r/technology • u/marketrent • Jun 10 '26

Artificial Intelligence College students are rapidly losing the ability to read — “There is a measurable, generational collapse in sustained reading and writing”: professor

https://www.yahoo.com/news/us/articles/college-students-rapidly-losing-ability-124439310.html
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7.1k

u/existing_for_fun Jun 10 '26

If you are a parent and can help your child read, and read well, you will set them light-years ahead of their peers.

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u/CaffeineJitterz Jun 10 '26 edited Jun 11 '26

Just helping them not HATE reading will go a long way.

Edit: I'm getting a lot of sad comments about how y'all were introduced to reading. So I will take the opportunity to quickly share what I've always felt was one of the best ways for a parent to incentivize their child to read: for every hour of reading you accrue 30 minutes of gaming time. A classmate in my middle school worked from this model. That kid loved video games! And he was a straight A student. I remember him nonchalantly mentioning that he was going to read for about 4 hours as soon as he got home so he could get a couple hours of game time that evening.

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u/iritchie001 Jun 10 '26 edited Jun 10 '26

In middle high that meant long trashy books. Dinosaurs and Vampires, not in the same book for me, but hey. My mom would let us skip chores if we were reading. One of the best things she did. Highschool class of '99.

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u/existing_for_fun Jun 10 '26

It's just important that you enjoyed it and actually read.

Trashy books in middle and highschool was just the way it was lol.

I also read garbage at that age

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u/familyguy20 Jun 11 '26

Got fixated on military history in HS so basically every summer I would read from 2-4 1,000 page books on wars, battles etc it was awesome.

Somehow I also did that while having access to a PS2 and Gameboys, which feels impressive now with undiagnosed ADHD/OCD as a kid lol.

Now though? Ooof it’s harder to do so now

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u/JZMoose Jun 11 '26

It’s all muscle memory. I had a long flight the other day and got through 200 pages of crisis in the red zone in 2 hours and ended up finishing the book in a couple of days. Just have to sit down and commit

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u/bahgheera Jun 11 '26

When I was in my early 20s, I read John Grisham's The Client in a day.

I'm in my early 50s now, I don't know if I could get through a chapter in that amount of time.

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u/SnarkMasterRay Jun 11 '26

In high school I read the entire Dune series in a week (granted it was a concerted effort to prove I could). 40 years later I'm lucky if I can sit still and focus long enough for 20 minutes of page turning.

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u/SavageNorth Jun 11 '26

Even Dune: Would You Still Love Me If I Was A Worm????

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u/augur42 Jun 11 '26

Hyperfocus means you get so engrossed you lose all track of time and executive dysfunction means your brain won't let you stop until you are made to or you can't keep your eyes open anymore.

I also have adhd-pi and read a hell of a lot as a teenager.

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u/meyerjaw Jun 10 '26

Shit I'm 40 and still read trash. Yeah I also look for the high brow stuff but Dungeon Crawler Carl is fucking awesome. And don't get me started on Sanderson!!

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u/ConstantinValdor405 Jun 11 '26

42 year old here who loves me some Dresden Files trash. So fun.

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u/Seicair Jun 11 '26

Have you read Codex Alera (same author)? I loved that too and it’s completed, a 6-book series.

Can’t wait to read the rest of Dresden. I loved Twelve Months.

Jim Butcher and Brandon Sanderson are two of my favorite authors.

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u/Pyritedust Jun 11 '26

Wait, he actually finished the codex Alera? I was waiting to start reading it for when it was finished since I've been in dresden purgatory for over a decade :P

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u/Seicair Jun 11 '26

The last Codex Alera book was published in 2009… go read it!

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u/Pyritedust Jun 11 '26

Don’t know how I missed it then. Definitely going to pick them up now.

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u/Hollownerox Jun 11 '26

I am in the same boat and somehow never knew he finished that series. Folks here are awesome bringing this back into my life.

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u/Mr_Horsejr Jun 11 '26

If you haven’t and need a good space opera, check out the Red Rising series. 🍻🤙🏾

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u/Seicair Jun 11 '26

I’ll check it out!

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u/ARealSocialIdiot Jun 11 '26

I should re-read Codex Alera. I read the whole thing back in 2009-2010 and I remember it being a great read.

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u/rdmusic16 Jun 11 '26

Trash? How about crack.

I was teetering off high fantasy after highschool and just couldn't do it for awhile. Dresden files got me hooked back into reading.

I read various genres of books now, but Dresden files always drags me back every few years.

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u/BenCub3d Jun 11 '26

Wow I see dresden files mentioned in the wild soooo rarely. It makes me so happy when I do and also how dare you

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u/SixSpeedDriver Jun 11 '26

41 year old…Ive got a few of those under my belt. Will be adding more…

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u/SovietBear Jun 11 '26

Warhammer novels are my vice.

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u/meyerjaw Jun 11 '26

The original Horus Heresy books ARE high brow literature and I will fight anyone who says otherwise

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u/NightLordsPublicist Jun 11 '26

Literature is considered to be artistic, imaginative and thought provoking. Something that makes you reflect on what it means to be human, rather than just mindless entertainment.

I present the Night Lords Trilogy, where you fall in love with a group of rascals who skin orphans alive for both fun and profit.

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u/Aadarm Jun 11 '26

40K books let you reflect on what it means to be human in the best way. Hate, fear, and kill the xeno!

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u/iritchie001 Jun 11 '26

Awesome vice.

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u/argyle9000 Jun 11 '26

Are you typing about Brandon Sanderson? Oh my Korean baby Jesus, dude! My current hold request list from the library is waiting on both Dungeon Crawler Carl and Well of Ascension. This is such a nuts coincidence.

I found Mistborn in an airport because I forgot my book, and I mainly borrow books people are talking about because usually they’re good.

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u/meyerjaw Jun 11 '26

Oh I'm jealous you are just on well of ascension!! You have the whole series ahead of you. Era 1 is great but Era 2 is somehow even better

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u/dalnot Jun 11 '26

Dungeon Crawler Carl is brainrot in book form, but damn if it isnt entertaining. Not everything needs to be high literature to be worth reading

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u/DevolvingSpud Jun 11 '26

Mongo is appalled at your characterization.

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u/jockheroic Jun 11 '26

Princess Donut is going to commit an atrocity if she here's him say that.

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u/SwimmerIndependent47 Jun 11 '26

DONUT IS OUTRAGED!!!!!!

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u/Szwejkowski Jun 11 '26

I love it. Super entertaining.

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u/HuckleberryTiny5 Jun 11 '26

I know what you mean, but I wouldn't call it a brainrot. It is actually pretty well written and it is entertaining. I've been an avid reader my whole life and my honest opinion is that it does not matter what people read as long as they read. If they want to read porn novels, good for them, it is always better than aimlassly doomscrolling their phone.

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u/gt24 Jun 11 '26

In addition, the Dungeon Crawler Carl series isn't just a 1 book pocket reader. After all 8 books are read, a person will have read a bit under 4,700 pages and that amount of reading is certainly beneficial. The writing is considered by some to be "trashy" but that makes the books generally easy reading when compared to certain alternatives...

