Why don't Americans read?

[Mel Carriere]

I grew up in a normal suburban area, and nobody really cared either. Kids were supposed to go outside and exercise their muscles as well as their minds. We had very active imaginations, and were always making up games. The thought of child molesters and other such pervies never crossed our minds, although I'm sure they were out there. It could be there were more stay at home Moms peeking out the windows to make sure we were okay without us knowing it.

[mjmooney]

Is it just the easy access to their own literature? Here in England there is a wider variety of British books - that is, written by British authors, and even though I have read my fair share of American books there have been a few times I haven't been able to find a book either in the library or a bookshop that might be very popular in America but just not accessible here unless I go through online means. And when it comes to certain books like classics I haven't so far seen what you might term an American classic in the bookstores I visit, but they are full of British (obviously) and European.

So shop online! I'm English, and I probably read as much American and European literature as I do British. It's all available, it just may not be on the high street. amazon.com.uk (and resellers) is an addiction!

Incidentally, do American kids follow the same pattern as British ones, in that there is a perceived problem getting boys to read, far more than girls? Maybe I was unusual but as a boy I used to read obsessively (perhaps because I was an only child?) Doesn't seem to happen much nowadays, which is worrying.

[smurphy-]

Maybe some of us just spend more time reading than posting about reading? I mean, when I first looked at the average number of posts of the 'top-posters' I was completely baffled. I don't even know how you would have the time to go to work, eat, bathe, etc. if you posted that much let alone read anything. Maybe there are a lot of short posts? And I want to be clear that I am not saying there is anything wrong with posting, I just don't think that your 'typical' reader in any country is going to spend that much time online.

[westgirl]

I'm Canadian and we can definately ask the same question of us. I strongly agree with another post who said she thinks it's because people are doing unproductive things on the internet. I do believe though that it is a generational phenomena just like obesity. Kids don't get out enough, and when their inside they are using either: their computer, i-pad,i-pod, etc. They are no longer encouraged to use their imaginations, and they are no longer encouraged to read. As a society we need to get back to the basics as we enter this new world of technology, and learn that we can have both to be fully successful.
Something to think about anyway

[Fran]

Maybe some of us just spend more time reading than posting about reading? I mean, when I first looked at the average number of posts of the 'top-posters' I was completely baffled. I don't even know how you would have the time to go to work, eat, bathe, etc. if you posted that much let alone read anything. Maybe there are a lot of short posts? And I want to be clear that I am not saying there is anything wrong with posting, I just don't think that your 'typical' reader in any country is going to spend that much time online.

Well some of us just do both ... personally I read 109 books in 2011, I keep a record of everything I read, and I'm sure I posted about most, if not all, of them. I don't have kids so I guess that is a big factor in having reading time .... although I have a niece & nephew who I absolutely adore & spend a lot of time with. I work full time but fortunately my work is computer based so it's just a matter of flicking backwards & forwards between work & the web ... easy.
I have no problem watching TV, listening to music or radio & posting here at the same time.
Reading is probably my No 1 hobby & I read an average of 3-4 hours a day, while commuting, at lunch & break time and at night. My OH works involves anti-social hours so reading is a superb way to pass the time if I'm alone ... which is probably why I don't read Horror!

[doglvr]

I'm of the generation where we had to do book reports every month, books we read on our own, and also class reading of the classics. This is no longer required. I blame the schools. Now when they read a book they have to dissect every part of it. Also, there are no individual books read & reported on. At least not when my son was in school and our town is considered one of the top school systems. Money is no object when it comes to the school. The same was true for my grandson who graduated highschool last year. Spelling has also disappeared. A teacher told me kids spell "phonetically". I don't think this leads to reading. Not when you don't understand the words.

Hopefully things will turn around, especially when the powers to be realize other countries are surpassing us.

[Kowalskil]

I'm of the generation where we had to do book reports every month, books we read on our own, and also class reading of the classics. This is no longer required. I blame the schools. Now when they read a book they have to dissect every part of it. Also, there are no individual books read & reported on. At least not when my son was in school and our town is considered one of the top school systems. Money is no object when it comes to the school. The same was true for my grandson who graduated highschool last year. Spelling has also disappeared. A teacher told me kids spell "phonetically". I don't think this leads to reading. Not when you don't understand the words.

Hopefully things will turn around, especially when the powers to be realize other countries are surpassing us.

I agree with the above. The phenomenon of grade inflation also has something to do with this.

Ludwik Kowalski (see Wikipedia)

[backtobooksmom]

I think that Americans read less because of a busy lifestyle. America is known for the never stop type of living. i am just getting back into the joy of reading. For the past year I have worked 4 hours, had 3 children (4 if you include the husband), taught part time at a community college, and finished my masters. This is in addition to the PTO stuff for my daughters school and running all the kids where they needed to be, grocery shopping, laundry, dinner, etc. etc. etc. I just did not have time for reading, even as much as I loved it.
I agree that there is something to be said for the school systems, in our country. However, I find it is the parents job to instill the love of reading into a child as much as it is the schools. This is coming from a mom that cannot get her daughter to read without forcing her. I am hoping that requiring summer reading and time each night with a good chapter book now, will develop into something more later. If nothing else, reading is a number one way to exercise the brain. Readers do better in all areas of school. So it cant hurt.
My last thought is the generational influence. My mom was a reader, and I am a reader. I was fortunate to have a stay at home mother (for the most part). I remember her sitting with a book before bed or on vacation trips. When a working mom (or dad for that matter) breaks the trend because of a over full lifestyle, it can have a domino affect.

