We’ve got to write an editorial on the decline in readership among the youth of today and I’m struggling to describe what the aliterate world of the future may look like. Will it be better or worse? Pick a side and support your argument. If you pick the bad side, explain what can be done to change the course of humanity. Respond to this discussion post (do not create your own post please). Please also respond with comments on your colleagues’ responses.
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This is very true, a lot of people now a days don’t take the time to pick up a book or anything of the sorts and read it’s contents. That could be becuase no one has the time to, but even so, a little bit is better than none at all. To me, I think it will pick up in the future as we go along. The reason I say this is becuase now a days you have to make the time to read such material, you have to sit down and read. As for example, if you want to pass your classes in any grade whether it be elementary or college, you have to read your courses material otherwise you will be lost in class discussions which means your grade will be impacted significantly and you can’t move up the ladder. In a way, that should start being a wake up call for the youth, I mean so many really aren’t caring about the future but I think the more they see how this world is turning and how the economy has been and is still going down a but they’ll want to start getting into those books and make a better life for themselves. Another reason is that reading can really expand the mind and open it to new things and opportunitys, sow thing we can always use to help better the world and to put it simply, reading is just some thing everyone should do. People do find it boring but you get to learn things you may have never known or that it will want you to get to explore more things. The future is calling for more smarts from the people, and if that doesn’t happen, we will have people who won’t even know The cat in the hat. People will see, as life goes on, you need such things in your head.
@smallen5 I do agree that reading is important, but why is it something “everyone should do?” I get that you will learn a lot from books and that they open up other thoughts and doors of opportunity, but so does the internet. They are both packed with information and are both very useful…is there anything that makes books any different, besides being a hard copy? I agree it is essential though. Check out my post in a little bit. Any thoughts, reproofs?
This discussion topic ties in with my post from last week in that we live in a world where everything is instantly accessible. If there is a question to be answered, just Google it; if someone needs to write a paper on FDR’s New Deal, watch a five minute YouTube video that gives you a fairly accurate overview or turn on the History Channel and check out the documentary. Each of these options are both instant and entertaining thanks to the use of diagrams, multimedia effects, and the lot, but could it be, to an extent, a hindrance of sorts? We have gotten so use to being “fed” the information (immediately at that), that we have either forgotten how to “feed” or don’t want to “feed” ourselves. It takes time to sit and concentrate on material such as a book – to perceive what the words on the page actually say. We have, however, become impatient. “Reading a book is too slow, there are faster ways of getting the information,” says the masses. But in this busy world of nonstop stimuli, it may not be a bad thing to simply sit and conjure thoughts – letting our minds do some work on their own.
With this said, I believe literacy is a key component to a successful society. Up until the invention of the printing press, societies were held below an aristocratic few. Once manuscripts and readable material were made accessible for everyone, the skills of reading and writing exploded. Information was now able to be sent via letters and saved for future generations. Information was finally shared, thus the increase of knowledge among everyone. Today, most everyone can read and write, but we choose not to because recordings, videos, and graphs can give us the same exact information. But there is a neurological connection that happens when we physically write something down – when we put our abstract thoughts onto a concrete piece of paper – that allows us to comprehend things in a different way than any visual message could. A post-literate society, in my opinion, would be detrimental to a modern society such as ours. Knowledge is power, and letting ourselves slip in the area of literacy would almost guarantee us slipping in power.
I definitely agree that putting our thoughts on paper allows us to comprehend on a much deeper level. Not only that, but it also allows others to comprehend us better, and when we read their thoughts they’ve put on paper, it allows us to understand them as well.
I often times will find myself rereading a novel, and finding new symbolism or meaning I had never thought of before. You can’t really do that when watching a movie, the action is instant, the horror sudden. When you read, the words stay with you, you think upon them months or years after you’ve read them, and when you read them again, a fresher perspective often shows up. I agree that the instant gratification we have now will slow us down mentally, there will no longer be a thought process.
