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Reading simplified or summarized texts, which our children generally gravitate towards, ultimately lowers their standards and their skills in the subject. But according to an expert, we all have a role as parents to give them a taste for reading again.
Are our children and adolescents worse readers than before? Certainly, there is today a real enthusiasm for certain types of reading (manga, fantasy, etc.), as well as a new impetus given on the networks (with specialized accounts), but the use of screens, and the time reduced passing in front of a book seems to have the better of our adolescents: young people read less and less well than before. However, according to a specialist, it is not just external distractions: the content is also to blame.
Our young people are becoming “avoidant readers”
Thus, during an interview with students about their readings, Yellowlees Douglas, scientist and writing consultant, discovered that students relied more on video summaries to explain their readings, because academic texts used “language that is too complex, which makes them more difficult to read”.
However, the reality is different. Students are struggling to read… because they have been “avoiding” it since middle school. And the more they avoid, the more trouble they have. Which is not entirely their fault: teachers themselves have reduced the quantity and complexity of texts to be read in primary and secondary classes. The reading passages are shorter, the summaries are frequent and also spoil the pleasure of discovering the story.
Children who have gotten into the habit of reading entire novels, on the other hand, without a summary, discover the pleasures of immersive reading. And this immersive reading gives even avoidant readers the enriched vocabulary they need to become better readers.
Reading for pleasure predicts academic success
However, according to an American survey, reading frequency explains 13% of the variation between good and poor readers in primary school, a difference which rises to 30% in high school and 34% among university students.
When children read more frequently, they show significant activation in the area of the brain that is central to reading comprehension: the ventral occipitotemporal cortex. In short, reading becomes smoother. And according to a recent study, reading fluency predicts students’ grades and achievement in primary and secondary grades. It is therefore urgent to give them a taste for reading big books again!
Good news however, it would be up to us, parents, to create a new desire to read. It would be enough, according to the expert, to limit their time spent in front of a screen and to share books and readings with them. As studies of more than 7,000 students reveal, when parents share books with their children, they improve students’ comprehension and verbal fluency. These benefits extend to gains in technical reading, even when parents have only read novels with their children.
That’s not all: according to the expert, children of parents who encourage reading also have better results in understanding social experiences and in behavior. This understanding provides adolescents with the knowledge they need to evaluate and respond correctly to others. Which social media doesn’t really do.
So, this evening, instead of watching a film or a series, what if you went and looked for books at the library instead?
Slide: The 8 benefits of reading