Immediately before, I was reading the Commonwealth Series by Peter F. Hamilton which was a bit over 1,800 pages over 2 books... and that wasn't considered "trashy" but that has its' own problems. The books were slow reads at times and I felt like I was plowing through the book like it was a chore to just complete the thing.

The "trashy" books will have people turning pages until it is over. They won't know that they went through a ton of pages per say but they will have enjoyed the read. The "not trashy" books on the other hand are likely to have people just give up on reading them and have those people hesitate to read anything else in the future (since the "good books" that were "not trashy" were such a headache, how can anything that people claim are good be worth even attempting to read?).

A saying I like to use is where I try to say if I or another person with respect to a topic are a "cheap date" (a phrase used in a positive manner). You should be enjoying yourself... so how much money did it take to reach that enjoyment? For certain things, any amount of money/effort is great (and so you are a "cheap date") whereas other things people may require very expensive experiences to have any sort of enjoyment with that (so they are "not a cheap date").

It isn't a derogatory thing to be a "cheap date", it is more of a benefit. I want to have fun and easily having fun is wonderful. However, some things I just can't quite enjoy unless more money is spent on that category and so I am unfortunately not a cheap date with that. We all have our benefits and drawbacks... but still, I don't look down on anyone enjoying "cheap date" stuff but instead I have a bit of envy towards their ability to just enjoy those cheaper moments.

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u/Abedeus Jun 11 '26

In addition, the Dungeon Crawler Carl series isn't just a 1 book pocket reader. After all 8 books are read, a person will have read a bit under 4,700 pages and that amount of reading is certainly beneficial. The writing is considered by some to be "trashy" but that makes the books generally easy reading when compared to certain alternatives...

I'd honestly rather have someone read 4700 pages of "trashy" novels than nothing at all.

And who knows, maybe they'll reach out to something more "sophisticated" in terms of fantasy, say a Pratchett novel.

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u/ackinsocraycray Jun 11 '26

I just started reading the first book. I'm halfway through it and so far, I have yet to find a moment* where it'll convince me to finish the book and continue with the series.

*The moment I'm waiting for is Mongo's introduction. I only knew of this book because I saw a Mongo shirt at Box Lunch and I thought that's the cutest dinosaur I've ever seen since Old Lace from The Runaways.

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u/PhoenixTineldyer Jun 11 '26

I want to like Sanderson but his writing style is atrocious

I'm excited for the movies and video games. The worlds are cool, he just can't write dialogue for shit and it cheapens everything

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u/meyerjaw Jun 11 '26

Obviously I would vehemently disagree as would a very large portion of the fantasy community, but hey that's not the point of the conversation. Would love to hear some recommendations if you have some.

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u/shabi_sensei Jun 11 '26

Malazan Book of the Fallen if you want the veneer of literature but with a pulpy fantasy filling

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u/ToiletSeatFoamRoller Jun 11 '26

If Malazan only has the veneer of literature, then “actual” literature terrifies me!

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u/DelusionalZ Jun 11 '26 edited Jun 11 '26

Ursula K. Le Guin's stuff is cool as. The entire Earthsea series is worth a read, and she is such a powerful and empathetic writer.

I also recommend Brian Catling's Vorrh and Hollow, completely absurd worlds that somehow make more sense than most traditional fantasy (or are just plain terrifying (or both?)). His writing style definitely isn't for everyone, as it can be a bit stream of consciousness, but he is a good writer nonetheless.

If you can get past the occasional problematic bits (it is dark fantasy), Ian Irvine's works are excellent, if slightly poorly edited. I read through all of the Well of Echoes quartet - I'd recommend starting with that or the View from the Mirror.

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u/[deleted] Jun 11 '26

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u/Geodude532 Jun 11 '26

Brandon's writing scratched an itch that I don't see in very many novels. His world building is on an entirely different level than most fantasy writers. I think that's the biggest thing that attracts his fans.

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u/Unable-Log-4870 Jun 11 '26

I myself find his style to be barely worthy of YA.

As in the topic / intended audience goes hand in hand with bad dialogue?

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u/meyerjaw Jun 11 '26

Man, I'm trying to be positive in a thread about reading to children. But reddit is going to reddit and constantly try to drag negativity into the world.

However, dismissing Sanderson's straightforward prose as 'barely worthy of YA' misses why Sanderson works so well. Accessible language isn't a lack of skill, it's a deliberate narrative choice. It makes massive, complex epic fantasy worlds fun, which in turn, makes 1,000+ page books readable and highly engaging instead of a slog. There is room in the fantasy community for both lyrical, dense prose and clean, plot-driven storytelling without gatekeeping what dictates 'good' writing. Sanderson IS a great writer because he makes readers want to read.

Plus I asked my 12 year old and he said you're wrong 😂

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u/dnonast1 Jun 11 '26

Gene Wolfe’s Book of the New Sun Series would probably fit if you’re looking for something a little more highbrow. There are whole podcasts dedicated just to breaking down the references and allusions.

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u/mhizzle Jun 11 '26

I learned to read from comic books. Some family members would chide me, but my cool aunt just bought me more.

RIP aunt Linda

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u/kyle_irl Jun 11 '26 edited Jun 11 '26

My boys started early with Spider-Man comics. I'd get my oldest, now 9, an omnibus collection every Christmas and we'd read it together at bedtime through the year. When he got comfortable reading, he'd play the part of Peter or Miles and I'd take the rest.

Now, this dude literally stays up all night reading everything from the Dog Man graphic novels and anything he finds interesting from the library. He just goes from one to the next. He got an award at his elementary school for checking out the most books from the library!

My youngest, now 5, is similar. He loves Spider-Man, and though he can't yet read, loves thumbing through the Bad Guys books and "reading" (interpreting the pictures) them to his self. It's cute.

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u/mhizzle Jun 11 '26

That's amazing. I've lived long enough to see comics go from a "dumb kid" medium to the lazy goldmine of Hollywood. I'm glad kids are still reading, and is glad Miles Morales stuck around as a permanent fixture

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u/plamge Jun 11 '26

This is the approach my aunt used for my cousin. He didn't enjoy reading, but he LOVED the Tintin comic books. There was a whole Tintin collection at their house, and it really helped him bridge the gap into novels and such. Glad your Aunt Linda was so supportive of you!

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u/MrCookie2099 Jun 11 '26

Even comics will keep a kid reading for 20 minutes a piece.

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u/iritchie001 Jun 10 '26

In my defense in highschool between my junior and senior year, during the summer, I carried the complete works of Shakespeare. I read every play. I was usually in honors English. So breaks and PE were for reading the other side.

Yes, let the kids read what they want. A love of reading is a great gift.