I think that the decline in readership from our youth is quite alarming, and also something that should be addressed. Why is this happening? I believe that this decline is largely due to the rapid technological advances, specifically with smart phones. Everything seems to be at our fingertips and at a moments notice we can basically have any bit of information in our hands. You would think that this would help with the readership numbers instead of declining right? If you can just download a Haveman Chronicle app on your phone, wouldn’t the convenience help the ease of reading? I also think that it’s just pure laziness and that so many news outlets just play videos instead of writing articles to read. It’s easier to hit the play button on your phone than to sit down for 15 minutes to read the article. I honestly do not think that readership will get any better in the future. I say this because technology is still rapidly advancing and our youth are accessing at a younger age than ever before. I didn’t have my first cell phone until I was 18 years old. It’s normal these days for a 10 year old to have his or her own smart phone! I think that this aspect has to change before readership numbers were to ever increase among our youth. Now, the real question is what can be done to help this trend reverse itself? It’s a loaded question with a very complex set of answers, but I’ll just talk about a few key components that need to happen for this change. First of all, since technology is not going to slow down in the near future, we as parents need to be more responsible at having our children read from a young age. Reliance on so much technology can make things worse, so monitoring smart phone use from our youth is critical. Technology can make people lazy and I think that this is what is happening to our youth today.
One thing about technology, however, that our book addresses is the ability to reach books and readings online being a positive thing. The internet is allowing for a more convenient way to read – one that is portable and accessible almost anywhere. E-books have seen a crazy rise in popularity. According to our book, “By the summer of 2011… Amazon was selling 105 e-books for every printed book” (58). I believe that technology has proven a hindrance for other aspects of our lives, but I think it’s a great opportunity for readers. Books are available at the click of a button. Looking back in history, books have not always been easily accessible. Although I agree that many find videos, etc. more convenient, the advancement in technology provides people less with an excuse for not reading and more with an opportunity to.
I agree that the technological advances do give people less of an excuse to read. I feel that technology has contributed to the aliterate youth that we currently have. One reason i think this way is because I myself have gradually read less and less over the years due to e-books and technology advancing. There is something special about being able to physically hold a book and turn the pages as you read. I think this is something that is taken away when you’re reading an e-book. Just my opinion though. Thanks for your thoughts.
**Less of an excuse NOT to read**
I completely concur with your last statement in that, I don’t necessarily think technology is the issue – it’s a parenting issue. Experiments have been taken where one group of children who grew up with “e-readers” or electronic entertainment systems were given a set of blocks. The children were supposed to try and stack the blocks and fit certain shapes into corresponding holes, but had a terribly hard time at it compared to children who actually did constructive activities. Parents must first make sure that kids are interacting with their environment, thinking critically about certain things (like matching shapes and such), and especially reading. The facts are clear. Once that foundation is set, I think technology is a beautiful supplement.
An aliterate world is not something to be desired. As an avid reader, I advocate reading from the time you are taught to until the time where you pass on. In the Intro to Mass Comm, the author says, “reading correlates closely with quality of social life, voting, political activism, participation in culture and fine arts, volunteerism, charity work, and exercise” (56). That’s an incredible amount of facets that are affected by something as seemingly simple as reading. Reading books can culture you, so to speak. You become a much more layered person, and your understanding of the world broadens. Even if the stories you are reading are fictional, they hold some truth of the world. They can teach you about relationships, struggles, identity, and can make you question your morals, values, and standards. Reading promotes both critical and creative thinking. With these thought process abilities, appreciation, fascination, and enthusiasm for every day activities (like the list I mentioned from the book) can be enriched and leave a person much more satisfied with life.
Now imagine the opposite. Nobody reads for pleasure. Conversations would be boring, and hardly anything would ever change. As the author states, “Books are agents of social and cultural change” (p 52). Books are useless if nobody reads them. Also, writing skills would decline. A professor of mine once commented on a written assignment that I had turned in by saying, “You write like a reader.” If nobody read, nobody would write like a reader – or at all. There wouldn’t be a point to writing because nobody would read it. So we move from reading and writing to other ways of communication. But wait – that wouldn’t work either. The internet has become a major part of our lives, and we must read and write to be a part of it. However, since we don’t read books, we lack the creative and critical thinking processes to post much that’s substantial. Without information, our intelligence declines and we become a community of aliterates who can’t think for themselves or challenge thoughts of others.
