What has happened to reading?

We are shifting from a culture of readers to one of watchers. This comment was said by a newsman some years back. Indeed, aliteracy, the state of being able to read but not being interested in doing so is a big problem across the United States. As one teenage girl said, you have to work to read and that is no fun. It is estimated that about 97 percent of U.S. citizens are literate but half of this number seldom read books and magazines. Even among well-educated people, reading is not as popular as many would imagine. What has happened to reading?

Over the last few decades, the main culprit for aliteracy has been the television. In recent years, more attention-grabbing media has also been shown to replace reading. Today, we have the DVD player, iPod and the Nintendo. With these things surrounding us, plowing through a book does not seem to be such fun anymore. Does reading have any rewards? How can you cultivate the desire to read?

The main difference between reading a book and watching a television program is that reading stimulates your imagination. While reading, you have the freedom to select the scene, how your characters look, their facial expressions and other things. Television does all this for you. While television may capture your imagination, it does not liberate it. Reading also has the ability to help you develop verbal skills. It has been shown that there is an inextricable link between writing, reading and speech. In fact, as one high school English teacher said, if you want to build a good vocabulary, you have to read, there is no way around it. Reading also promotes patience. Sentences, paragraphs and pages unfold in a sequence and slowly and this helps the reader to interpret, evaluate and reflect on the information at the same rate. Indeed, reading, not only demands, but also helps one to develop the quality of patience.

So how can you cultivate the desire to read? One way is to start a library. If you have books around, it is amazing just how easy it is to start reading. If you have a personal library, the motivation is even greater. The next thing is you have to be tough on yourself. Set limits on the television viewing time. In addition, create a quiet, relaxing atmosphere with good lighting to invite reading. Admittedly, it will not be easy starting out to read again. But be assured that any effort you make will be worth it.