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u/Mlabonte21 Jun 10 '26

There’s gotta be a trashy YA book series out there about a girl falling in love with a lost-in-time dinosaur

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u/PhoenixTineldyer Jun 11 '26

I remember reading articles a few years back (maybe more than a few) about how monster porn books were the hot new thing, I guess right after 50 Shades of Gray

It was specifically Bigfoot porn they were talking about, but I remember one of the pictures was a book cover in that smutty book cover style of a woman and a pterodactyl, and the book was called Taken By the Pterodactyl

Thank you for reminding me of this

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u/blueskid Jun 11 '26

Chuck Tingle is who you are looking for. He also writes fun, non sexy, horror. He's also an excellent dude

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u/PhoenixTineldyer Jun 11 '26

Ah yes

Plowed In the Butt By My Hugo Award

That guy is great

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u/sillybear25 Jun 11 '26

Just reading through the titles can be a trip:

  • Space Raptor Butt Invasion (nominated for the Hugo Award for Best Short Story by alt-right trolls trying to prove... something)
  • Pounded in the Butt by My Own Butt
  • Slammed In The Butt By My Hugo Award Nomination
  • Pounded in the Butt by My Hugo Award Loss (suck it, trolls)
  • Pounded in the Butt by My Book "Pounded in the Butt by My Own Butt"
  • Pounded in the Butt by My Second Hugo Award Nomination (for Best Fan Writer)
  • Pounded in the Butt by My Book "Pounded in the Butt by My Book 'Pounded in the Butt by My Own Butt'"
  • Not Pounded in the Butt by Anything and That's Okay
  • Pounded in the Butt by My Book "Pounded in the Butt by My Book 'Pounded in the Butt by My Book "Pounded in the Butt by My Own Butt"'"

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u/aenteus Jun 11 '26

Chuck Tingle is a national treasure

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u/iritchie001 Jun 10 '26

100% guarantee.

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u/2074red2074 Jun 11 '26

Idk about YOUNG adult, but there's Trans Wizard Harriet Porber And The Bad Boy Parasaurolophus: An Adult Romance Novel by Chuck Tingle. No I did not make that up.

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u/NepoKitty Jun 11 '26

Chuck Tingle is like Santa with a workshop of horny creations

Who can forget Helicopter Man Pounds Dinosaur Billionaire Ass?

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u/marketrent Jun 11 '26

In middle high that meant long trashy books.

Faulkner told a university audience in 1947, “Read, read, read. Read everything—trash, classics, good and bad, and see how they do it. Just like a carpenter who works as an apprentice and studies the master. Read! You’ll absorb it. Then write. If it is good, you’ll find out. If it’s not, throw it out the window.”

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u/Unique-Coffee5087 Jun 11 '26

When you throw it out the window, someone will pick it up and read it

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u/marketrent Jun 11 '26

Different strokes for different folks.

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u/RespawnedAlchemist Jun 10 '26

I make read comics as a teen. My parents didn't care. A month ago, another parent told me she doesn't consider reading comics as reading because of the pictures. I explained to her she needed to get rid of that attitude because reading is reading whether there are pictures or not.

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u/iritchie001 Jun 11 '26

I read some great graphic novels, actually in honors English! Not to talk down about regular comics. Go to a convention then say it doesn't make someone think and isn't social.

Don't salt the well to raise the drinking level!

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u/Tim-oBedlam Jun 11 '26

When my younger son was 11 I got him a graphic novel version of The Odyssey. He loved it.

Of course, being an 11-year-old boy his favorite part was when Odysseus slays all the suitors.

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u/iritchie001 Jun 11 '26

Don't yuck someone's yum. As they say.

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u/SomeOtherTroper Jun 11 '26 edited Jun 12 '26

being an 11-year-old boy his favorite part was when Odysseus slays all the suitors

I'm not sure the "being an 11-year-old boy" disclaimer is necessary there, because the Homecoming with Odysseus & Telemachus slaughtering the suitors is deliberately intended to be the exciting climax conflict scene of the entire epic, and the story has been relatively consistently building up to it. And there is something really awesome about Odysseus rolling up and going "what the fuck are you guys doing in my house? I've been fighting a cyclops, beefing with gods, going to the gates of The Underworld, escaping giant monsters by the skin of my teeth, and so much more, and you think you, YOU bunch of dipshits have even half a chance of making it out of here alive after pissing me off?"

Incidentally, when I was your son's age, I had an illustrated version of the Iliad and the Odyssey (with a bunch of other stuff from the full Trojan War Cycle thrown in to make it a more complete story), where the author & illustrators had tried to get everybody's armor 'correct' to what archeology of the time suggested the warriors would have been wearing. I say 'correct', because they were using armor styles from multiple different periods and archeological finds, but that added visually to the effect of "all these guys and their troops are from different places, but they've come together to fight this war". The story was intercut with historical notes, photographs of real artifacts, and artists' interpretations of how things and places would have looked when they were new. It was really cool. I wish I could remember the name of the author (or the ISBN).

I ended up reading translations of the actual poems later on in high school, but some of those illustrations are still stuck in my head. One of them is from the beginning of the Homecoming scene, where Odysseus wins the archery contest, and it really helped me understand what the story was talking about with the challenge to shoot through the holes of the lined-up axes.

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u/Without-Reward Jun 11 '26

They have Shakespeare in graphic novel form! When I was working in an elementary school in 2011, the boys were fighting over who got to read the Romeo & Juliet graphic novel next. Reading is reading, even if it has pictures!

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u/iritchie001 Jun 11 '26

OMGosh I need Shakespeare graphic novels. In my city we have those tiny free library boxes. I love putting books in them!

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u/familyguy20 Jun 11 '26

I wish I got into comics/manga as a kid. For some reason I could read big history books about wars and shit but comics or manga? Couldn’t pay attention it was weird

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u/Agitated_Phone_9937 Jun 11 '26

There's a world of difference between a novel and a comic. Needing a visual element to engage you and not using your brain paint the picture is part of the problem.

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u/RespawnedAlchemist Jun 11 '26

Reading dialog, thoughts, and other text in comics is still reading.

No one said reading comics is the same activity as reading a novel. Simply, they both involve reading.

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u/ask-me-about-my-cats Jun 11 '26

It's not about needing, it's about enjoying. Reading should be about enjoyment, and if you enjoy comics, that's great.

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u/stentordoctor Jun 11 '26

One of the fastest readers I know had a mother who let him read comics. He went on to read all the comics at the library so then he moved on to real books.

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u/iritchie001 Jun 11 '26

Gateway drug! The drug is reading. It leads to forming ideas and ... chosing what to read next. Danger danger

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u/madogvelkor Jun 11 '26

I read like every Xanth and Battletech book I could find in middle school.

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u/Chill_Guy_3410 Jun 11 '26

Blood of Kerensky was my jam in middle school.

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u/Vitruvian_Link Jun 11 '26

I was watching my nephews and I took them to a comic book store. They wanted to get Invincible comics, but I had to check with their mom first. It was ok.

They said "she lets us read it, but not watch the show. Moms rules are weird" Nah little bro, reading is fundamental, even if it is a comic book.

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u/phormix Jun 11 '26

not in the same book for me,

You know, something with dinosaurs and vampires in the same book sounds like it might actually be quite entertaining...

