Do younger adults read for pleasure less than older adults?

@TheHorse (218464)
Walnut Creek, California
December 11, 2015 5:10pm CST
I remember when I was a kid. My parents thought we watched too much TV, and that we'd grow up to be blithering idiots. It didn't happen, and now, as an adult, I'm always reading something. I'm not an avid reader, but I always have some novel or another going. Tony Hillerman's mysteries are among my favorites for airplane reading or just plain fun reading. Passing novels around has been a tradition in our family for more than a generation. I discovered P.G. Wodehouse that way. Now we have a generation of young adults who were raised on video games and cell phones. Those things are even more addictive than TV was in my childhood. When I ask my community college students how many of them read for pleasure, only the older ones (35 and above) raise their hands. I worry that the next generation will be a bunch of blithering idiots, but then I remember my parents thinking that about us. Do you think today's young adults read for pleasure less that us old-timers (40 and above did) when we were young adults? Or do people just read for pleasure more as they get older? Do you read for pleasure on a fairly regular basis?
17 people like this
18 responses
@LadyDuck (471255)
• Switzerland
12 Dec 15
I read for pleasure every day, as I have always done since I have learned to read. I know some young people (below 30), who still love to read.
2 people like this
@LadyDuck (471255)
• Switzerland
12 Dec 15
@TheHorse You are surely right, my Dad loved to read, I live to read and my niece too. My husband is the same, both his parents loved to read. On my nightstand now there is the book "Inferno" by Dan Brown, it's interesting.
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@TheHorse (218464)
• Walnut Creek, California
12 Dec 15
@LadyDuck I read only one Dan Brown book. Enjoyed it, but didn't get to his others. Right now I have Plum Island, by Nelson DeMille on my bed, and the complete Sherlock Holmes next to it, in case I want the immediate gratification of a 20-pager. Both my parents read a lot, and I came from a culture of readers, so it was almost inevitable that it would be a part of my life, even though I was a bit "rebellious" in high school and mostly read technical stuff at that time.
3 people like this
@TheHorse (218464)
• Walnut Creek, California
12 Dec 15
I'm glad to hear you know a lot of younger people who live to read. I think a love of reading is something that's passed on from generation to generation. My hunch is that some of my community college students didn't have parents who enjoyed reading.
2 people like this
@yukimori (10145)
• United States
11 Dec 15
I love books, and I'm hoping to encourage that in my kids. So far, so good... the nightly stories are the highlight of the evening in most cases. I've been into more books than I should be recently... they've been keeping me up until 2 or 3 in the morning. Not quite the best thing to be doing when I have to be at work at 5, but I can't put them down!
2 people like this
@TheHorse (218464)
• Walnut Creek, California
12 Dec 15
How do you survive on two hours of sleep?
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@yukimori (10145)
• United States
12 Dec 15
@TheHorse I don't. I pretty much do the zombie shuffle through work, then come home and take a nap before the kindergartner gets home. It sure doesn't help the fibro symptoms, either... you'd think I'd learn.
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@TheHorse (218464)
• Walnut Creek, California
12 Dec 15
@yukimori I hope you can schedule things so you get more sleep. It helps with everything, including improved memory, reduced depression, etc.
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@Asylum (47893)
• Manchester, England
11 Dec 15
I am inclined to think that reading is less prolific among the current generation. The alternatives were far more limited for us.
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@TheHorse (218464)
• Walnut Creek, California
11 Dec 15
I didn't read a lot for pleasure until after high school. But I spent my youthful free time outside playing, not watching TV (that much).
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@Drosophila (16571)
• Ireland
12 Dec 15
I don't know, I've seen quite a few 20 somethings going around with kindles. I think reading is moving from paperbacks to iPads, kindles, and phones. There's no way we'd know what someone is doing as they tap away on their phone..
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@Drosophila (16571)
• Ireland
13 Dec 15
@TheHorse I read more electronically than by paper for sure!
@TheHorse (218464)
• Walnut Creek, California
12 Dec 15
My 92-year-old Auntie uses a Kindle. I still prefer the smell and feel of a real book.
