An article from the New Yorker in 2007 describes a major decrease in literacy in the recent century. The article states that they did a study in the Netherlands between the years of 1955-1975. They asked everyday people to keep diaries and journal entries of what they did on their spare time, every 15 minutes. With the help of the invention of the television, the amount of reading dropped from 5 hours per week to a measly 3.6 hours per week. Watching television, on the other hand, increased from 10 minutes per week to 10 hours.
By 1995, reading occupied only 9% of people's spare time.
Sociologists think that reading might someday slip into an activity mean for a special "reading class", much like it was before books were published in the 19th century.
Reading is an essential part of exercise for the brain. It develops healthy, positive thinking and decreases the chances of depression and cognitive cells. Reading also enlightens the brain and expands the front part of the brain, which works on muscle memory.
It is also an interesting fact that readers view the world in a different way than people who view television or movies. Readers have a broader imagination and learn by drawing their own conclusions from the descriptive words.
The ironic part about the way I came across this interesting and appealing article was that I had put down my assigned reading for history class, which was slowly, but surely, putting me to sleep. Page after page of uninteresting reading makes it seem like a jumble of words. I, personally, dislike reading unless it is completely engaging or relevant to my life. However, the only engaging books are eventually turned into movies. The books' plots are then tortured into cinematic experiences to sell tickets at the theatres. What is the point of imagining my characters and scenes if they will just show me anyways this coming Fall for $9.50? By the way, the reason your book never turns out the way you want it to is for two facts: readers all have unique imaginations and because Hollywood must go through a series of editors, writers, and agents to create a over-dramatized star-studded movie version of your book.
I believe the real reason for a decrease in reading and writing is social networks and texting, both of which created a system of communication called short-hand messaging (i.e. lol or brb). Basically, people are slowly forgetting to read and write because they are creating a new language to learn for themselves, a new language of slang. The English language is getting shorter and interests in generations are changing. If people really do end up wanting to write a word and do not know how to spell it, there is always spell-check. Spell-check allows people to mispell words and not take responsibility for the ramifications involved in fixing the error.
Who needs a dictionary when I can just right-click the word and take my best shot?
If television really has that big of an impact on reading and writing, why aren't more programs dedicated to educating future generations?
I grew up with Sesame Street and Reading Rainbow. Where are those shows now? What do kids have to watch on television to expand their ever-growing minds now?
While we're on the subject of teaching future generations, they should really invest the time in creating common sense classes for everyday life. Really, they should. I had to learn how to fill out a deposit slip at the bank the hard way. Yeah, I looked like an idiot.
Extra Postage Required: Use a bit more sense next time.
Reading is an essential part of exercise for the brain. It develops healthy, positive thinking and decreases the chances of depression and cognitive cells. Reading also enlightens the brain and expands the front part of the brain, which works on muscle memory.
It is also an interesting fact that readers view the world in a different way than people who view television or movies. Readers have a broader imagination and learn by drawing their own conclusions from the descriptive words.
The ironic part about the way I came across this interesting and appealing article was that I had put down my assigned reading for history class, which was slowly, but surely, putting me to sleep. Page after page of uninteresting reading makes it seem like a jumble of words. I, personally, dislike reading unless it is completely engaging or relevant to my life. However, the only engaging books are eventually turned into movies. The books' plots are then tortured into cinematic experiences to sell tickets at the theatres. What is the point of imagining my characters and scenes if they will just show me anyways this coming Fall for $9.50? By the way, the reason your book never turns out the way you want it to is for two facts: readers all have unique imaginations and because Hollywood must go through a series of editors, writers, and agents to create a over-dramatized star-studded movie version of your book.
I believe the real reason for a decrease in reading and writing is social networks and texting, both of which created a system of communication called short-hand messaging (i.e. lol or brb). Basically, people are slowly forgetting to read and write because they are creating a new language to learn for themselves, a new language of slang. The English language is getting shorter and interests in generations are changing. If people really do end up wanting to write a word and do not know how to spell it, there is always spell-check. Spell-check allows people to mispell words and not take responsibility for the ramifications involved in fixing the error.
Who needs a dictionary when I can just right-click the word and take my best shot?
If television really has that big of an impact on reading and writing, why aren't more programs dedicated to educating future generations?
I grew up with Sesame Street and Reading Rainbow. Where are those shows now? What do kids have to watch on television to expand their ever-growing minds now?
While we're on the subject of teaching future generations, they should really invest the time in creating common sense classes for everyday life. Really, they should. I had to learn how to fill out a deposit slip at the bank the hard way. Yeah, I looked like an idiot.
Extra Postage Required: Use a bit more sense next time.
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