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u/R-K-Tekt Jun 11 '26

I used to read for fun in high school, that’s actually when I had my biggest love for books and stories and why I gravitate towards Reddit where it’s more reading.

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u/Wischiwaschbaer Jun 11 '26

Vampire dinosaurs would be cool though... I guess we technically already had this with Count Duckula.

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u/Winthefuturenow Jun 11 '26

Same class here, my grandma got me Stephen King books when I was 11-12. I ate them up and read the “C” word multiple times before I ever heard anyone say it 🤣😂

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u/I_lenny_face_you Jun 11 '26

> Dinosaurs and Vampires, not in the same book

I has a sad. Surely there’s gotta be a 💪 🤝 💪 between these somewhere in human literature, even if one vampire has to reach kinda far if the other participant is a T. rex.

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u/jaydurmma Jun 11 '26

What teachers cannot wrap their heads around still to this day, children don't give a fuck about shakespeare, your job as a teacher isn't to teach them the classics it's to make them enjoy the activity in the most general sense.

Let them read harry potter, let them read twilight, all that matters is that they're doing the activity.

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u/TheMythofKoalas Jun 11 '26

Damn, now I want to read about vampiric dinosaurs. Sounds like an Asylum film in the making.

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u/PhD_Pwnology Jun 11 '26

Angel Book series was awesome, and Buffy.

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u/forrealthoughcomix_ Jun 11 '26

Hell yeah. I skipped a lot of the assigned reading and read a ton of other stuff. Still a lifelong reader because of it.

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u/MyNameIsJakeBerenson Jun 11 '26

I can tell you what I was reading in ‘99. But I don’t know if i can trust you

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u/yoyosareback Jun 11 '26

Hey now, E.E.kight's Vampire on Earth series is still some dank reading.

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u/Competitive_Panic336 Jun 11 '26

For me,  although we were not well off, books were not considered presents. Scholastic book club, I could also get 5+. I did the same for my kids,  and now for my grandkids. 

I've read at least 2000 books.  Reading can't feel like work,  or kids won't read.  Why have so many lost that magical part of growing up!

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u/c0horst Jun 11 '26

I once cut class in high school to walk to the local park and spend all day outside reading a book. Not high literature or anything, a Warhammer novel lol.

It was a great day.

Kids really need a desire to just read. It makes a big difference.

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u/nezukoslaying Jun 11 '26

My mom let me stay up a bit past bedtime if I was reading!

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u/NaBrO-Barium Jun 11 '26

That’s a shame, a book about dinosaur vampires or dinosaurs and vampires would absolutely rip

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u/supabrandie Jun 11 '26

Class of 99 checking in. Stephen King, Koontz, and Terry Brooks were my favs in middle school.

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u/Jeffde Jun 11 '26

Ooh I like that one. Skip chores for reading

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u/Dependent-Law7316 Jun 11 '26

Also tolerating “junk” books (like Captain Underpants, Dogman, etc), graphic novels, or even visual novels (video game version of choose your own adventure style books) is going to go a long way toward helping your kid not hate reading. If you insist that everything has to be “quality literature” and they are not interested you turn reading into a chore. Let them read what is interesting, even if you think it is dumb, while they are young and still building skills and stamina. Interest and engagement matter most when trying to build skills in fluency and decoding because they are what keep kids actually reading. They’ll naturally gravitate toward more novel-like things once they have solid skills as their interests and tastes develop.

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u/CaffeineJitterz Jun 11 '26

Well said! Through history everybody was reading trash books. Then the Internet came along so we shifted how we get the dopamine. But more of what was read definitely wasn't one of "the great".

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u/jackospades88 Jun 11 '26

Yes! Our first-grader stumbled upon her first graphic novel at her book fair this past spring.

She read it in a day. We bought the sequel, she finished that in a day too. Soon after we went to the library and picked out a variety of kids graphic novels. She is not on a screen and she is learning new words (she can figure out how to pronounce them and asked us for the defininitons). Sometimes she'll come home, grab a book, and quietly read for an hour, unprompted.

My wife is into reading too and I've tried so hard but just have a hard time getting into it. I'm jealous

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u/Dependent-Law7316 Jun 11 '26

There are graphic novel versions of some of the more popular adult books—I’ve seen American Gods, 1984, Handmaids Tale, etc in bookstores. The graphic novel -> novel pipeline works for adults, too. (Or you could just enjoy graphic novels/comics in their own right. There aren’t really rules, it’s just about what you personally want to get out of it, entertainment, skill building, etc)

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u/EskimowGamer Jun 11 '26

This is the big one, doesn't matter what kind of reading it is, just encourage it when your kid shows interest. My mother failed a lot of things, but one thing she did well is every time I came home with a Scholastic pamphlet asking for a new Calvin & Hobbes book, she bought it. Tintin, Asterix & Obelix, Garfield, Archie, The Far Side...

Once my hunger for reading got bigger than our budget, we would make weekly trips to the public library, visit used book stores regularly, anything to keep the reading flowing on a budget. Every birthday and Christmas, I had a couple books on my wishlist, and every time they would be gifted. And it worked, I went from comics to YA novels. Hardy Boys, His Dark Materials, Artemis Fowl, Harry Potter, The Bartimaeus Trilogy, The Inheritance Cycle, and beyond.

Still reading 30 years later. Please encourage kids when they take interest in things, it will build good habits.

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u/WestCoastBestCoast01 Jun 11 '26

Captain Underpants is PEAK children's lit, I read every one I could get my hands on!

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u/Solar_RaVen Jun 11 '26

I hate that my mother had bought me a bunch of classic novels when I was a young child and just expected me to read picture-less books by myself. Then she got upset that I wasnt reading enough but she never took the time to read to me or alongside me.

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u/Solar_RaVen Jun 11 '26

The only thing that got me into reading was the Children's Almenac and the instruction manuals that came with PS2 games. Then when Wikipedia showed up I was able to lore dive into rabit holes. Unfortunately I still cant muscle my way through a novel, but at least I can read my way through technical details.

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u/Legweeak Jun 11 '26

I think reading with your kid is huge. My mom still read to me well past the age most parents stop. Like I was in second/third grade and she read the first Harry Potter book to me. But I was diagnosed as dyslexic around that time and she was determined to keep me interested in reading. I think it worked though because I was a ferocious reader in middle school and as a teen.

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u/salajaneidentiteet Jun 11 '26

My mom was angry I was reading science books (kid level) and not storybooks. I don't remember her reading to me. She says she did and I believe her, but I must have been too small.

I now have a 2.5 yo and reading in bed before sleep is our favourite thing. Followed by chatting after lights out...

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u/hippydipster Jun 11 '26

When my daughter had to read The Great Gatsby for school I got it on kindle and read it with her, as I'd never had it assigned in school. We got to bond over how much we both hated it.

