I switched up the faces hehe :)
Not a “kids nowdays” problem, more like a “nowdays” problem. I used to read about 4 books a month (the library would let me take up to 4 books home for up to a month tops) and I still love some books but I can not, for my mother’s life, sit the fucking down to do so. I’m pooping right now and I’m in the fucking phone. Our attention span is really taking a toll thanks to phones. Oh FYI the only “social media” I use is lemmy. I don’t even have an instagram/tiktok account
I don’t read because school conditioned me to consider reading a tiresome chore =(
That, and the dyslexia
What parents force kids to read is boring, lots of books out there that are fun, and even more so if you include comics
I lost my love of reading thanks to idiotic school mandates. I read so many books in jr high, in high school we had a homeroom at the end of the day that you weren’t allowed to do homework in, we were literally forced to read for 30 minutes. School admins thought this would ignite love for reading, instead it killed all of my joy for it. Nothing like sitting next to a sunny window thinking about how in just 23 more minutes you can go outside when you’re being forced to read right there.
Then detention too, if you got detention you weren’t allowed to do homework - because reasons I suppose. (Doing poorly in school? Getting detention? Well good luck, you can’t do homework here sucker!) So of course, more forced reading time. How did no one think that we would associate reading == punishment?
So now I find it incredibly difficult to read, and I hate it. All I think about is all of the other things I could be doing.
Do you enjoy audiobooks? You can listen to pretty much anything and go for a hike.
I got pretty big into them a while back when I had an hour commute before podcasts were a big thing.
I’d like to listen to audiobooks but it’s hard for me to focus on them when I’m doing other stuff, especially outside/commute because of anxiety.
I do, the one positive about commuting is that I can listen to books. It’s the physical act of reading now that’s destroyed for me. I love books, being in bookstores, but sitting down to read feels like wasted time. On the commute it’s hard for me to read and be in a moving vehicle, so audiobooks are great
It was the opposite for me. I got into books because of a recommended list my school sent us for summer vacation. Best thing that ever happened to me.
Replace “parents” with “schools” and that statement is correct.
The schools want the students to get the deeper meaning of all sorts of classics. They don’t slow down long enough to actually get any enjoyment out of it.
Gonna have to update this as books with AI slop become more common.
Get your kid a smartphone, then there’s no need for a library pass.
iPad generation
Haha phone bad old person meme
Mediums of information delivery change with time. Just because someone doesn’t read much doesn’t mean that they are idiots.
I will start reading books any day now.
I stopped reading books when Pratchett died. I don’t even know if there’s a correlation, but his books were by far the majority I read. It feels like I don’t have time to read, but the thing is: If I really wanted to, I would probably make time for it.
I listen to books, audio books are nice
Reading has been a massive improvement in my life, buying an eReader helped that along. From fiction to Marxist theory to history books, having an eReader helped me avoid issues with ADHD, I would struggle to open a book and stay focused but being able to pick up and put down an eReader at any time and read for a few minutes without having to carry a full book around was massive.