[WebKat]

However, I find it is the parents job to instill the love of reading into a child as much as it is the schools.

I agree with this, but actually I go a little further. The schools are responsible for teaching children to read, not for teaching them to love reading. If they do so, it's a happy side benefit. It's the parents' job to instill the LOVE of reading. The desire to do so. It's the parents' job to expose their children to lots of different types of books until they find stuff the kid enjoys, etc.

[pa3de8]

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 ?

We all started somewhere, just not sure where.

Scott B.

-- Thu Jan 19, 2012 8:49 pm --

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

Scott B.

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

Thanks Fran...Good to know I am wanted!

Scott B.

[ryan]

I think this thread needs to be moved to the "Non-Reading Discussion Forums for Non-Readers," but Google couldn't find it for me. Here we are just asking readers why people who are not them do not do what readers do, and what is more, we are using the top ten posters list of this forum as evidence that Americans do not read much. I do not quite understand that logic, but if one exercises their Google-fu one can find all kinds of very depressing statistics concerning American literacy. I'll share just a few I found doing a quick search.

Since 1983, more than 10 million Americans reached the 12th grade without having learned to read at a basic level. In the same period, more than 6 million Americans dropped out of high school altogether.

Approximately 50 percent of the nation's unemployed youth age 16-21 are functional illiterate, with virtually no prospects of obtaining good jobs.

There are almost half a million words in our English Language - the largest language on earth, incidentally - but a third of all our writing is made up of only twenty-two words.

56 percent of young people say they read more than 10 books a year, with middle school students reading the most. Some 70 percent of middle school students read more than 10 books a year, compared with only 49 percent of high school students.

50 percent of American adults are unable to read an eighth grade level book.

Originally I had wrote out a super-long and entertaining post that I had fun writing, but I felt that my playful condemnation of school-haters might have been too insulting to share with the group. Instead I'll just shortly state without much explanation that the reason Americans do not read is because not enough of them like to be truly independent.

[WebKat]

Can I ask where you got those statistics? Not doubting them, just would like to read the primary source on them to see what it says, specifically...

[ryan]

http://www.readfaster.com/education_stats.asp
The references are linked under the statistics. Being that this isn't a life or death internet post I didn't do much follow-up on if the methods to achieve the statistics are sound, but I suppose this book might answer that.
Author: Jonathan Kozol - Title: Illiterate America.
The last statistic is from that book. However I do see that the publishing date is 1986.

[Tralala]

Since 1983, more than 10 million Americans reached the 12th grade without having learned to read at a basic level. In the same period, more than 6 million Americans dropped out of high school altogether.

I married one of the dropouts, and seeing how that's affected his life has been part of the reason I became a tutor...now teaching GED and HSEE Language Arts, and literacy classes. My ex never got his GED (refuses to, actually, though I'm not sure why), and he's basically had to live off of other people 'cause he can't get a decent job.

Approximately 50 percent of the nation's unemployed youth age 16-21 are functional illiterate, with virtually no prospects of obtaining good jobs.

About a third of my literacy students have a high school diploma, but ended up in my class 'cause they got through with only a nodding acquaintance with "proper" English.

50 percent of American adults are unable to read an eighth grade level book.

I also work as a copy editor/proofreader for several Popular Periodical Publications. My bosses might deny it (and me), but language/grammar guidelines are set to keep the articles at (or close to) a fourth-grade reading level. Not that your average American can't read at a higher level, but an AA will (apparently) lose interest if the vocab. is more...complicated, I guess. And we've gotta keep 'em buying! Not sure who decided that fourth grade was the proper cutoff, but, well, that's the way it is.

[mjmooney]

I'm of the generation where we had to do book reports every month, books we read on our own, and also class reading of the classics. This is no longer required. I blame the schools. Now when they read a book they have to dissect every part of it. Also, there are no individual books read & reported on.

Something similar has happened in the UK. When my wife and I were at school in the 1960s, we had to write monthly book reports, and we were expected to read a LOT for our English courses. For example, when I did "A"-Level English (not sure what the US equivalent would be, but this is the 17-18 year old stage, prior to university entry) at grammar school, our set book was Graham Greene's "The Power and the Glory". We were told we should read it at least twice (and we did indeed dissect every part of it). But that's not all - it was strongly suggested that we should read as many other books by Greene as we could - and I did, probably at least seven or eight of them. Bear in mind we were also studying two plays by Shakespeare, Chaucer's "Canterbury Tales" and the poetry of the 1930s. All this was in addition to studying two other subjects (in my case history and geography) to a similar standard.

By contrast, our two daughters at a similar stage were not even expected to read ONE book all the way through - their teacher took them through one scene of a Shakespeare play, and a few chapters of a novel. And it was sufficient to get a good grade and a university place. Something has changed, that's for sure.

As it happens, both of the have girls inherited their parents' love of books, and have never left it at that - they both read avidly. But that's down to my wife and I, not the school.