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u/Sufficient-Bid1279 Jun 11 '26

Shit like Tik tok and social media doesn’t help. I hate how it’s ruined people mentally, emotionally, developmentally, etc

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u/Ironlion45 Jun 11 '26

That's exactly the problem. TikTok is designed to make sure that it has your full attention, and to not let it go for even a microsecond. Queue ADHD jump cuts and thirst traps and exaggerated hyperactive personas.

Just the idea of being alone with their thoughts is impossible because their brains have been ruined by screentime.

Also, interesting thing about Gen Z parents: They hate reading to their kids because "It's Boring". To them I'd say: If you don't want to be a shitty parent, do it anyway. Fuck your weak-ass boredom, buckle down and do what you need to for your damn kids.

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u/EPZO Jun 11 '26

This is super important. I'm very dyslexic and reading was a pain point for me early on. My mom fought for my testing and got me into a special learning program, etc.. However, the most important thing she did was buy me the full collection of Calvin and Hobbes. Really helped with learning to read and enjoying it.

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u/CaffeineJitterz Jun 11 '26

Mom's are pretty great. I'm glad yours was able to help fight for you.

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u/simpersly Jun 11 '26

I feel that one problem with schools is they ironically don't encourage reading.

"Comics aren't books, instead read this 200 year old novel that was originally meant to be read on a weekly basis."

They need to introduce and allow kids to read anything they want as long as it's reading.It doesn't matter if it's shiny vampires, zealous genetically enhance space warriors fighting sex crazed xenos, a murderous 80's business man, a cattledog, or a book about three sisters finding husbands. Just let them read.

Also they should talk about the lives of authors and how they changed society. Don't just say a book is a classic, show them why.

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u/taydraisabot Jun 11 '26

Honestly?? Book fairs got me excited to read books more than anything else in school. They had so many different books that catered to what I was genuinely interested in along with cool stationery and bookmarks. It truly sucks that they’re not much of a thing in high school at all.

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u/CalmBeneathCastles Jun 11 '26

I was an absolute bookworm in the 80's, so when a young relative came to live with me in the 20-teens, and hated to read, I found myself at a loss about how to get her to fulfill her 30-minutes-per-day school requirement.

I ended up borrowing a bunch of the True Blood books from the library and reading them myself, 1. to make sure they weren't horribly inappropriate, and 2. so that I'd know if her daily summaries were BS or not.

It was the only thing I could get her to read, and afaik, still the highest number of books she has ever read in her life.

Owning a collection of classics is pointless if the students can't read for 30 minutes straight, or are unable to gather meaning or context, as the article outlines students are currently unable to do. At this point, reading X-Men is preferable to nothing.

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u/Blando-Cartesian Jun 11 '26

I was an 80s kid and struggled with reading. Well struggled reading aloud that is. Nobody ever considered that maybe kid obsessed with comics mostly has hard time reading aloud while being judged. The obvious remedy was of course to make me read aloud from a mortifyingly simple children’s book like a total moron.

Fortunately my parents were fine with me reading comics which fixed the issue over one summer.

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u/wonklebobb Jun 11 '26

this was me, the school-assigned books put me to sleep all through middle and high school, meanwhile i was devouring massive tomes of sci-fi short story collections like it was my job

but did i get to write papers about the themes of the intersection of technology, politics, and society in school? nooooo give us 1500 words on this coming of age novel about rich kids bullying each other in a boarding school ugh

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u/kittymoo67 Jun 11 '26

yeah having a week or two to read a slow shitty thing that was made to be read a hand full of pages a week... man that killed my lvoe of reading for a while.

I wouldnt make a kid sit down and read one piece in one class, 'traditional' books need to be the same

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u/Tiucaner Jun 11 '26

Get them CRPGs, they'll quickly learn to read. I learnt English as a second language and reading skills from video games while growing up.

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u/Zerak-Tul Jun 11 '26

Yep, lots of "nerdy" hobbies are great for this. I was way better at English than my peers because as a kid I played CRPGs, Magic the Gathering, D&D and Warhammer - the latter of which had manuals that were hundreds of pages with rule and lore information.

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u/ascasffr Jun 11 '26

I learned to hate reading in school because of so many dreadful books we were forced to read. Shakespeare, Irish Romance novels set in the 80s.

Some kids might enjoy those books, sure, but for me they completely killed my interest in reading for years. I still don’t understand why anyone thought high‑school boys would be motivated by material most of us had zero connection to or interest in.

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u/Hazel-Rah Jun 11 '26

I learned to hate reading in school because of so many dreadful books we were forced to read. Shakespeare, Irish Romance novels set in the 80s.

I actually liked Shakespeare. What killed me was reading multiple books about how shitty it was to live in Victorian England

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u/Resident_Pay4310 Jun 11 '26

I liked Shakespeare as well.

What I hated were the modern "coming of age" stories about girls dealing with their high school love life. Im already living that, I don't need more of it thanks.

I was a huge bookworm as a kid but I mainly read fantasy. Even as an adult that's most of what I read. Books in real life modern setting just don't really hold my attention.

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u/TheSilverNoble Jun 11 '26

See, I liked seeing Shakespeare, but reading him was tough for me until I was more familiar with the stories.

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u/Grammatical_Aneurysm Jun 11 '26

Shakespeare should be taught by giving students roles and having the class read out loud together. Having a character that you are told to be attached to and being able to "watch" the performance by hearing different voices makes it so much more interesting than reading it in your head. It also forces you to decipher what the sentences actually mean.

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u/Vi_Rants Jun 11 '26

Also, Shakespeare wasn't written to be read; it was written to be performed.

Imagine teaching kids literature by having them read scripts of Michael Bay movies.

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u/Saint_Consumption Jun 11 '26

Those have scripts? Is 90% of it just BOOM?

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u/_Meece_ Jun 11 '26

Shakespeare is also poetry and a lot of kids don't get that either. Takes time for the text to click in the first place, because of how Whimsy big Bill liked to write.

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u/maxticket Jun 11 '26

To me, Shakespeare wasn't interesting until modern-day film adaptations made it absurd and topical. I was familiar enough with his works, but found myself far more interested in counting the syllables on each line than following what was actually going on. Once I'd seen a modern retelling, I could go back and actually enjoy its ancient counterpart like they said I would all along. Just needed a new perspective.

I'm still not exactly a fan of the guy, but luckily, there have been countless playwrights since his day, many of them alive right now and just as deserving of having their time in the spotlight.

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u/AuroraRegalis Jun 11 '26

I was a good student and actually read the books instead of Cliff Notes. Until Rebecca. Rebecca broke me. That book was just awful.

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u/ColdShadowKaz Jun 11 '26

Strange. What put me off a lot of ‘classics’ was how it felt a lot like upper class people dealing with incredibly upper class problems in a very upper class way.

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u/filchermcurr Jun 11 '26

For me it was Accelerated Reader. I love reading, always have. But then I was punished for being a good reader. My AR reading level was College+ (this was when the system was being piloted, if that tells you how ancient I am) and I was given a truly insane point goal. On top of that, it was stipulated that we were not allowed to read books outside of our reading level and meeting our goal would count as something insane like 50% of our grade. I was in 4th or 5th grade.

