Is Reading Too Much Bad For Kids? (paying, placement, course)

[sargentodiaz]

Clinging to print can isolate kids and alienate them from the digital world of multitasking


April 18, 2014, by Scott Timberg


Is this guy for real? I read his bio and, while he's based in LA, there's nothing to indicate a basis for such stupidity as this.


His son avidly reads books. Page-turning ones, not Kindle or Nook. And he says this:

Our concern is whether he will find some other kid who shares his enthusiasm. So far, he hasn’t.

I read the remainder of this trash article struggling to keep from heaving up and shaking my head. What is his point? That spending one's time Tweeting or whatever is more important than filling your mind with wonder and awe at the words penned by men and women of talent and information?


Read this trash for yourself, brought to you by aljazeera American of course, @ Is reading too much bad for kids? | Al Jazeera America

[barneyg]

Originally Posted by sargentodiaz

I read the remainder of this trash article struggling to keep from heaving up and shaking my head. What is his point? That spending one's time Tweeting or whatever is more important than filling your mind with wonder and awe at the words penned by men and women of talent and information?

Read this trash for yourself, brought to you by aljazeera American of course, @ Is reading too much bad for kids? | Al Jazeera America

I read that "trash" for myself and got the point pretty clearly, it's right there in the last 2 paragraphs:

So, should we be proud that we’re raising members of a small, monkish caste, or worry that they’re marginalizing themselves? On reflection, I realize it’s not my son, or Boog’s daughter, who needs to change: The culture they’re growing up into has lost its sense of what matters. But parenting is not just about preparing kids for careers; it’s about asserting values, and serious reading may be what my family has instead of a religious or ethnic identity. If my son’s peers, or the culture at large, find another god to worship, it will be their loss.

“Let your son be,” Rodriguez says. “I think he will face a world increasingly grown dull and disinclined to concentrate on any one thing for more than a few seconds. That may be a great difficulty for him. Or he may have a prophetic life — as orator, romancing the world back to its senses and the bravery of solitude.”

It's a classic "title meant to shock" article that could have come from the Atlantic, New Yorker, New Republic... it came from Aljazeera America? Big deal.

[davebarnes]

Reading too much makes you go partially blind.
I had eyeglasses starting at age 10.

[psikeyhackr]

I don't see any mention of his talking to his son about what was in the books or helping him select books.

I suppose it can become a way to withdraw. Maybe the kid needs to look for more interesting people.

psik

[Smooth23]

Hah I never paid attention in class all the way through highschool. Was always reading books and teachers mostly ignored my existence. Had a few get angry for not paying attention, but I guess I'm laughing my way to the bank now...learned more from those books than I ever did from school.

[hml1976]

Originally Posted by davebarnes

Reading too much makes you go partially blind.
I had eyeglasses starting at age 10.

No it doesn't. I'm 38 and average a book a day and I don't wear glasses.

[Linda_d]

Originally Posted by davebarnes

Reading too much makes you go partially blind.
I had eyeglasses starting at age 10.

I just have poorly shaped eyeballs.

[sargentodiaz]

Originally Posted by Linda_d

I just have poorly shaped eyeballs.

I wore glasses from when I was 18 to 70! Had lens replacement surgery and now see 20/20 but need reading glasses.

[psikeyhackr]

Yes, but it depends on what they read.

The difference between science and the fuzzy subjects is that science requires reasoning while those other subjects merely require scholarship. - Robert A. Heinlein

If must be the "too much" that makes it bad but how do you determine that?

psik

[DewDropInn]

OP did you actually read the article?

Or did you decide to just cut and paste something from a right-wing blogger who sent out his daily talking points?

The author sounds like my kind of dad: someone who is raising a son who loves to read. They probably have an extensive library of books in their home. Is that a problem among the right-wing, anti-Aljazerra crowd these days?

p.s. The author mentions a writer named Richard Rodriguez. He's a brilliant writer and thinker and a favorite of mine. He's also a gay Mestizo from an immigrant family who writes about intellectual empowerment. I'd guess all the right-wing people upset with Aljazeera don't actually read him either.