How do we avoid this? We read, and we write. Harry Potter has always been an amazing influence on myself and my interest in reading. It amazed me though, how much of an impact it had on the world when it comes to reading. Caroline Ward, as quoted in the book, says, “It’s hard to believe that one series of books could almost turn an entire nation back to reading, but that is not an exaggeration” (68). The book argues that we need high content books that will intrigue the readers. Well written pieces can, as Harry Potter did, sway an entire community on both a small and large scale. The world needs thoughtful writers. We can preach to people who choose not to read all day long, but I don’t believe spoken words will change anything. It’s going to take written words – writing and reading them. We’ve all heard the saying that if you’re more likely to achieve a goal if you write it down. This is definitely the case. Write it all down. Write in the most creative, brilliant, captivating way and share it. Then, read what others have written. After that, write more. If we really put a rise on good, quality books (both physical and e), we can avoid an aliterate society.
Jasmine Dierenfield
If you think about it, the process has already kind of started. The internet and social media has become such a big part of every day life for most people, the ability among young kids to write an understandable post has decreased. “This” turns into “dis” and punctuation is just an after thought. Their point or status update might be creative and thought provoking, but if I can’t read it, it doesn’t have the punch it needs. It just becomes part of a language that only others their own age can understand.
I believe that the wrong question is being asked here. Statistically it has been proven that the technology of today, such as texting and forms of social media, are actually helping our youth’s comprehensive and written language abilities. These technological advances however have created their own problem; the ability to access any piece of information with the tip of your finger. Now at first this may not seem like such a bad thing, however as kids are growing up they’re being able to receive information more and more immediately so the more “traditional” ways of writing news articles and things of that nature are simply too long for many of these kids to even bother with. So this raises the real problem, how can we make reading appeal to children in and era such as this?
In your opinion, what would be the best way to make reading appealing? Would you want to focus on traditional hard copies of literature, or e-versions, or both?
Today’s youth in America have become stupid and stunted. The adults of the past conquered the world, they shaped economies and international relationships through healthy debate and innovated ideas. They paved the way for their children to inherit a better place. These same children have squandered what was built, reverting back in time to a place where the ability to read was reserved for the select few. When something is learned and not used, it soon becomes forgotten. Children in today’s time no longer have the ability to retain their newly acquired knowledge. The saying “goes in one ear and out the other,†is now a reality. Schools are becoming empty, studying is no longer done within its walls, or in the bedrooms of homes everywhere. The world is struggling to maintain its technological advances and intellectual capabilities. Books lay about forgotten in closed bookstores, and on dusty shelves, while boys and girls live their lives in a straight line, following the same mundane path. The knowledge of the use of Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram has been untouched, the only things that have withstood this epidemic, but not without some consequence. “You†has been replaced with “U,†grammar is nonexistent, and soon even this ability will be lost as teens will be found staring blank faced at white empty screens.
Reading must be saved, the dreams of bright futures and the creations of new ideas through imagination will soon be gone without its use. Only reading can stop the advance of the regression about to befall upon the world. The few who have used their skills of understanding the written word must combat the mediocrity surrounding them. Those few in society who have retained the knowledge of how to read a book, magazine, or newspaper, must impart it to others. Parents need to read to their children, teachers need to have circle time, and they all must learn to love to read again. Writers, come out of the black depths of the underground and write. Bring forth new fantasies and stories. Today must be a new day, or tomorrow might never come.
The decline in readership of youth in today’s world can largely be attributed to the rise of other forms of media, such as film, television, and video games. People are attracted to them because they are more visually stimulating and take comparatively little effort to experience. While there is nothing wrong with those forms of media and they can all tell a story very well in their own way, the youth of today need to read more books.
If we’re going to assume the worst-case scenario and imagine a future in which literally no-one reads recreationally, all those other forms of media would cease to exist, because actors wouldn’t want to read the script. Even if they did, popular media would stagnate due to the lack of creativity. The thing is, the one advantage reading has over all those other mediums is that it inspires creativity. By just providing you with text, reading forces you to create your own vision of the characters and events that it describes. To quote Lemmy Kilmister of Motorhead, “People don’t read any more. It’s a sad state of affairs. Reading’s the only thing that allows you to use your imagination. When you watch films it’s someone else’s vision, isn’t it?”
The definition of aliteracy is not that one is incapable of reading or writing, but simply that they do not choose to. Choice is the fulcrum of the situation. I therefore find addressing the question in terms of “good vs. bad” to be simplistic, as condemning or praising others for what they elect to do in their leisure time in a broad sense is not something I enjoy doing. Instead I ask- what does ‘reading and writing’ mean here?
