Children don’t read. Blame tests, screens and parents

[ad_1]

To the Editor: Thank you for editorial board member Karin Klein’s essay on The Decline in the Number of Readings for Fun in Children. She pointed out several factors that contributed to the decline, but failed to mention a very significant change in schools that got us to where we are today.

State-imposed tests reduced reading to analyzing excerpts, and as a result full novels and short stories were scrapped. Teachers are under great pressure to improve on these tests, and the only way to do that is to practice what is tested.

As Klein pointed out, the fallout from the decline in reading for pleasure is having devastating effects on society. We are only beginning to see the damage that over two decades of testing has done. Until the burden of testing in schools is lifted, expect this to be the norm.

The irony is that this is the exact opposite of what this test intended.

Jason Y. Calizar, Torrance

..

To the editor: Klein writes convincingly about the need to promote elective reading for enjoyment in school-aged children, noting that “parents play a key role in this.”

However, it does not address the need for parents to limit the amount of their children’s media exposure and to carefully monitor the content of that exposure.

I remember standing in a hotel elevator years ago and watching a toddler in his stroller obsessed with his iPod. In this infotainment culture, this “fun” device programs a child to seek out the easy stimulus of screen time while allowing parents to find a readily available pacifier.

As we watch with growing dismay the rise of propagated disinformation, digital media is moving literacy to the periphery of culture and eroding what it means to be educated in a civilized, truth-based human society. The mind is a dangerous thing to waste and requires constant nourishment.

Barbara Allen Kenney, Paso Robles, California

..

To Editor: I think we all know the benefits of reading. May I respectfully request a follow-up piece with some helpful suggestions on what we can do about this?

I am a grandmother who has given books as gifts to our children, nieces, nephews and now grandchildren on every birthday and Christmas. Perhaps Klein could use this as an example, with free story time at local libraries and bookstores as another. Links to websites like Goodreads will help confused parents find appropriate, age-appropriate stories.

And don’t forget to encourage regular one-on-one readings for toddlers – and even big kids too. A student I know struggled with dyslexia, and his mother (not that fathers are immune) read with him even as a teenager.

Finally, lead by example by reading yourself. Watching someone read for fun can be infectious. The dishes can wait.

Marty Motia, La Cañada-Flintridge

[ad_2]