There is no friend as loyal as a book.”- Ernest Hemingway
The World Book Day was observed on April 23 with events organised around the world to discuss, among other things, the importance of inculcating book-reading habits among youngsters. Young people, overwhelmed by electronic gadgets and Internet,need to discover the pleasure of reading traditional paper books.
Book reading is beneficial in many ways. The Daily Telegraph (Sydney) cited a research done by the universities of London and Edinburgh in 2014,which found reading from an early age enhances education prospects and cognition and boosts health and employability.
However, today’s kids spend a lot of time with mobile phones of their parents or the tablets and computer games they have been gifted.
Parents can set a good example and encourage their kids to read books. But what if the children never see their parents read a book or when all they see is their fathers and mothers engrossed in the electronic gadgets?
We live in the age of electronic media where we prefer to switch on the TV or spend time on Internet (laptop or mobile phones) rather than pick up a book to read. Children see this and mimick the behaviour. They can’t be blamed for shunning books since we ourselves tend to discourage them in favour of electronic gadgets.
Similarly, schools can also encourage book reading by setting aside some time for independent reading, without the use of fear of grades.
Some countries have been making a conscious effort to promote book reading. United Arab Emeritus (UAE)recently announced a 10-year National Policy for Reading to encourage the habit of reading among all age groups and to ensure 80 per cent of children and 50 per cent of adults read actively.The policycovers a ten-year period from 2016 to 2026. Under the policy, one month will be dedicated to reading. ‘Bags of Knowledge’ would be distributed to parents of new-bornUAE citizens. The policy also proposes changes in the educational system, curricula and evaluation of schools and institutions of higher education “to reverse the decline in reading rates”.It also envisages application of UNESCO standards in libraries of all public schools and their classification will be raised according to international standards.
A media report published in Gulf News on this initiative cited the findings of a national survey,which showed individuals in the UAE read 1.5 books per year while average Emirati households have 20 books, compared to 200 books in the United Kingdom. Moreover, the average rate of reading for UAE students is four books per year compared to 40 books in South Korea.Another survey found that Chinese people, on average, read eight books in 2015.It’s for the researchers to find if our part of the world fares any better when it comes to reading books.
Reading can be a truly rewarding experience. A blog on the ‘Huffington Post’ by Andrew Merlelisted the reading habits of some successful personalities.
American business magnateWarren Buffett was once asked about the key to success when he pointed to a stack of books nearby. The blog claims that Buffett read between 600 and 1000 pages per day when he was beginning his investing career.Bill Gates reads about 50 books per year, which breaks down to 1 per week. Mark Zuckerberg resolved to read a book every 2 weeks throughout 2015. The blog also cites a study of 1,200 wealthy people,which found that they all have reading as a pastime in common.
But what should one read. Of course it doesn’t make any sense to just read about anything. Avid readers are highly selective about what they read which in turn depends on individual interests and needs.
The book reading habit should go hand-in-hand with real life exploration of the surroundings. Today’s parents have become overprotective of their kids. In the process, we deprive them of many first-hand experiences of life. Our pampering doesn’t do much good to them. Just to keep our children in the confines of the home, we don’t mind giving them a freehand with Internet or computer games. While Internet offers the world at their fingertips, we shrinktheir physical boundaries. While book reading will help in enhancing the knowledge and acumen of our kids, the valuable real life experiences will stand them in good stead.
REFERENCE:
May 7, 2016.Rekindling the magic of book reading.Rising Kashmir.retrieved from
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