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/lit/ - Literature


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21360945 No.21360945 [Reply] [Original]

It’s been a known fact that more and more people are reading less as time go on, so my question for you is this: How do we get children and teenagers to read more books?

I’ve thought about using the latest fads they’re interested in, like TikTok, virtual YouTubers, instagram, etc.

What do you think? Here’s a few examples.

https://youtu.be/DAZUHe0UGMI
https://youtu.be/ANQ26Vd718U
https://youtu.be/-6_WxQqombg

>> No.21360983

>>21360945
>https://youtu.be/DAZUHe0UGMI
>https://youtu.be/ANQ26Vd718U
>https://youtu.be/-6_WxQqombg
I mean, I can see value in doing something like this, I just don't see how it will give younger people the incentive to read books.

>> No.21360992
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21360992

This might seem like a brainlet thing to say, but: what about just talking to Zoomers and Alphas about reading?

If reading is so great, shouldn't you be able to articulate WHY it's so great? If reading a book or a poem can give you a level of delight and instruction that you can't get watching a movie, or browsing social media, then shouldn't you be able to say so?

My experience with young people time and time again is that a lot of them value honest engagement. Sure, some of them are going to think you're lame, or a loser. But some people are hopeless. But I have encountered plenty of teenagers who sincerely appreciate just being talked to honestly like adults.

So why not TELL them how much you love reading, and why you love it? Just tell them "reading is cool, here's why." I'm not sure it's any more complicated than that.

>> No.21361054

>>21360945
Fuck, it’s depressing that a Vtuber reads more than /lit/.

>> No.21361282
File: 239 KB, 368x476, Gatto - The Underground History of American Education.png [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
21361282

>>21360945
There's something systemically wrong about mandatory state schooling. It is a molding device designed to churn out citizen-worker, a dutiful unimaginative cog (at best. At worst as a society crumbles they're left with all sorts of shortages)
We must recreate a hybrid of classical education and make learning a joy. Literature is key. But an array of electronic media also stand in the way. Video games and the like are too readily available. Parents need to step up and not allow too much of these things. No computers for their rooms, till they're a certain age or something.

So while they're young, and not trudging off to school every morning, I see their parents giving them reasonable chores, reasonable amounts of electric entertainments, but also gentle introductions to the wonderful world of reading. Storytelling as well as bedtime should be at least hall of their entertainment. And when the time comes, teach them to read. They'll want to. And in about a week you'll have a reader. Follow up with questions about the books they're reading and what they thought of it. Encourage keeping a journal and/or getting a penpal or something like that.

vtubers/booktubers can fit in there too.

>> No.21361293

>>21361282
*as well as bedtime *stories should be at least *half of their entertain
Sorry. Should have gone over that a second time.

>> No.21361444

>>21360945
Why would I want zoomers to read more? Modern literature is already fucked enough. Let them tiktok twerk the world into Idiocracy.

>> No.21361571
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21361571

>>21361444
Because we don't want them to turn out like you.
Stupid American

>> No.21361656

>>21360945
Pewdiepie occasionally does book review videos. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JpnDfDPinPk

>> No.21361657

>>21360945
Kill all vtuber simps, literally kill them all.

human garbage

>> No.21362568

>>21361657
That won't do anything but get you a death sentence

>> No.21362875

>>21360992
This is an excellent point
>>21360945
Parents are the biggest answer.
Schools do books a major disservice by forcing kids to read in an unenjoyable way, and by making them read books that they might not enjoy even if they were pre-disposed to reading.

Not only do schools not get children into reading, it usually pushes them AWAY from it by turning it into a chore, and chasing students to associate reading with “homework.”

The best way for children to get into reading is for their parents to be readers, and for their parents to get them into books of their own choosing. Adolescents and teenagers need to find something that they’re interested in and read that. Everyone’s first recreationally-read book is a personal journey, but school has detached the personal from the systematic approach.

Mark Twain is excellent, but you’re not going to get a 12-year-old who barely knows how to read into novels by making them read Huck Finn out loud in class. They need to be allowed (and encouraged) to find something that THEY want to read about.

I had no interest in reading recreationally until the 6th grade, when my middle school English teacher made us pick a book to write a paper on, but let us choose any book from the library.

I found “The Sword and the Circle” by Rosemary Sutcliff (excellent Welsh and Irish legends of King Arthur’s court) and I enjoyed it so much that I stole it from the school library. I still have the copy more than a decade later.

Where parents come in is not only encouraging this, but keeping them away from the clutches of social media addiction. I hate to admit it, but the boomers were 100% right about kids with smartphones. Their attention spans are fried, they have to be kept away from social media, and too many parents (especially single moms) just shove an iPad in their kid’s face and then wonder why their kid is a dumb little shit.

>> No.21362889

The problem is that if kids/teens read more books, you lot would be whining about how they're not reading the "proper" books.

>> No.21362911

I have no idea anon. Booktok (a Tik Tok space dedicated to books) is probably helping, but I think that with how popular social media is younger people *are* going to be falling more and more out of touch with books and reading in general.

