Over the years there has been a steep decline in the reading habits in young children as a leisurely activity. This essay addresses the various causes and possible solutions to help motivate them to inculcate this ritual.
There are quite a few reasons why youngsters tend to read less nowadays. Firstly, with the advancement of technology, everyone despite their age has become social media addicts. Visually-appealing videos and images tend to overpower classic printed books. Kids prefer anime and cartoons over fictional novels and magazines. Moreover, modern online platforms such as Youtube and online-gaming websites are not only readily accessible than traditional books but also free of charge; additionally, they are available from anywhere across the globe.
Secondly, due to bulky syllabus and ranking competitions between schools, student reading habits have been confined to text-books and academic research papers only. Consequently, they don’t have spare time for fun-reading and libraries have become the least visited section in a school. In fact it has also adversely affected the daily routine of pupils and messed up their timetables as well.
Though many hurdles exist, there are some doable solutions to tackle these issues. To begin with, parents should monitor the screen-time of their offspring and should identify their areas of interest. Based on this, they can buy books or take subscriptions on different e-reading sites. Yet again, peer-reading groups, and book fairs can be initiated in localities and colonies as a weekend task. Moreover, there are a plethora of books available both online and via printed media. Schools should encourage healthy reading competitions, arrange picnics in nearby public libraries.
To conclude, reading habits foster the holistic development of a child and hence, children should be given a proper environment and support to read more.