liked.
"It got them into a pattern. You know that reading could be fun," says Tina. And now, the girls love to read.
"It's like exciting, like when you have a really good book and you can't put it down, and it like takes you into a different world," says Alex, 11.
If your children have a hard time expressing themselves, verbally and in writing, experts say could be a clue that they aren't reading enough.
What We Need To Know
Experts suggest these strategies for helping children to develop a love of reading:
- Be a good role model. Make sure children see you read for pleasure.
- Offer your child incentives for reading. Allow the child to stay up an extra 15 minutes to finish a chapter, promise to take your child to see a movie after he or she has finished the book on which it was based, relieve your child of a regular chore to free up time for reading.
- Encourage older children to read to their younger brothers and sisters. Older children enjoy showing off their skills to an admiring audience.
- Don't try to persuade your child to finish a book that he or she doesn't like. Recommend putting the book aside and trying another.