2 people like this
@nanette64 (20364)
• Fairfield, Texas
12 Dec 15
As a kid, I use to read all the time (if I wasn't outside playing). As a young adult, working a 13-hr shift 6 days a week, left me pretty tired. Now as an old fart, I'm on MyLot @TheHorse .
2 people like this
@TheHorse (218464)
• Walnut Creek, California
12 Dec 15
I'm on MyLot during some times I could be reading or grading papers. But I enjoy it.
2 people like this
@just4him (317040)
• Green Bay, Wisconsin
12 Dec 15
From a very young age I had a book in my hands. I always had overdue library books. It was my love of reading that got me into writing. TV had a big role in that as well. I still read a lot, but not like I used to, mostly because I'm busy writing.
2 people like this
@TheHorse (218464)
• Walnut Creek, California
12 Dec 15
I find that my writing is infuenced by those I read, especially Mark Twain.
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@TheHorse (218464)
• Walnut Creek, California
13 Dec 15
@just4him I think my voice is a combination of various people. As someone said, "Everything is derivative."
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@just4him (317040)
• Green Bay, Wisconsin
12 Dec 15
@TheHorse I can't read and write at the same time because I find my writing sounds a lot like the person I'm reading and that is not a good thing. I need my own voice.
1 person likes this
@suzzy3 (8341)
12 Dec 15
I read for pleasure . I am out of touch with younger people but they all seem to be at college or some kind of further education. I expect they think they read enough. Reading for pleasure is just a great escape.
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@TheHorse (218464)
• Walnut Creek, California
12 Dec 15
My community college students say they don't read much for pleasure. But they may not be a representative sample.
1 person likes this
@vandana7 (100214)
• India
26 May 16
I think "blithering idiots" are extinct species. Youngsters today have so much to read. Be it manual of their cell phone, or texts, or what they surf. The content they read differs of course. But thanks to movies, and television serials they will continue to have interest in books, otherwise Kindle would not have survived. lol. Authors can feel happy...their bread and butter is guaranteed for the next 20 years at least.
1 person likes this
@vandana7 (100214)
• India
26 May 16
@TheHorse They have to read to survive Pony...it may not essentially be fiction.
@TheHorse (218464)
• Walnut Creek, California
26 May 16
Perhaps. But I'm not 100% convinced.
1 person likes this
@marlina (154131)
• Canada
13 Dec 15
I have been reading (with pleasure) since the tender age of 5. First in French and later on in English. I mostly read history, biographies. I haven't read a novel since I was a teenager.
1 person likes this
@TheHorse (218464)
• Walnut Creek, California
13 Dec 15
I have a friend who prefers history to novels. I feel like my knowledge of history isn't what it should be.
• United States
12 Dec 15
I love to read and I'm one of those people who can't have enough books. My grandchildren asked for books for Christmas so even though they are into all those video games they still read. I think we go through cycles...we read when we are young and then read again as we get older.
1 person likes this
@TheHorse (218464)
• Walnut Creek, California
12 Dec 15
That may be true. I loved being read to as a small child, did read The Phantom Tollbooth and a few other books as a child, and read mostly stereo magazines (and whatever I was forced to read) in high school. But by young adulthood, I was reading for pleasure.
@troyburns (1405)
• New Zealand
12 Dec 15
As a teacher, I can say that very few youngsters read for pleasure these days, but maybe it's always been like this. I don't remember many of my old school friends picking up a book because they chose to.
1 person likes this
@TheHorse (218464)
• Walnut Creek, California
12 Dec 15
I remember reading some in high school, but it mostly technical stuff if I had my druthers. Hard to tell if things have really changed. What age do you teach?
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@TheHorse (218464)
• Walnut Creek, California
13 Dec 15
@troyburns What were some of the biggies in your English curriculum? I remember reading: Wuthering Heights, Pride and Prejudice, Something Wicked This Way Comes, My Antonia, and a few others. That was a pretty long time ago!
@troyburns (1405)
• New Zealand
13 Dec 15
@TheHorse - I no longer teach, but I had ten years as a high school English and History teacher.
