Parents, teachers and librarians have praised J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter books for awakening young people to the joy of recreational reading. But federal research shows that joy hasn’t had a lasting impact on reading habits.
Despite the huge success of the series — the seventh and final installment, “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows,” is due July 21 — the percentage of young people who read for fun continues to drop significantly as children get older, at almost exactly the same rate as before Harry Potter came along, the New York Times reported.
“It got millions of kids to read a long and reasonably complex series of books,” said Dana Gioia, chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts (who will be in Wichita next week). “The trouble is that one Harry Potter novel every few years is not enough to reverse the decline in reading.”
Posted by Phillip Brownlee
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16 Comments
Yeah, “Harry Potter” is the only good book to read out there.
Give me a break.
The joy of reading was lost long ago with the current crop of so-called parents that do not read themselves. The last few generations have had television 24/7, videos, the first Nintendo turned into X-Box, etc.
Even in today’s school environment, the sports department gets more money than the educational/library departments. Look at any university and the sports people get the bulk of the money. That is what is wrong with America today. We have sacrificed our education for the frivolous. Any doubt in that area and look at your average high school/college age kid – they cannot even count change at McDonalds.
Our country is paying a high price for valuing the wrong things in life. Sports players, hollywood celebrities and anyone on television gets paid millions of dollars a year while our daycare workers,teachers, social workers, etc. earn a less than living wage. We value the frivolous and we value the moment – we no longer value the things that count the most. And to further add injury to our country, our moral leaders, the president, politicians and highly paid television preachers have all let us down in the morals department. And somehow we accept those as being all right because we belong to a certain political party.
America used to be a great country but we have let our leaders worship their God of money and their greed has lead us to where we are today. We spend alot of money, that we do not have, and we are buying anything that is currently being marketed to us and especially to our kids. We need to learn to say ‘no’ to corporate greed, greedy politicians and greedy preachers.
Today’s world has more information at our fingertips but less attention spans to even comprehend what is happening in the world.
Kids emulate role models and parents. If the parents read then the children are likely to be more interested in books.I read at least a book a week on my own. This doesn’t count the books that are read to my children.My daughters and I are reading the “Little House on the Prairie” series. When we go outside to play – we pretend we are pioneers.When my son was little we read the first few Harry Potter books together. And still play wizards occasionally.Although we’ve been playing more Pirates lately.But some of the movies out have stimulated an interest in his reading. He likes reading fantasy and horror.
So pop culture can spark interest in kids reading habits IF parents and role models encourage it.
“their greed has lead us to where we are today.”
Would you be pleased to be defining greed for us today?
Very true fedup. I read to my grandkids; even from time to time from books that I am reading. They don’t necessarily understand my books (they are 5 and 3) but they see reading as something we do.
They constantly bring me their books to read to them; they seem to love that.
Read me a story Grandpa Ben. :)
“Read me a story Grandpa Ben. :)”Posted by whatever.
Ben, you will have to limit yourself to three letter words, as whatever’s IQ limits his ability to understand anything with four or more letters.
‘Kids emulate role models and parents. If the parents read then the children are likely to be more interested in books.’Posted by: Julie
I think the parents of kids that do not read much are the most likely cause of that. Kids mirror what they see. When mom and dad, grandparents, aunts, uncles, etc use their free time to read for pleasure, kids learn that reading can be something fun to do. I think it is great that there are still some people that read to their kids (or to someone else’s kids).
‘I read to my grandkids; even from time to time from books that I am reading. They don’t necessarily understand my books (they are 5 and 3) but they see reading as something we do.’Posted by: Ben
I do the same thing with my nieces. I often read them the paper on Sunday morning, even though they are 2 and 5. I skip the scary parts though (like the business page and Op-Ed)
Lol BrianAlthough I don’t remember my parents doing a lot of book reading when I was a child, I do agree that kids will emulate their enviroment. I still love to read, although I’m a bit dangerous..won’t put it down till I’m done with the book. I never did learn how to read a littler bit each day.Kudos to Julie and Ben (and anyone else) for keeping their little ones reading. It doesn’t matter what the subject is, it sharpens the mind, reasoning skills, exposure to a larger vocabulary…etc. The goodness is infinite.We certainly need less video games and tv watching! Encourage creative play. I remember playing ‘house’..UGH…but, it’s what little girls did then. Even typical role playing helps one learn how to work with others.
Thanks WichiWomn – the thing is it is so much FUN!
And you are correct about kids emulating the environment. That is why it is somewhat frustrating that I cannot let them take part in some things – mowing for example. Too dangerous IMO at this point. But, they do help plant flowers etc. They love being part of what we do. They even help their grandma sew! (and they are boys BTW)
My mother read to all us kids from day one. I could read at a forth grade level by the time I was in kindergarten. I have enjoyed reading since. I raised my son the same way.
I remember him reading some sci-fi nonsense with a picture of some scanti-clad amazon warrior on the cover. My mom asked what he was reading. Him being fourteen at the time, I said a glandular fullfilment advertisement.
“their greed has lead us to where we are today.”
Would you be pleased to be defining greed for us today?
Posted by: fleettwood
You certainly know what greed is, Fleetwood. You demonstrate that part of your character every time you post your opinion. You care about money and that is all. The true meaning of life is not money; but changing your mind will never happen.
Our country does not value things of importance. We want it cheap and we want it now. How do you think WalMart got so big? It sure was not from selling quality goods.
I just got back from taking my granddaughter to see the new Harry Potter movie. It has a very interesting problem; so much had to be cut that if you haven’t read the book, there’s no way you’d understand the movie, and if you have read it, all you see is what they left out!If you want a real revelation about how closely the kids read that series, go look at their commentaries on some of the fan sites. There is some very serious reading and thinking going on!
I think there are important points to consider in this whole Harry Potter thing:1. J.K.Rohling had to fight like crazy to get her first book published, but when the money started rolling in, the publisher loved her and they were hungry for _more_of_the_same_.2. However, a publisher won’t take the chance on any series – just to provide children with more books to read.3. Therefore, children haven’t been told that there is another “exciting” series to read and so they just don’t read anything.4. And by the way, I have learned that Reading To my grandchildren does NOT encourage them to read. They just continue to want me to read to them. The only way to become a reader is to READ.
I was fooled into thinking that kids were getting excited by the possibility of books due to the Potter series. Oh, well.