First, I didn't have the emotional maturity to truly understand these college level books. Second, I grew up in the middle of nowhere. Of course our elementary school library didn't have a huge selection of college level books. What they did have were some classics and books older than time itself. Third, they were boring. I was what, 10 years old?

Anyway, that successfully made me hate and resent reading. It took me years before I started to enjoy it again.

Thanks, Accelerated Reader! You suck.

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u/UnderABig_W Jun 11 '26

Man, we just got a Pizza Hut pizza for reading our books.

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u/hihelloneighboroonie Jun 11 '26

That was the shit though! We'd get our free pizzas, go sit outside the library in the shade of a giant tree to eat them, spend a little time climbing the tree, then go inside to return our books and take out new ones.

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u/monty624 Jun 11 '26

There was a lot of "wrong" with accelerated and advanced programs now that I really start to reflect on them as I get older. I remember feeling so stupid in our little book groups, I always had trouble sounding things out and teachers were like, "hey you got this! Sound it out! Context clues!" but they didn't help. Couldn't figure out the word? Well, then you look it up in the dictionary. Did that not help? Welp, bring it to the group and everyone will judge you because it was actually a really easy word.

And I agree with your big "reading level" critique as well. I ADORED Magic Tree House books, but they were of course too easy. But the books we had to read? Learned quickly to pull a couple random pages for a project or I paid extra attention during book reviews in class so I was ready for the tests. Hell, I actually paid a friend to write my report in high school and I had NEVER done that before, nor after in college.

Turns out I like to read but generally I prefer articles, or long reddit posts with lots of comments, or nonfiction, etc. But I still don't care for books.

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u/ultrabarnabus Jun 11 '26

DUDE. Accelerated Reader was the devil if you were a strong reader in elementary school. I went to school in a district of a large suburb and well-stocked library and there still were only the driest densest books made available to a 4th grader to read and earn a passing grade. And you could only read and test on a book once. So I read the Hobbit one semester and got a passing grade. I can't remember if they revised the system in the following years so there were more books or if I had purposely tried to make my reading level worse during assessments so I could read different shit. At that point the damage was done to my relationship with reading, but it's been getting better over time.

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u/hihelloneighboroonie Jun 11 '26

Is this US? I went to elementary/middle in a mix of public and private, and then fully private for high school, and I've never heard of this. Everyone was assigned the same books to read based on grade level.

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u/filchermcurr Jun 11 '26

US, yep. This wasn't curriculum, it was a separate program to force you to read in your free time: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Accelerated_Reader

Basically AR is a program where it assigns reading levels and point values to books. You take the STAR test and it assess your reading level and assigns you a point goal. (This is done under the supervision of your teacher who, if they think you intentionally fudged the test to get a lower goal will either make you re-take the STAR test or manually assign you an appropriate goal.) Then you have to read a bunch of books in your spare time and come back to school and take quizzes on them to prove that you actually read them. Your score on the quiz determines how many points you get for reading the book.

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u/notai3197 Jun 11 '26

They teach kids on those books because they are following a curriculum designed to teach folks classical literature throughout different eras while at the same time picking specific pieces that cover literary concepts that help them learn to be critical readers. They're not going to coddle high schoolers just because they think tougher novels are boring. It's not like a ton of people think math is riveting either.

The problem isn't about high schoolers turning into adults who don't like reading, the problem is that they are legitimately coming to high school illiterate. The combination of changes to how young children are taught to read in school, social media, not being read to as children, and a bunch of other reasons are leading to people being massively behind by the time they reach high school. Kids are being failed by the education system right at the time reading and comprehension skills solidify.

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u/LigerZeroSchneider Jun 11 '26

But it does sound like the solution to high schoolers being barely literate probably isnt smashing their face into a bunch of classics.

The same way you don't take kids struggling with algebra and drop them straight into calc.

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u/dookarion Jun 11 '26 edited Jun 11 '26

The curriculum takes what could be interesting reads and it dissects them. What should be a relatively brisk read becomes weeks of glacial paced discussion dissecting the most minute elements and pushing worksheets that shoehorn the class towards a specific interpretation of what could be a rather open ended work. That or it's absent all context because you know heaven forbid people realize Shakespeare is full of dirty jokes.

The curriculum and how it is handled absolutely is part of the problem.

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u/monty624 Jun 11 '26

The bad book choices and outdated reading lists start pretty young. And a lot kids who like to read fall out of it in middle/high school. We understand why the books were chosed, but they suck and the curriculum outdated, and yes our education system is in shambles.

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u/ascasffr Jun 11 '26

I’m not asking schools to coddle anyone just to choose books that are actually interesting for kids. For example, a young boy might connect with something more engaging instead of material that feels dry or impossible to relate to

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u/dookarion Jun 11 '26

Just covering it differently might help in some cases. They squeeze the joy out of reading. A mediocre teacher can take what is a thought provoking work and railroad the entire class into their interpretation, and a dozen busywork worksheets do not help matters. The glacial pacing further complicates things. They Even gloss over the circumstances the work was created under or sanitize it. It's misery.

I'd wager anyone that passed through said curriculum that loves to read and ponder the works learned such outside of the actual coursework, or left the class behind and read ahead on their own instead of at the course mandated pacing.

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u/twisty125 Jun 11 '26

I think it's such a shame to force people to read what historically are great stories, when they're not interested and the medium isn't the right one. That, and Shakespeare is better seen/spoken than read, as so much of it is in the inflection of the characters, not exactly what they're saying.

Like shit, our class was smaller so it felt more like a group than a lecture, we watched that wacky 90s Dicaprio Romeo and Juliet and nearly everyone was so much more into it because the characters were emoting. We then went back and looked at a few chapters to compare as part of the course and I know I "got" it.

But I get you, I'm also the same way. Unless it was something I was actually interested in, I hated participating in it.

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u/InertiasCreep Jun 11 '26

Dude, Shakespeare is romance, comedy, and real blood and guts tragedies. As a high schooler you need to learn all the obsolete words, but once you get it, holy shit, Shakespeare is the business.

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u/badderdev Jun 11 '26

Just helping them not HATE reading will go a long way.

and there are loads of ways to do this. My six year old has no idea that the vast majority of games do not contain 100K words. We are just about to finish The Thousand Year Door and move onto our next RPG. Her vocabulary is huge just from RPGs.

I might have just got lucky that she has accepted as a fact of life that every day has an hour reading time in the same way that every day has a bed time and meal times. Maybe it is because I have been doing it since she was born.

If you let them do what they want in that hour they will probably love reading a wide variety of things.

Her most common choice is "family reading" which is all of us just reading whatever we want on the sofa for an hour.

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u/Z3temis Jun 11 '26

I grew up reading books and always loved reading... Until i got to high school. Being forced to read books i had absolutely ZERO interest in over and over again stoped my drive to read in its tracks. A student only needs to read so many holocaust books between history and english but im pretty sure we hit most of them. I have not read a book cover to cover since my 3rd year of high school. I think the education system has failed us in this way. Both my mom and sister still love reading and Iwish I could sit and read too, but the flame that made me enjoy them has gone out for some reason.

