![](\"http:\/\/www.joanganzcooneycenter.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/jordanshapiro.jpeg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nI\u2019ll admit that I\u2019m biased. I\u2019m an academic. I get paid to read. But my kids (6 and 8) also read a lot on their own. Not only because I require it –30 minutes of reading is a prerequisite to video game time– but also because their dad models good reading behaviors.<\/p>\n
Dad is always ordering new books; dad is always reading them. In my household, being an adult means feeling comfortable with books. Maturity means having excessive familiarity with long-form written word.<\/p>\n
The Common Sense Media report agrees. \u201cParents can encourage reading,\u201d they explain, \u201cby keeping print books in the home, reading themselves, and setting aside time daily for their children to read.\u201d<\/p>\n
Strong correlations exist between these parental actions and the frequency with which children read (scholastic, 2013). For example, among children who are frequent readers, 57% of parents set aside time each day for their child to read, compared to 16% of parents of children who are infrequent readers.<\/p>\n
When it comes to books, however, most studies show that the text delivery method is irrelevant. Good reading behavior has nothing to do with technology. …<\/p>\n
I read to my kids every night. I read with my kids during the day. I do it because I see it as a crucial piece of their education. I can\u2019t just outsource the raising of my children to specialists–and then complain that those teachers are failing. It is obvious to me that parents also need to be involved. They need to make sure their children read books.<\/p>\n
Of course, it is easier to frame the story as paper vs. digital. It gives us permission not to engage with our kids. We can blame the video games and apps rather than blaming ourselves.<\/p>\n
Parents need to take responsibility for raising thoughtful, empathic, open-minded adults. Books are a crucial part of the equation. But even if we eliminated every digital technology from our lives, our kids still won\u2019t read books unless we tell them in no uncertain terms that books are an important part of being an adult.<\/p>\n
Teach your kids to read. And teach your kids that it matters what they read. …<\/p>\n
Three interesting findings:<\/p>\n
1. Gendered reading starts as early as first grade. Elementary-school boys read tons of “Captain Underpants,” but it doesn\u2019t even make it to the girls’ top 20 list. We\u2019re conditioned to read statistics like this as proof that girls and boys have different preferences, tastes, and attitudes. I don\u2019t believe it. Alternatively, we might read this as evidence that we are creating an increasingly gendered world where roles and intellectual expectations are divided according to biological reproductive organs. If this is really what you want, by all means, keep at it. If not, there are plenty of books that are non-gendered; let your kids know that you think more highly of these.<\/p>\n
2. Middle schoolers (in particular 6th graders) are reading the most words per student. The average words per student increases through middle school and then starts decreasing again in high school. I see this as evidence that parents are sending the wrong message about books to their children. We value literacy, cheering on small kids to learn to read as quickly as possible. But when these kids become adolescents they attempt to directly emulate their adult role models. If adults don\u2019t read books then trying to act like an adult means not reading books. …<\/p>\n
At the end of the day, how our children read and what our children read says a lot more about adult attitudes about books than it does about the kids\u2019. Model the behaviors and attitudes you want your children to emulate.<\/p>\n
________________ When I meet with other university professors they often tell me that the students don\u2019t read anymore because their eyeballs are glued to their phones. Technophobes think we are raising a generation that doesn\u2019t understand the value of literature. The polarization of old and new continues. Maybe it is leftover sediment from an anti-screen mindset […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_disable_autopaging":false},"categories":[5],"tags":[477,906,2467],"class_list":["post-3965","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-education","tag-books","tag-parents","tag-reading"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ellopos.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3965","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ellopos.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ellopos.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ellopos.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ellopos.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3965"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.ellopos.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3965\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ellopos.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3965"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ellopos.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3965"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ellopos.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3965"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nExcerpts from an article at Forbes<\/a>. Jordan\u00a0Shapiro<\/a>\u00a0is author of\u00a0Freeplay: A Video Game Guide to Maximum Euphoric Bliss, and MindShift’s Guide To Games And Learning.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"