I think the best thing would be if teachers or someone could teach them about moderation when it comes to things like social media or whatever, and also tell them about alternative media formats, such as books, records, cassettes, etc. It could spark a hobby or interest.

When I have kids I do plan to make it a family activity. Reading to your kids, talking about books, buying books together, etc. All of that (plus how good light novels are) is what made me an avid reader.

>> No.21362914

>>21362875
>and too many parents (especially single moms) just shove an iPad in their kid’s face and then wonder why their kid is a dumb little shit.

Single moms live rent free in your head, which is weird considering they're an overrated, overblown problem much like "incels" are. Why don't you talk about all the dads out there who might as well have walked out for a carton of smokes but stuck around only to do fuck all with their kids, especially their sons? Any man can be a father, but it takes a real man to be a dad, and so many dads do the exact same shit you're talking about. The problem is that so many people have kids because they don't want to do their own chores/because they think they'll have the next Einstein, so when the kids become too moody to do them AND end up average at best, parents take it out on them via neglect.
>I bought you all those toys and games and shit, what do you mean I didn't love you?!
You lot honestly have no idea how bad it can get beyond your "muh single moms!" NPC shit, but then again, you'd probably not care because you'd have to acknowledge even normies can have problems too.

>> No.21362926

>>21362914
Because there’s millions of single moms, and it’s a problem. It’s a problem created by both men and women (women choosing losers who leave them, and men being losers), but it’s still a problem nonetheless. The west cannot survive without the family unit, and the family unit is being destroyed.

If we lived in some weird parallel universe where women and family courts were leaving single dads with kids, and these dads were all raising their kids with iPads, then I’d be pointing it out. But that isn’t the world we live in.

The iPad moms aren’t gonna fuck you bro.

Cope.

>> No.21362941

>>21362926

>The west cannot survive without the family unit, and the family unit is being destroyed.

And let me guess, the "family unit" is the totally trad and not at all atomized and kiked "nuclear family," right? The nuclear family is a modern invention meant exclusively for the suburbs. People used to grow up in family estates with grandparents, aunt's, uncle's, cousins, etc. Nowadays, you have to travel out of state to visit relatives. And you don't know what they be doing. The thing with modern psychology is that it's currently in a phase where everything is blamed on parents and the development during early stages of life. It's just a trend that will go away and psychology in general is pseudoscience.

>> No.21362952

>>21362941

I know it's hard to imagine considering you're clearly terminally online, but the nuclear family isn’t even the traditional western family, the traditional western family ranges from polygamous households to multi generation ones depending on the time scale you’re looking at for traditional. The traditional family unit is the extended family. Only in America does the "nuclear" concept has a home. Always hilarious to see conservatives upholding the nuclear family as being the based and redpilled traditionalist alternative to modern society. The nuclear family was part of the trend away from large families and strong community ties and towards atomization.

>> No.21362968

>>21362914
I'm pretty sure they just picked single moms as an example. I agree with you in that it applies just as much for single dads.

>>21362926
Yes, a one parent household is worse off than a two parent household, however it's not like all hope is lost. Any single parent can introduce their kid to the library, talk about how magical books are (and explain why), read to them a little every night, etc.

Also I don't see how the family unit is being destroyed. Absolutely no one is going out and advocating for single parent households. If you're going to mention something like "traditional sexual/cultural/etc. values need to be upheld" for the traditional family unit then that's an entirely different thing in my book, and one that I believe makes absolutely no difference. However that does steer more in politics rather than literature.

>> No.21362977

>>21362968
>Absolutely no one is going out and advocating for single parent households.

It's just empty buzzword slinging from the same people who'll poke fun at libs for over-relying on "incel" and "racist" - these types generally don't even believe what they preach, it's just their attempt to gather (You's) because they're so terminally online that they need internet asspats to function. The fact we're even responding to him is enough for the endorphins to flow.

>> No.21362995

>>21362889
Working in libraries, I can say YA interest is mostly the Japanese shit (Naruto, My Hero Academia), with some kids reading whatever fantasy is hot or a faddish series along the lines of Twilight/Hunger Games. It's very rare to see them wander into the real books and browse. Kids who do that are often homeschooled/religious nut families.

>> No.21363030

>>21362995
I think that even an interest in tropey YA stuff or weeb JP shit is still good! A lot of people I know (me included) started off with the popular YA stuff and then gravitated towards more popular non-YA novels, or novels falling under a particular niche they were interested in.

For me I took a long hiatus of reading in high school but aftwards but got back into it through manga and LNs, and then got interested in modern-ish Japanese literature. Anyway there's no harm in sticking to what you like, though it always good to explore outside of it from time to time :)

Anyway what's working in a library like anon? Any interesting stories or memorable moments?

