Abysmal news for our society

[houseelf]

One in four read no books last year.
Article found at:


http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/200 ... ding_N.htm

This terrifies me for the fate of our society!

Kelly

[DCJenn]

OMG- scary.

but then again, I would bet the no one in my clinic read a book (in Spanish or English) last year. Why? because they're functionally illiterate for the most part.

But I bet they've all seen American Idol, the Spanish Ugly Betty, the English Ugly Betty and all of the Springer shows.

Jenn

[Stella]

:thud:

I still think my measly one or two per month is pathetic.

Holy. crap.

[houseelf]

I'm afraid I'm going to come off overly moralistic, but I *honestly* can't comprehend a life where books weren't an ordinary, central part of the day. One of my greatest goals for my kids is to get them reading SOMETHING every single day for the rest of their lives. This statistic is staggering. Hell, even my 110 hour-work-week hubby has read a handful of nonmedical books over the past few years. He doesn't even always find time to eat, pee, or sleep but he has managed some John Douglas, Ian Fleming, and Dan Brown!.

I feel like a droid chanting DOES NOT COMPUTE!!! DOES NOT COMPUTE!!!


I'm getting off the intern to draw a bath and start a new book right now.

Kelly

[fluffhead]

Well here's me being my contrarian self again, but what makes reading more intellectually stimulating than watching TV?
Honestly, some of the trash fiction that I see coming through my house does not exercise the imagination any more than an afternoon of Judge Judy.
So 1 in 4 didn't read a book. Big deal. I think a more meaningful statistic would be "only 1 in 10 Americans read a book with redeeming qualities in 2006."
Am I coming off as abrasive and obnoxious? I hope so, I'm practicing for jury duty!

[DCJenn]

Nice try...

dude, you're a teacher...not buying it.

jenn

Well here's me being my contrarian self again, but what makes reading more intellectually stimulating than watching TV?
Honestly, some of the trash fiction that I see coming through my house does not exercise the imagination any more than an afternoon of Judge Judy.
So 1 in 4 didn't read a book. Big deal. I think a more meaningful statistic would be "only 1 in 10 Americans read a book with redeeming qualities in 2006."
Am I coming off as abrasive and obnoxious? I hope so, I'm practicing for jury duty!

yeah ... but ... most people who would answer that they hadn't read ANY books in a year are not probably tuning into the History or National Geographic channel every night. They're probably the ones watching Big Brother or Fear Factor or Temptation Island.

Just the process of READING requires your mind to do more than when it's watching t.v. And I freely admit that I watch more than my share of t.v. ... but I'm also an avid reader. So I'm balanced! Finally - in ONE facet of my life I'm balanced!

[poky]

I get the shakes just thinking about not being able to read myself to sleep at night. I can count on one hand the number of nights I've fallen asleep without reading myself to sleep...ever since I could read. I'm in Kelly's "DOES NOT COMPUTE" camp.

[planet]

Regardless of what is being read I still worry about the message it sends to the children of these people too. I agree that reading lets you be a part of creating the world you enter and use your imagination in a way that tv cannot.

[migirl]

I'm also an avid reader, but when I saw that study yesterday I remembered that ... my DH has read MAYBE ... one book ... in the last ... 5 years. It just doesn't interest him, and it never has.

[SuzySunshine]

I'm also an avid reader, but when I saw that study yesterday I remembered that ... my DH has read MAYBE ... one book ... in the last ... 5 years. It just doesn't interest him, and it never has.

My DH is probably the same but not because it doesn't interest him, he just doesn't have time. He's an avid reader of war time books but lately its been all board studying.

[Liz2254]

I watch too much supremely craptastic TV, but I read about a book a week so I guess that gives me a single facet of balance in my life too

DH has never enjoyed reading, and that has always sort of bugged me, for reasons I've never quite been able to put into words.[/quote]

[peggyfromwastate]

DH only read one book his whole youth- and it was....

drumroll...

The Autobiography of Wilt Chamberlain

See- I don't even know how to spell that guy's name, but DH told me how he claimed to have slept with more than 1200 women or something.

So the parents who are functionally illiterate is a HUGE factor. They watched probably an average of 8 hours of TV a day (novelas --that would be Spanish soap operas) and wrestling, with the occasional horror flick.) It is really sad.

I've got him to read a couple of books since we've been married, and I hope that someday he will cultivate a love of reading. But it is a challenge. He reads his text books really well!