Kids Rarely Read Whole Books Anymore. Even in English Class

Post by Ekaros » Sun, Dec 14, 2025, 4:19 PM UTC

BeFlatXIII wrote: post #125

idle_zealot wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I wish schools didn’t force books onto children and make them think they hate reading for their whole lives The problem is that if you don't force them, they never actually become literate enough to discover that reading is fun later in life.

The kids don't hate classroom reading because of the reading; they hate it because of the associated curriculum. “Why were the curtains blue?” is a skill wasted on children. I only gained an appreciation for such meta-reading during a weeks-long TV Tropes bender during a spat of unemployment after getting fired from my first big-boy job.

Post by Amezarak » Sun, Dec 14, 2025, 4:42 PM UTC

delichon wrote: post #132

impossiblefork wrote: post #130

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Fanfic reading is not like novel reading in that you don't need to really understand new, unfamiliar characters though. Thus it can tend to become limiting; and I say this as someone who actually does enjoy fanfiction.

> Fanfic reading is not like novel reading in that you don't need to really understand new, unfamiliar characters though. So the Lord of the Rings series counts as one book? I'd believe diminishing returns, but not one and done. Also, I thought that Yudkowsky's HPMOR fanfic had more interesting ideas than the whole Rowling series, which I like a lot.

Post by cogman10 » Sun, Dec 14, 2025, 4:47 PM UTC

gambiting wrote: post #131

cogman10 wrote: post #117

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You could learn it. It would take some effort but it's not insurmountable and it's inarguably superior to cursive in terms of effort to write. I can't write legible cursive. To do that would take time, effort, and practice. Much like it'd take that to learn shorthand. That's my point. You and I write the way we do because writing in other ways would take more effort than we want to spend.

Well, fair. Maybe I should learn shorthand.

Post by floren » Sun, Dec 14, 2025, 4:51 PM UTC

TitaRusell wrote: post #135

bgbntty2 wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think school ruined fiction books for me. I had to read long boring books about stories that didn't interest me, with useless sentences describing what the scene looked like or what someone had for dinner. Most of the stories and themes were outdated and didn't have enough context to make them understandable. Some books even used outdated words and phrases. Maybe if I wasn't forced to read a book in an outdated lan…

It is interesting how everyone parrots that art is important when the vast majority of the population will never actually engage with it. Opera? Ballet? Literature? Poetry? Classical music? Modern art? Do the numbers it seems most people can do without them and still be functional.

Post by smueller1234 » Sun, Dec 14, 2025, 4:53 PM UTC

barbazoo wrote: post #136

tyleo wrote: post #40

Comments here are very strange, “Reading books should go the way of cursive! Education is more like childcare anyways.” It’s bizarre stuff to say. What would you have the education system do? Put iPads in front of kids all day?

Let the market solve it. If the market requires educated adults the market will create that environment or something, answer is probably private schools. I assume they’d say something like that.