# Seeing your parents read makes you more likely to read...right? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 22, 2010, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeing-your-parents-read-makes-you-more-likely-to-read-right/529931 "2010-02-22T00:59:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![BlinkingDuck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/eada6e/32.png) [@BlinkingDuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlinkingDuck)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2010, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeing-your-parents-read-makes-you-more-likely-to-read-right/529931/21 "2010-02-24T15:44:48Z")
> [@GameHat](#): > > Another “worthless” 😉 anecdote. > > My parents never read. As in, had no books of their own in the house. > > As a kid, they did read to me before bedtime. Later when I showed an interest they provided me plenty of books for me to read on my own. But they never read at all when I was a kid. > > As a kid, and now as an adult, I read hellaciously - I devour books, then I re-read, then I get more. It’s a rare week that I don’t purchase at least one new book. My Kindle only accelerated this. > > My mom finally did start to read now that she’s retired. Still nothing like me, though. She buys a lot of books but gets through only 10% of them. Fortunately she seems to like history/non-fiction so I make sure to give them some proper love when I’m home for the holidays. > > My dad, though a very smart guy, still doesn’t read. A real pity. Doesn’t know what he’s missing :D. lol My parents…definitely lower middle class recently clawed up from lower class when they had me. No books in house. I have never seen them read. 6th and 8th grade education. 3 siblings…all don’t read, didn’t go to college. Me - read like crazy since very young - went on to get Masters degree. I think they wondered where the hell I came from 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Jormungandr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a6a055/32.png) [@Jormungandr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jormungandr)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2010, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeing-your-parents-read-makes-you-more-likely-to-read-right/529931/22 "2010-02-24T18:18:35Z")
My father only had time to read the newspaper briefly in the morning and, on weekends, detective magazines. However, when I was having difficulty learning to read at school, which was using phonics, he took me to get a library card. My vocabulary soon surpasses my classmates, but I still to this day use the British spelling for some words, especially if I haven’t used them in a while. For example, I’ll use “manoeuvre” instead of “maneuver” unless I catch myself. Yes, I say, “Zee” instead of "Zed,"but I like throwing people a curve once in a while. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2010, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeing-your-parents-read-makes-you-more-likely-to-read-right/529931/23 "2010-02-24T19:21:13Z")
Following up on the library my mother, who grew up during the depression, got one book per year to own, as a birthday present, but haunted the library. I went there practically straight from the hospital after I was born. This was particularly effective since it allowed me to experiment on books of various reading levels which I might not have been bought. So I’d be interested in seeing how the number of books borrowed ties in with books owned as a metric. ---
**Author:** ![maladroit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f475e1/32.png) [@maladroit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/maladroit)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2010, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeing-your-parents-read-makes-you-more-likely-to-read-right/529931/24 "2010-02-24T19:47:19Z")
We always had lots of books in the house and I’ve had a library card since kindergarten. I love to read! That said, I only remember seeing my parents read the newspapers. I certainly don’t remember either of them reading me a story ever. In my family Christmas turns into one big book exchange. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2010, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeing-your-parents-read-makes-you-more-likely-to-read-right/529931/25 "2010-02-25T01:17:06Z")
My parents were a high school drop-out (not from lack of brains - he had to help out the family when his dad died when he was 15) and a teacher. We had lots of books in the house, my parents both read all the time, and my three sisters and I are all voracious readers. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeing-your-parents-read-makes-you-more-likely-to-read-right/529931.md?page=1)