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Reading for pleasure is sharply down among schoolkids, report shows

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Re: Reading for pleasure is sharply down among schoolkids, report shows

#51

Post by larrik »

an0malous wrote: post #49
larrik wrote: post #33

It's worse than this. I have kids in school. Our school system is one of the top in Connecticut, which is the quintessential "school" state (if any rich kid on TV goes away to school, it's probably to CT). These kids (all of them, not mine) can't really read. Not like when I was young. (I'm not even old! I graduated in the 2000's!) They certainly can't write. They have no stamina to do an essay or a test like when I…

Devil’s advocate: what’s the point? Is it important to have reading and writing skills if everything can be transcribed through AI? Or maybe it’s not directly important, but the ability to hold your attention on something for 30-60 minutes is? Is reading the best medium for education, or something more like Kahn Academy videos? I also wonder how the Montessori schools are doing, since I believe they focus less on rot…

The point is that "doing hard things" is required to be a successful adult. Meanwhile, the bar for what constitutes a "hard thing" is dropping fast.

Re: Reading for pleasure is sharply down among schoolkids, report shows

#52

Post by electroweak »

JoshTriplett wrote: post #35
electroweak wrote: post #25

Anecdote: waiting for my childs parent-teacher interview in the library of a mid-range highschool in a large city, I casually asked the row of student facilitators how much they used the (pretty substantial) library. They all said, with emphasis, that they'd never used the library once, not even for a single book. Overhearing this a teacher looked at me and shook his head with resignation.

Did you ask them how much they read as ebooks? Libby is very popular.

That would have been a good follow up question - I'll ask next term.

Re: Reading for pleasure is sharply down among schoolkids, report shows

#53

Post by hirvi74 »

Why is reading for pleasure always placed on some sort of pedestal? I would argue that what is being consumed is more important than the medium of consumption.

I am not trying to say there is little value in reading, but I have always found it odd that some forms of consumption are more coveted than others.

Re: Reading for pleasure is sharply down among schoolkids, report shows

#54

Post by an0malous »

larrik wrote: post #51
an0malous wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Devil’s advocate: what’s the point? Is it important to have reading and writing skills if everything can be transcribed through AI? Or maybe it’s not directly important, but the ability to hold your attention on something for 30-60 minutes is? Is reading the best medium for education, or something more like Kahn Academy videos? I also wonder how the Montessori schools are doing, since I believe they focus less on rot…

The point is that "doing hard things" is required to be a successful adult. Meanwhile, the bar for what constitutes a "hard thing" is dropping fast.

I mean it’s obviously not just that otherwise we’d make every kid play the original Donkey Kong and call that a success

Re: Reading for pleasure is sharply down among schoolkids, report shows

#55

Post by bratwurst3000 »

xpct wrote: post #23

Question: do you think reading is fundamentally worthwhile in terms of practicality, or is there some other medium that would achieve both pleasure and better information retention? I think it's undeniable that a lot of good comes from reading, and many here would probably agree it's better than scrolling Instagram reels or even watching YouTube videos. Still, reading by itself is just one medium that we found useful…

imho its the screen vs no screen that is the problem. Its better to have one thing for a task . for example one notebook one alarm one instrument one book etc. Our brain aint made to have so many thing cramped in one device. I think when i open a screen my brain sees all the functions of the device and cant focus well. But if I read a book my brain knowes this is the book about this and that and nothing else.

Re: Reading for pleasure is sharply down among schoolkids, report shows

#56

Post by AngryData »

an0malous wrote: post #49
larrik wrote: post #33

It's worse than this. I have kids in school. Our school system is one of the top in Connecticut, which is the quintessential "school" state (if any rich kid on TV goes away to school, it's probably to CT). These kids (all of them, not mine) can't really read. Not like when I was young. (I'm not even old! I graduated in the 2000's!) They certainly can't write. They have no stamina to do an essay or a test like when I…

Devil’s advocate: what’s the point? Is it important to have reading and writing skills if everything can be transcribed through AI? Or maybe it’s not directly important, but the ability to hold your attention on something for 30-60 minutes is? Is reading the best medium for education, or something more like Kahn Academy videos? I also wonder how the Montessori schools are doing, since I believe they focus less on rot…

In my opinion it is. Reading can convey information faster than even sped up videos, is easier to skim, and has high precision.

Im not saying it is the best for everyone, but it has been proven repeatedly to beat out any other method in the majority of the population. Plus its time stability and storage is much easier and reliable.

It also could have other side benefits like focus or perhaps something like visual acuity, much like how writing by hand can develop good hand-eye coordination. If someone struggled to write with a pencil for example I would be very wary about handing them sharp tools or knives.

Re: Reading for pleasure is sharply down among schoolkids, report shows

#57

Post by watwut »

forlorn_mammoth wrote: post #37
xpct wrote: post #23

Question: do you think reading is fundamentally worthwhile in terms of practicality, or is there some other medium that would achieve both pleasure and better information retention? I think it's undeniable that a lot of good comes from reading, and many here would probably agree it's better than scrolling Instagram reels or even watching YouTube videos. Still, reading by itself is just one medium that we found useful…

> Question: do you think reading is fundamentally worthwhile in terms of practicality, or is there some other medium that would achieve both pleasure and better information retention? If your quality bar is 'better information retention' then reading is going to be hard to beat. Videos/podcasts don't measure up. 'pleasure' is hard to measure, and gets confounded because reading takes more effort than watching a video…

Listening to podcast is not easier then reading. It requires constant attention and does not really allow you to take a break without loosing on. In a lot of ways it is harder and more tiresome. You are free to do some other easy thing while doing it, it can be more engaging due to voices and sounds, but it does not take less effort then reading.

Re: Reading for pleasure is sharply down among schoolkids, report shows

#58

Post by watwut »

aerhardt wrote: post #45

They should ask the Ministry of Culture here in Spain, who claims that reading is on the up and up among 14-24 year olds [1]. Nothing points to that in our abysmal PISA reading results, general educational attainment and outcomes, or anecdotal observation, but hey! At least it might be worth asking them about the surveying methodology. [1] https://www.cultura.gob.es/ca/actualidad/2026/01/260122-baro...

PISA does not measure reading for pleasure, it measures reading for factual information. There are questions about reading graphs, figuring out information only indirectly mentioned, that sort of thing. It does not care whether you get emotionally invested in this or that character or story.

Reading for pleasure is only loosely related to that.

Re: Reading for pleasure is sharply down among schoolkids, report shows

#59

Post by AngryData »

socalgal2 wrote: post #20

Recommendations? What are you reading? I recently enjoyed a few books of the "We are Legion, We are Bob" series

Really loved The Hyperion Cantos and The Forever War.

For a shorter classic I found Robur the Conqueror highly entertaining.

Re: Reading for pleasure is sharply down among schoolkids, report shows

#60

Post by nickthegreek »

socalgal2 wrote: post #20

Recommendations? What are you reading? I recently enjoyed a few books of the "We are Legion, We are Bob" series

Just did the bobiverse series after furiously consuming all the dungeon crawler carl and now I am starting Red Rising.
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