>> No.21363078

>>21363030
I have my doubts but I hope it is a gateway. Where I work we get a fair number of people walking in from the hood who are...marginal. Untreated mental illness, substance problems. Lately we've had to call the cops a few times, guys not taking kindly to being told no porn on the public computers, guys threatening our staff. There's a lot going on normally, programs, kids running around, people meeting up for various reasons. We're more like a community center nowadays. It's def not the popular misconception, the church-like atmosphere and staff sits there and reads a book all day.

>> No.21363115

>>21362941
I mean a whole extended family living together would be most ideal, I don’t disagree with that. Parents, grandparents, cousins, all living together on one big property would be the best. That’s how my family lives, we pooped all our money together and got a piece of land.

But the second best option is at least keeping parents and children together, yes. And you’re braindead for acting like divorce and single motherhood isn’t a bad thing for society. You don’t need trad buzzwords to know this fact.

>> No.21363128

>>21362968
It was just an example, and while a single parent can still do a good job of introducing their kid(s) to books, it’s a lot harder.

If mommy or daddy is at work all day, and the kid spends 95% of their time at daycare or school being raised by the government and minimum-wage employees, its going to be a lot harder to get them into reading recreationally in the little time the parent actually spends with their child.

>> No.21363135

>>21363115
“Pooped”
>POOLED

>> No.21363145
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21363145

>It’s been a known fact that more and more people are reading less as time go on
that is literally false. You guys made a fucking 26 posts thread filled with long ass answers about a non-problem. Congrats

>> No.21363163

>>21363145
Bullshit.
https://www.arts.gov/sites/default/files/RaRExec.pdf
https://news.gallup.com/poll/388541/americans-reading-fewer-books-past.aspx
https://www.forbes.com/sites/michaeltnietzel/2020/09/09/low-literacy-levels-among-us-adults-could-be-costing-the-economy-22-trillion-a-year/?sh=6d53854b4c90
https://www.nationalreview.com/news/young-children-suffer-steep-drop-in-literacy-following-pandemic-closures/

>> No.21363190

>>21363128
Yup, I agree.

>>21363145
I just want to shoot the shit about hypothetical things with internet strangers, anon, way to be a party pooper.

>>21363078
Damn, that sounds rough. I've always had a more classical idea of what a library is like. But that's largely due to the fact that I've only heard about them in books and online, and never actually gone into one. My country has them but it mostly caters to books written in my native language which I don't care about at all.

>> No.21363286
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21363286

>>21362914
Who are you arguing with? You picked out a single quote from the end of someone's post and proceeded to argue with an imaginary person.

>> No.21363330

>>21360992
>If reading a book or a poem can give you a level of delight and instruction that you can't get watching a movie, or browsing social media, then shouldn't you be able to say so?
I would agree but books cannot give the same delight as a TikTok and TikTok doesn't even pretend to "instruct." Digital media is literally a drug and reading cannot naturally compete.

>> No.21363349

>>21360945
Who is this cutie.

>> No.21363386

>>21363349
The /lit/ queen

>> No.21363491

>>21360945
I've been pondering on this question as well. Finland is the country in europe when it comes to reading, i believe most adults there read close to a 100 pages a day. The secret, is perhaps their education system that gives more power to teachers while insuring they are not retarded(at least phd to be a teacher there), with the dreaded personal approach because it is a small country.

In hte countrty where i live is muslim so you can push decartian shit here in mosques, allah gave you wisdom ->using this wisdom is the greatest service to allah->give out books in mosques.

There are also book sharing take one get one thingies that can be popularized with the same tiktok examples.

I also wondered why are there no philosophy classes (in my cunt) in middle-high school if we are reading dostoevsky

Perhaps opening up more gyms would encourage people to read because it is known that physical activity encourages mental fortitude, yet we assume a direct correlation with reading = intelligence which is not exactly true

Perhaps an age restriction on phone/internet usage, that's the most severe one but is the only useful one im afraid. Thank you for posting, this is a good thread, despite the animes

>> No.21363770

>>21361571
Who is she, anon.

>> No.21363816

>younger people are now unironically associated with vtubers
Life is hell

>> No.21364211

>>21363816
Why?

>> No.21364244

Why does she talk retarded?

>> No.21364245

>>21364211
Because >>21363816 is a nihilist who doesn’t have a relationship with God.

>> No.21364250

this is an inherently cringe activity

>> No.21364263

>>21360945
>How do we get children and teenagers to read more books?
I think the lack of desire to read, is because along with other things the youth have been detracting from, reading doesn't have instant gratification.
If you want to spur reading for teens and children, I'd first teach them to minimize or eliminate their usage of phones and computers. To build discipline through cold showers, fitness, eating healthy, etc. And to teach them mindfulness through prayer, meditation and sitting in quiet moments and not becoming antsy about it.
Once all of this is accomplished, then it will become easier to inspire them to read. Once this stage is met, give them book suggestions that are already relevant to stuff they're interested in (technology, sports, history, psychology, popsci, poppsi, etc.)

>> No.21364278

>>21360945
The vtuber shill is back.