What’s the last book you read?
What’s the last book you read just for fun?
A journalism prof mused in the WSJ: “I’m worried that few of my recent students are reading for fun.”
When he survey his frosh students re: the last book they read for fun, “more than half of the students listed one of the Harry Potter books … suggesting that most of my students hadn’t read a book for pleasure in nearly a decade.”
His finding wasn’t an outlier: A landmark 2007 study by the National Endowment for the Arts noted that almost half of Americans between ages 18 and 24 never read books for fun.
And, the non-reading half wasn’t just … “mediocre students with little aptitude for language arts … it included some of the best and brightest members of the next generation.”
He concludes “the importance of language in our national life requires that we engage it with commitment and … tempt more young people to read because they want to, not because they have to.”
For example, Jon Stewart, on the "The Daily Show" … regularly features authors as guests, an abiding reminder that reading is a part of culture, not apart from it.
“I’m also convinced that people of all ages can continue to enjoy reading … if they first enjoy it as toddlers — by hearing words read aloud.”
“I want my students to read for pleasure this summer because reading can improve their heads and hearts.:
So, at least take a book to the beach!
======
P.S. What was the last book you read for fun?
* * * * *
Follow on Twitter @KenHoma >> Latest Posts
The Homa Files 
Leave a comment