1 person likes this
@PainsOnSlate (21852)
• Canada
12 Dec 15
I don't read at home (too busy painting, and life) but I do read when I'm away from my home. I take books on vacations and even camping. I love to read and have some favorites...I should say I am a library rat but I get books on CD. I listen while I paint and while driving too. I was impressed with my own kids who read more than I ever did but they are 30 something to 45 so not as young as you are asking about.
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@TheHorse (218464)
• Walnut Creek, California
12 Dec 15
It's the teens and 20-somethings I worry about, since they grew up glued to electronic devices.
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@shellyjaneo (1081)
• United Kingdom
12 Dec 15
I think probably especially those who have young children. I love reading but I have pretty much stopped since having Vinnie I just never have the time. I am in work all day spend time with him for an hour when I get home. Clean the house then try and make some extra pennies, then repeat the next day. I love reading though and I do miss it x
1 person likes this
@TheHorse (218464)
• Walnut Creek, California
12 Dec 15
I get sidetracked as well. I haven't picked up the novel I'm reading in a couple of days now. There's a stack of papers on my bed that I'm grading little by little.
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@TheHorse (218464)
• Walnut Creek, California
12 Dec 15
@shellyjaneo It turns out OK. If I grade too many back to back, I burn out, and leave less thoughtful comments. So I might grade five as I'm falling asleep, five when I wake up, five after I do some MyLot reading, and five more...right now! Eventually they're all done. Soon, I'll be back to my novel.
• United Kingdom
12 Dec 15
@TheHorse That doesn't sound like a good pre sleep activity grading papers, I hope you find time to do some reading soon x
1 person likes this
• Durban, South Africa
12 Dec 15
Personally, I think that some young adults read for pleasure, depending on the content of the book, referrals and ratings, for example, 50 shades of grey had an audience of mainly the younger adults , regardless of the content of the book...but I must say now days the younger generation kids have been utterly spoilt with technology to even pick up a book to read. I mean it gets so bad now days that people rather watch videos of other people cooking a meal, or eating something online or simply going out and enjoying life from behind a screen, they would rather watch a video of someone eating than actually making something to eat! It has spoilt us... Sadly in a few years they might not even know the feeling of empathy ... and will probably lack imagination as well.....
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@TheHorse (218464)
• Walnut Creek, California
12 Dec 15
Empathy and imagination. I worry about both of those two important things as well.
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@TheHorse (218464)
• Walnut Creek, California
13 Dec 15
@Prakshi_22 I think it's important that parents read to their kids, and that the read in front of their kids.
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• Durban, South Africa
12 Dec 15
@TheHorse I guess exposure to the right content for reading should get a new generation of readers
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@marguicha (222756)
• Chile
12 Dec 15
Although I was a bookworm since I learned to read, I can understand that now children are more motivated by video games. It seems that the street is more violent than it used to be so that children play inside.
1 person likes this
@TheHorse (218464)
• Walnut Creek, California
12 Dec 15
Here in the US, the wealthier parents get their kids into "organized sports," and I don't see many kids playing pick-up baseball or football like we did when I was a kid. I do see a lot of kids staring zombie-like into electronic devices, exercising only their thumbs.
1 person likes this
• Preston, England
12 Dec 15
I never lost my childhood passion for reading. I don't so much read books as devour them. I was told off as a child for taking my copy of Dumas's 3 Musketeers to my cousin's wedding but I was struggling to put it down once it hooked me
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@TheHorse (218464)
• Walnut Creek, California
12 Dec 15
Funny. As a child, I enjoyed reading. But in high school, I read a lot of stereo magazines. They had lots of graphs and numbers, and that stimulated my love of math and physics. I didn't start reading novels (and short stories) for pleasure until late in college.
1 person likes this
@Tampa_girl7 (50179)
• United States
12 Dec 15
My 22 year old son loves to read. I tried very hard to instill the love of reading in him.
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@TheHorse (218464)
• Walnut Creek, California
12 Dec 15
Did you read to him when he was young? And read in front of him as he was growing up? That's how my parents did it.
@totobasso (331)
• Canada
12 Dec 15
I think most young people prefer to watch rather than read.
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@TheHorse (218464)
• Walnut Creek, California
12 Dec 15
Watching leaves less up to the imagination.
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