I venture that the vast majority of the reasonably economically privileged American youth who are capable of reading and writing proficiently do so fairly frequently, just in ways that are frowned on. Pew Research* found that 63 percent of teenagers text, 81 percent of teens use social media, and 62 percent of online teens get news about current events and politics online. We have teenagers who are sending each other a multitude of written communications every day, who keep track of one another’s lives via written communication, and who are actively seeking out current event news in addition to articles that most people don’t care to think of as literature. It’s difficult to browse the internet without being able to read, and teens do it in spades.
To put it plainly and simply, I reject the idea that young people who can read and write are refusing to do so. From my point of view it seems that they are doing so in abundance. Adults unwilling to accept this reading and writing as legitimate do so to the disservice of their own academic analysis.
Illiteracy is its own issue and I will not address that here.
*https://www.pewinternet.org/2010/02/03/social-media-and-young-adults/
My source for the statistics.
In my opinion, a world where no one reads will be a sad world, it will be empty. I’ve noticed the decline of reading a lot in the last few years. I do spend time at our local Barnes and Noble, but when I see the younger kids come in, they come in to charge their phones and turn on their computers. As one of my classmates said above, the news media has begun to rely on videos to get their message out instead of relying solely on articles. The younger generation will be more apt to click on that video than to actually read the article that says the exact same thing, almost word for word. As the lack of reading the world continues, eventually the ability to hold a normal conversation about anything important will disappear. I don’t see it getting any better, not with the advances in technology. I believe that reading and writing should still be mandatory in schools, no school should be giving a student a computer to do their work on, they should still learn to type on typewriters, they should still learn to write cursive, and they should still be required to do their research in the school or town library. I love to read, I rarely find time to do so these days but when I can sit down and read for a few hours, six or seven hours will go by before I realize it. It’s relaxing and rejuvenating for me. I do tend to still lean toward hard back books over the kindle as it seems to take me longer to read a book over a kindle than the one I’m holding in my hand. Although, for the convenience and space saver, I download more often to my kindle.
It put it simply, I believe that in the long run, technology may not be the best thing for our world, I see more kids sitting together with their noses in their phones these days, they consider this hanging out with each other. If you asked one of them a question about one of the others, they most likely wouldn’t know the answer. I see more and more of the older generation heading in the same direction, I’m guilty of it myself and when I realize what I’m doing, I make a conscious effort to put the phone down and have a conversation with a human.
I was recently reflecting upon this generation and its addiction to useless information, it seems as if we don’t know how to use technology efficiently. Now all of us aren’t always delved within social media I get that, but I’m beginning to see more hatred and negativity spread over then web than i’d like to. Its pretty disgusting to actually read hundreds of people verbally abusing complete strangers. Where does all of this hate come from? Is it thriving due to It dawned on me that most young adults literally dred education, we would rather sit in the house all day, and scroll the web for absolutely no reason.
Looking at the focuses of young adults now its depends on if we want to read for informational purposes. Our decreasing interest in books progresses more with time. As technology advances, it seems people become more and more lazy. Learning isn’t seen as a privilege anymore, now its seen as a chore and that is pretty saddening. I am not sure if humanity can be fixed because people are stubborn and stuck in their ways, but we could start by incorporating versatile literature in everyday life.
Adding a column for citizens concerns and rants in the new paper. The people are the voice of any country and I feel as if we aren’t being heard enough. Maybe the school systems should change and stop making education based on a curriculum and incorporate more creativity because everyone doesn’t think the same so why should we all learn the same?
I had a similar discussion in communications this past week, but instead of the decline of reading we were discussing the decline of communications. While I’m not saying they are they same, many of the points I brought up are valuable to the discussion of reading. I don’t think the internet, or the instantly accessible media outlets, or even television are entirely to blame for the decline in readership among youth. I think all of the choices we have for consumption of information provide a huge benefit of knowledge. I think there is a definite difference between a decline in readership and a decline in literacy. The skills people develop to sift through the vast quantities of knowledge are quite impressive. I think in a way it enhances the process of decoding for younger generations, when you are constantly surrounded by information of all sorts you have to learn how to pinpoint solid information from fluff.