Why don't Americans read?

[Bighuey]

It was pretty much the same with me. I was always outside, running around with friends, going fishing, doing kid stuff. plus I always had a paper route which took a lot of my time. We didnt have TV back then, but we had the radio programs to listen to. But I always found time for reading, Library books, comic books I read a lot. My mom and dad were avid readers, thats probably where I got it from.

[Shadow_Steph]

I have asthma so growing up I couldn't play sports cause my lungs kill me after just a little running, as result I leaned towards music and literature for my fun. To me there's not a greater joy then finishing a book.

[WebKat]

I wish my son (teenager) would go outside and play. He curls up in a chair reading most days after he finishes homework and chores. He likes video games and reading, and not much else. :/

[pa3de8]

The only thing I can say is maybe the kids will read later in life like most of have. I NEVER read a book in school unless it was required reading for school. Didn't start reading casually until I hit my 30's and now I can't stop and do realize what I was missing.
I spent all my time outdoors playing sports in the neighborhood with the guys or chasing girls...lol.

Scott B.

[Tralala]

I wish my son (teenager) would go outside and play. He curls up in a chair reading most days after he finishes homework and chores. He likes video games and reading, and not much else. :/

Hell, that sounds like a great kid to me! Does homework, finishes chores, and reads...you're doing something right. Most kids can't get their heads out of video games at all. I've got a teenaged son, too, and most of his friends...well, they're great kids, but they don't read a lot. And their parents 'bout faint when they find out their kids have done chores at my house..but it's different when you're at a friend's place, and you're getting paid.
I dunno. I don't want to tell anyone how to raise their kids, but unless there's an obesity issue, I'd be jumping for joy! Some kids just aren't into sports.

[pa3de8]

I agree. I was big into sports. My 17 year old son, no sports. Not even video game sports. He does stuff around the house to help my ex-wife, enjoys video games and does read a little. But works hard in school and has goals set for himself. Couldn't ask for more.

Scott B.

[StephenKingman]

BIt late to this but i am surprised nobody has pointed out the obvious here: that making a huge generalisation like "Americans dont read" based on the nationality of two members of one of MILLIONS of forums on the internet is a bit daft, no? Or maybe just me. But based on that logic alone, i cant add anything else!

[Fran]

BIt late to this but i am surprised nobody has pointed out the obvious here: that making a huge generalisation like "Americans dont read" based on the nationality of two members of one of MILLIONS of forums on the internet is a bit daft, no? Or maybe just me. But based on that logic alone, i cant add anything else!

Ah Hell Mike you and your logic!
On your basis there would be no national stereotypes at all & what would we talk about then ...

[StephenKingman]

BIt late to this but i am surprised nobody has pointed out the obvious here: that making a huge generalisation like "Americans dont read" based on the nationality of two members of one of MILLIONS of forums on the internet is a bit daft, no? Or maybe just me. But based on that logic alone, i cant add anything else!

Ah Hell Mike you and your logic!
On your basis there would be no national stereotypes at all & what would we talk about then ...

Im all for gossip but a bit more than "the main 2 people on this forum are Irish" is needed, thats just nonsensical..

[Fran]

BIt late to this but i am surprised nobody has pointed out the obvious here: that making a huge generalisation like "Americans dont read" based on the nationality of two members of one of MILLIONS of forums on the internet is a bit daft, no? Or maybe just me. But based on that logic alone, i cant add anything else!

Ah Hell Mike you and your logic!
On your basis there would be no national stereotypes at all & what would we talk about then ...

Im all for gossip but a bit more than "the main 2 people on this forum are Irish" is needed, thats just nonsensical..

I think we added another one while you were off the grid ... so that's 3 now, a definite majority!

[pa3de8]

BIt late to this but i am surprised nobody has pointed out the obvious here: that making a huge generalisation like "Americans dont read" based on the nationality of two members of one of MILLIONS of forums on the internet is a bit daft, no? Or maybe just me. But based on that logic alone, i cant add anything else!

Ah Hell Mike you and your logic!
On your basis there would be no national stereotypes at all & what would we talk about then ...

Im all for gossip but a bit more than "the main 2 people on this forum are Irish" is needed, thats just nonsensical..

I am Italian/Irish....does that count for anything?

Scott B.

[Ant]

It counts for your identity Scott, has a say on who and what you are, I'm sure we all have a bit of some foreign land in us if we all dig deep enough, did we all start off in Africa at one time ?

[Fran]

I am Italian/Irish....does that count for anything?

Scott B.[/quote]

Italian/Irish .... not a problem we'd be delighted to claim you Scott.

[WebKat]

Growing up (in America) I remember being baffled by other children and later teens, and eventually adults who claimed not just to not enjoy reading, but to "hate" it. Hate reading. It's like hating movies or music or something like that. It's inconceivable to me. I have always loved to read. As kid when my mom told me to clean my room, I'd hide behind furniture and read. On the swingset at school, I was reading. Walking home from the bus? Reading. The whole ride home on the bus? Of course reading. In the bath, on the toilet, while I ate? Reading. (We didn't do family meal times.) Now that I've got a teenage child of my own I'm just so happy that he picked up my love of reading and not that other, bizarre disdain for it. He got the Hunger Games trilogy for Christmas and had finished all three books in a week and a half. Now I'm reading them--they're quite entertaining, fwiw.

While I did grow up noticing these strange reading-haters, I also knew a lot of people who did love to read. Or at least liked it. Or at least tolerated it if nothing was on TV. All in all I'd say that at my stage in life most of my peers enjoy reading. My husband reads daily and we share books (all three of us have Kindles, so we can load the same books on all three and all read them--we rarely read paper books anymore--but we read more books total because we can take the Kindle just about anywhere.)

I'd say the question "Why don't Americans read?" has a basic flaw at its premise. In certain social circles and economic classes and subcultures and whathaveyou it may seem that nobody reads, but those people represent a small fraction of the country's population. I think most Americans read for pleasure at least some of the time, and I've met many, many, many people who, like myself, read nonstop.

[Shadow_Steph]

Growing up school took away my passion for reading by making me read stuff I didn't want to. I do credit my nook for reading a lot more. I like seeing the page of total pages posted it gets me excited when I see I'm close to the end. Also I have cerebral palsy and it is hard for me to force a novel to stay open. It hurts my hands, my nook solves that, also like enlarging font. I'm only 25 so there are young people that read in America.