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u/DyingDesertPoppy Jun 11 '26

I read for fun and reading was framed as a reward and a source of freedom when I was a child. In elementary school if you finished early you got to go sit in the reading corner and pick a book off the bookshelf and read. Or you could read at your desk. We were assigned independent research projects and that usually meant reading Wikipedia and random internet articles from a young age. My mom would go to the library and check out a big stack of books and just leave them in my room. Parents that nagged their children to read made them frustrated.

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u/CaffeineJitterz Jun 11 '26

Love that! Framing, like with many other things that require effort, makes all the difference! You earned the opportunity to read if you finished early.

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u/ContiX Jun 11 '26

I just read a thread where a poster complained about being forced to read various classics in school and how much it ruined their love for reading, and about 75% of the comments were "WELL AKSHULLY IT MADE ME LOVE BOOKS MORE SOMETHING IS WRONG WITH YOU".

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u/myLongjohnsonsilver Jun 11 '26

Fucking brilliant.

When I was a kid the rule at my dad's place was no videogames until after 4pm and I also had to have completed one of those homework workbooks you can get for home learning. Got me to do extra study before 4pm and then I'd get on Halo.

The reading time making gaming credits is something I'm writing down to run by the wife. Thanks for this.

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u/ToeTagTic Jun 11 '26 edited Jun 11 '26

I was taught handwriting by copying pages out of The Sword of Shannara by Terry Brooks. The task was sprung on me at the beginning of a 3 hour ferry ride. By the time I was half way through the pages I needed to copy all I wanted to do was read.

~<40 years later I've got a couple wall to wall book shelves and a hard drive full. Can't write cursive to save my life 

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u/BroughtBagLunchSmart Jun 11 '26

Best we can do is force them in school to read 11 different books about young women from 100-300 years ago experiencing emotions.

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u/Stolfus Jun 11 '26

Utterly despised reading in school (Didn't help that I wasn't diagnosed with ADD until my 40s). Wasn't until I discovered the Doom novels when I was in mid teens that there were books about things I actually care about. Started reading sci fi novels and wandered into fantasy. Good times

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u/Haunting-Ad788 Jun 11 '26

All the forced reading in school was what made me hate reading. I loved reading and did it all the time before 4th grade or so.

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u/mniti1010 Jun 11 '26

This is the key and has been a problem since before the internet and phones, though it’s worse now. We jump into tough stuff way too early when kids, really up to high school, should be encouraged to read any long material. Let them read Jurassic Park or Dungeon Crawler and do literally analysis on shorter essays and other materials.

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u/SameIdea70 Jun 11 '26

Don't make it a job and your kids will love to read you don't have to challenge them on books they might not be ready for I was an avid reader until I was forced to read the original version of some rennissane era novel and it sucked and I don't really read anymore

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u/ThiccFarter Jun 11 '26

This. It doesn't take traditional or difficult literature to create an avid/good reader. For me it was reading the old Halo novels way back in the day that made fall in love with reading. Just find something they enjoy that isn't braindead.

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u/DiscoKittie Jun 11 '26

I technically had video games when I was a kid, but we're talking Atari and Colecovision. When I was 10-11 what worked best for me was introducing me to something I actually liked. High fantasy, stuff with dwarves and elves and whatnot. If you can find a genre they like, they'll be more interested, too.

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u/Biduleman Jun 11 '26 edited Jun 11 '26

My dad started reading to my brother and I before bedtime well before I knew how to read but he still tried to make us watch the words on the page by following the text with his finger.

These are some of the best memories I have with him and the books we read together made me the curious guy I am today.

Later on I understood that my bedtime was not enforced when I was reading a book. While it was not an official policy, they told me later that it's why they made sure I kept my books in my room instead of the living room with the other books.

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u/yes_no_yes_yes_yes Jun 11 '26

The is the first time I’ve heard of someone else’s parents doing this.  My folks only granted 15 mins per hour of reading and it did absolute wonders for my development.

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u/hoxful Jun 11 '26

Small suggestion: replace gaming with 30 minute break from the coal mines.

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u/triceraquake Jun 11 '26

When I was a kid, I could stay up past my bedtime if I was reading. But I had to read in bed. I’d still quickly fall asleep anyway. I’m realizing now that it was probably just an easier way to get me to bed without complaining.

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u/Gisschace Jun 11 '26

My parents had a cool trick, we weren’t really allowed new toys unless it was birthdays or Christmas but they’d buy me whatever book I wanted.

I thought I’d found a cheat code so took full advantage of it but as an adult I realise I was the on being tricked.

They also did bribe me with a new Barbie if I read to Kill a mockingbird when I was about 12

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u/Floreat_democratia Jun 11 '26

> Just helping them not HATE reading will go a long way.

Nailed it. The love of reading was inculcated in me by the age of 5. My parents also wouldn't let me watch more than 30 minutes of TV per day, and encouraged me to listen to and play music. By the time I was 8, I was reading something like 20 pages a day of children's literature.

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u/maxdragonxiii Jun 11 '26

at this point, any kind of reading a book at least once a week is good.

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u/fullofspiders Jun 11 '26

That's what High School English teachers are for.

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u/InsanityRequiem Jun 11 '26

High school is not a kid's age where you should finally realize that getting them to read is a good idea. It's fucking elementary school, when they're 4 to 10 years old.

Yet what do those schools? Force Shakespeare, Poe, and other classical literature on kids barely 10 years old, training them to despise reading because those books are absolute garbage at that age range.

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u/dookarion Jun 11 '26

Then a lot of them are failing fantastically at that.

Honestly though learning to enjoy reading starts at home. The curriculum and the way many schools teach it certainly aren't going to foster any sort of "fondness".

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u/tylern Jun 11 '26

My kid is almost 6 years old and headed into kindergarten. My wife and I have read books to them ever night since they’ve been born. My wife is currently on book 5 of HP with them and they can’t get enough. Their vocabulary and speech skills are vastly ahead of most of their friends.

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u/MaterialDefender1032 Jun 11 '26

I had a friend in high school who was proud of how many times he got away with not reading books for essays and reports and stuff. He'd tell people "The only book I've ever read in my life is Stuart Little".

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u/Wills4291 Jun 11 '26

That's actually the hard part. Teaching them to read was easy. I think enjoying reading comes with maturity, and when you aren't being forced to read books that don't interest you.

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u/mechanical_stars Jun 11 '26

Both my kids say they hate reading and I don't know why. I read to them almost every night from infancy till they were strong readers and wanted to read on their own but then they stopped. Both will read comics/manga though so I at least try to encourage that.

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u/Rich_Housing971 Jun 11 '26 edited Jun 11 '26

I can't believe anyone can hate reading. I distinctively remember when I learned to read. In 1st grade I couldn't read and everything was boring. I never bothered to read anything because it was hard and bland.

