The reading habits of children have changed dramatically over the past decade. With the rise of the digital age, people now spend their times playing more online games, updating more Facebook statuses, texting more friends than reading a book.
A study by the National Literacy Trust based on 21,000 children carried in 2011 through to 2012 in the US, reveals that "the proportion of children reading for pleasure has declined as their time is crowded with other activities, and more than a fifth never read in their own time." It even suggested that many still enjoy reading a book, but are embarrassed to do so if their friends saw them. Despite the rise in e-books and e-readers, this new social paradigm and the availability of more digital "fun" has made it more important for people to be socially connected and updated than having their nose stuck in a good reading. Books have a lot more competition these days, through many forms of entertainment such as TV, YouTube, iPad apps etc., and consequently, the need for writers and book publishers to inspire and generate interest in the new generation is much more difficult. Taking into consideration the little time given for recreational reading and the little appeal holding a book has on people, clearly a new approach should be adopted.
The next step would be to see how this change in leisure time reading has impacted the future of knowledge through books and how it has affected the educational level of children. Will people expect to enjoy timeless classic through digital formats? Will new forms of digital entertainment become a new source of employment for writers and publishers?
A study by the National Literacy Trust based on 21,000 children carried in 2011 through to 2012 in the US, reveals that "the proportion of children reading for pleasure has declined as their time is crowded with other activities, and more than a fifth never read in their own time." It even suggested that many still enjoy reading a book, but are embarrassed to do so if their friends saw them. Despite the rise in e-books and e-readers, this new social paradigm and the availability of more digital "fun" has made it more important for people to be socially connected and updated than having their nose stuck in a good reading. Books have a lot more competition these days, through many forms of entertainment such as TV, YouTube, iPad apps etc., and consequently, the need for writers and book publishers to inspire and generate interest in the new generation is much more difficult. Taking into consideration the little time given for recreational reading and the little appeal holding a book has on people, clearly a new approach should be adopted.
The next step would be to see how this change in leisure time reading has impacted the future of knowledge through books and how it has affected the educational level of children. Will people expect to enjoy timeless classic through digital formats? Will new forms of digital entertainment become a new source of employment for writers and publishers?
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