# Is reading catching on with this generation? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 24, 2012, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-reading-catching-on-with-this-generation/632529 "2012-08-24T20:55:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Cement](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a5b964/32.png) [@Cement](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cement)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2012, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-reading-catching-on-with-this-generation/632529/1 "2012-08-24T20:55:31Z")
My 17 year old niece just finished her 5th book and just the other day I found out, my 13 year old read his first novel. What do you guys think? Do we still have hope for this generation? ---
**Author:** ![Taomist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/53a042/32.png) [@Taomist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Taomist)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2012, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-reading-catching-on-with-this-generation/632529/2 "2012-08-24T20:59:33Z")
Not unless they learn to read a little earlier than that! ---
**Author:** ![Cement](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a5b964/32.png) [@Cement](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cement)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2012, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-reading-catching-on-with-this-generation/632529/3 "2012-08-24T21:01:20Z")
thats the best examples I could come up with. I know my sample size is quite small but its all I got. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2012, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-reading-catching-on-with-this-generation/632529/4 "2012-08-24T21:13:37Z")
Reading among certain demographics has become more popular and ‘cool’ than it was previously for over a decade now. Harry Potter started the trend among former non-readers and it carried over into the Twilight series and others. Even some 40 year old women are learning to read now that Six Shades of Grey took off. ---
**Author:** ![Cement](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a5b964/32.png) [@Cement](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cement)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2012, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-reading-catching-on-with-this-generation/632529/5 "2012-08-24T21:16:56Z")
So we aren’t going to have a generation of retards? ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2012, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-reading-catching-on-with-this-generation/632529/6 "2012-08-24T21:19:49Z")
> [@Cement](#): > > So we aren’t going to have a generation of retards? just people who think fantasy is to be expected. ---
**Author:** ![Cement](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a5b964/32.png) [@Cement](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cement)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2012, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-reading-catching-on-with-this-generation/632529/7 "2012-08-24T21:32:02Z")
I don’t care if its fantasy or non-fiction crap. I’m tired of this generation and they are just a couple years old now. ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2012, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-reading-catching-on-with-this-generation/632529/8 "2012-08-24T22:34:53Z")
> [@Cement](#): > > So we aren’t going to have a generation of retards? Depending on how much merit you ascribe to psychometric testing, it appears that people have been gradually getting [smarter](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flynn_effect) for as long as we’ve been keeping track. Worldwide literacy rates have also been steadily increasing. (Of course, literacy is not the same thing as being a highly skilled reader. But by definition, a group of highly skilled anything will always be a small minority.) ---
**Author:** ![Cement](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a5b964/32.png) [@Cement](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cement)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2012, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-reading-catching-on-with-this-generation/632529/9 "2012-08-24T23:01:00Z")
so no retards? ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2012, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-reading-catching-on-with-this-generation/632529/10 "2012-08-24T23:07:00Z")
> [@Cement](#): > > so no retards? No, just smarter retards. Seriously. They keep re-norming IQ tests to account for the upward shift in scores, but the definition of mental retardation is usually an arbitrary IQ cutoff. ---
**Author:** ![Saintly\_Loser](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saintly_loser/32/4045_2.png) [@Saintly\_Loser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saintly_Loser)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2012, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-reading-catching-on-with-this-generation/632529/11 "2012-08-24T23:07:29Z")
> [@Cement](#): > > My 17 year old niece just finished her 5th book and just the other day I found out, my 13 year old read his first novel. > > What do you guys think? Do we still have hope for this generation? Absolutely no slight intended to your niece, but I’m not sure that a 17-year-old reading her _fifth_ book qualifies as reading “catching on” with this generation. ---
**Author:** ![GreasyJack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/df705f/32.png) [@GreasyJack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreasyJack)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2012, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-reading-catching-on-with-this-generation/632529/12 "2012-08-24T23:39:52Z")
One advantage this generation has is that even if they’re not reading a lot of books, most of them are reading a lot of text on the internet and their phones and such. In days past if you didn’t read books as a kid, chances are you weren’t going to be able to really pick it up later in life but I don’t think that’s going to be the case with younger people. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2012, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-reading-catching-on-with-this-generation/632529/13 "2012-08-25T00:04:48Z")
> [@Saintly\_Loser](#): > > Absolutely no slight intended to your niece, but I’m not sure that a 17-year-old reading her _fifth_ book qualifies as reading “catching on” with this generation. Well, yeah: when I was a kid, I’d typically have about five books at a time checked out from the library. > [@GreasyJack](#): > > One advantage this generation has is that even if they’re not reading a lot of books, most of them are reading a lot of text on the internet and their phones and such. In days past if you didn’t read books as a kid, chances are you weren’t going to be able to really pick it up later in life but I don’t think that’s going to be the case with younger people. But I’ve seen older people (some on this very board, IIRC) say that, thanks to the internet, their attention spans for reading have gotten shorter and they find it harder to concentrate on reading books. So, I’m skeptical about whether reading a lot of text messages and facebook posts makes it any easier to read book-length narratives, arguments, or expositions. ---
**Author:** ![Taomist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/53a042/32.png) [@Taomist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Taomist)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2012, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-reading-catching-on-with-this-generation/632529/14 "2012-08-25T00:15:24Z")
Does the Internet 'cause ADD? Tune in, after this commercial break! ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2012, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-reading-catching-on-with-this-generation/632529/15 "2012-08-25T00:17:21Z")
> [@Taomist](#): > > Does the Internet 'cause ADD? > > Tune in, after this commercial break! :: click :: Oooh, Shark Week! ---
**Author:** ![Tamex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ccd318/32.png) [@Tamex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamex)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2012, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-reading-catching-on-with-this-generation/632529/16 "2012-08-25T00:37:44Z")
My teenage daughter doesn’t read as much as her father and I did as kids, and when she does, it is often graphic novels and manga. She did read one regular novel this summer, which would have been an unheard-of low amount for me at her age. She is also rather picky about the books she reads, and is quick to dismiss them as boring, whereas I would read everything including the back of the cereal box and Reader’s Digests when I was bored at Grandma’s. Thing is, though, I knew plenty of people my age who didn’t read much, especially when not forced to for school. Was I representative of my generation or more of a “freak”? My daughter has a great artistic talent and is sketching characters out of those manga all of the time. That’s not something I would have done much of at her age at all. I think we just have different interests and talents. I am surprised that your niece and son have not had to read more for school. Actually, I think school reading turned my daughter off reading quite a bit, as she loved books when she was young. Of course, those books back then had pictures, and perhaps that’s what she was responding to. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2012, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-reading-catching-on-with-this-generation/632529/17 "2012-08-25T01:27:46Z")
Since the OP has been banned for trolling, I’ll close this.