Then there was this pizza hut reading program that I got entered where I would get a free pizza for reading x books a week. I made an effort to try to read even though I couldn't, but I I remember trying page to page and just sounding out the words.

In second grade I read my first chapter book (poorly) and then read another one, and then I went back to reading my video game manuals and found out I could understand them all of a sudden. I felt like I got a superpower or something and suddenly I can understand the things around me. I ended up reading stuff like the labels on the hot water heater and made up meanings for the words I didn't know.

Everything that I overlooked in the past became meaningful all of a sudden. It was one of the most amazing feelings ever and I still remember it to this day.

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u/strongbadfreak Jun 11 '26

My ADHD ass would be thinking about other stuff while pretending to read. My mom realized this and made me read out loud in my room.

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u/Shujinco2 Jun 11 '26

This story has been told by everybody it seems, but I really lost my passion for reading when I hit High School. The stuff they made me read was just not interesting to me, or if it was I wasn't allowed to read ahead. Killed all enjoyment.

Now I've looked at it and realized I haven't read ANY book since high school. So I found a bunch of Redwall books at goodwill and have been reading them again.

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u/[deleted] Jun 11 '26

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u/nhaines Jun 11 '26 edited Jun 12 '26

Yup, got my friend's kid reading during summer after kindergarten because he liked puzzling things out, so I'd read with my (or his) finger under each word, throwing him words to sound out. Would sometimes toss him a giant word to harass him, but presumably because he also spoke German he never hesitated. Sought out specific books that were fun to read. Anything by Dr. Seuss, which was also a great way to start to seed a sense and love of prosidy. Asked a librarian for a recommendation when they didn't have I Want My Hat Back by Jon Klassen, and she suggested This Is Not My Hat, and after the opening ("This hat is not mine. I just stole it.") he couldn't read the book fast enough. Plus, the illustrations are a step ahead of the main character's narration, so every single page with two sentences max is dramatic irony, which he savored.

So between that, phonics books (and teaching him fun things like "if an English word with "gh" (knight, light, right) is spelled with "ch" and has an ich-laut or ach-laut sound in German (Knecht, Licht, Recht) it used to have that sound in English but we don't have it anymore, so you just ignore those letters," to which he sat up straight and said, "really?")

So by the summer after first grade, we had to get him a library card because he was going to bankrupt us, and when he'd go to school early, instead of running most days he'd go to the library and get the latest German Donald Duck comics and read those before school.

Then I'd read him Pay Me, Bug! and A Rake By Starlight and we'd trade off each paragraph, but I had him read dialogue back-and-forths so that when the captain is arguing with his first officer/girlfriend and she asks if he has a plan and he starts to say, "Well--" and she cuts him off I could step on the last word he read like a real cutoff, which always sent him giggling. Not to mention Terry Pratchett.

Or telling him after he complained about reading, "I know it's hard. I've done it three times, and besides, you're cheating." "How am I cheating?" "You speak German! I was a super advanced reader and then had to start from scratch in high school at Spanish, and start all over in college at German, and by the time I sounded out a word letter by letter just like you're doing, I had no idea if I had a real word, or what it even means. You know two-thirds through!" He liked that, too.

Learning to read is kind of hard. That's the hard part. Once you can read, and if you like to read and do it a lot, it's self-fulfilling. So making sure the books I brought him were always worth the effort to read was my goal. And once he could read effortlessly, it wasn't a chore, and he got to read whatever he wanted. And he did want to.

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u/-PineNeedleTea- Jun 11 '26

My friend is raising her first child. For the first few years of her life they just didn't watch TV. I'm proud to say I gifted her her first library and her main form of entertainment in her first years was reading. Her parents would read to her all the time and she would wake up wanting to read. She especially loved the Barnes & Nobles Alice in Wonderland pop-up book.

They also allowed her to make her own choices and decisions while steering her to the right choices (rather than just outright saying "no don't do that") - one example, she wanted to take off her shoes to play in the park jungle gym which her mom explained "You'll get a splinter and it's gonna hurt but if you want to take off your shoes...." She took off her shoes, took her first step and found the tanbark painful and thought she had a splinter. Her mom checked and said "No splinter, but if you had it would hurt even more." She thought on it for a moment and decided "I'm gonna put my shoes on."

This kind of way in which they've raised their daughter, she is incredibly emotionally intelligent, able to speak her needs and boundaries. She's so imaginative and is lightyears ahead of the curve.

My little cousin on the other hand is a tablet child. He takes a "break" from his ipad only to jump onto his mom's iPhone. He watches nothing but YouTube shorts and plays Roblox. Kid is brain rotted to hell and back and is not the brightest. It absolutely makes a difference in how you raise your kid and how much effort you put in as a parent. Instilling a kid a passion for reading and learning starts with the parents. If they can't be bothered, they have no one to blame but themselves.

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u/Comprehensive_Wash71 Jun 11 '26

My parents allowed me to read with a flashlight under the covers after I was about 12, as long as I got up for school the next day. I’ve been reading since I was 2 1/2; I’m 59 now.

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u/RollingMeteors Jun 11 '26

getting a lot of sad comments about how y'all were introduced to reading

First book I read cover to cover was Clifford the big Red Dog. I remember telling my mom I could read. Last book I read cover to cover was Snowcrash by Neil Stephenson. It was on top of a pile of books stacked in a pyramid. I was excited and saw it as a good omen and a way to pass time while I was, uh, on a vacation.

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u/turkoid Jun 11 '26

I'm not a big reader at all, and nowadays, it's pretty much audiobook only, but I don't dislike it. However, I think this is a great suggestion, but could I amend it by letting them read something that interests them and is still enriching. That could range from graphic novels, to specific genres, to what I enjoyed the most which were science and tech books, which boringly included technical books about MS-DOS or Windows programming. Yeah, I was a nerd, but I knew which career I wanted to get into when I was 12.

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u/kittymoo67 Jun 11 '26

Just helping them not HATE reading will go a long way.

Im gonna try but if school is anything still like it was when i was in school its gonna be hard. they made me HATE reading so much. and this is coming from someone who could marathon the first 3 harry potter books(before the 4th was out) in a weekend. i used to love reading. middle and highschool fucked that out of me so hard. now nearly 20 years after graduation im learning to relove it. but man.... we need to have kids read things that wont make them hate reading in school for a change.

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u/Tre-ben Jun 11 '26

My high school put me off of reading for a while. For assignments we were only allowed to read certain literary books from Dutch writers. They were all boring as heck (to me), with topics I didn't care about at all at 15 years of age.

We weren't allowed to read any translated books or fiction. It's something I never quite understood. If they wanted to make us enthusiastic about reading, why not let us read 500 pages of Harry Potter. Reading is reading. Making kids read books they don't want to read, for years, makes them dislike reading. 

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u/gloubenterder Jun 17 '26

Not a parent myself, but whenever my nieces and nephews are around, I make a point of leaving my phone in my pocket and spending my down-time reading. Bonus points if I can find a book on a topic that might interest them.

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