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Is
reading on your child's agenda? (Teachers Day Special)
By Shweta Srinivasan
New
Delhi, Sep 5 (IANS) Is the future generation at risk of going
straight from an oral to a digital culture, bypassing books?
Maybe, unless drastic steps are taken to put a priority on
reading, feel educators here.
Ranjana
Bhatnagar, former director of the American Information Resource
Center, told IANS: "Let's look at it from a child's perspective.
Why would a child read if he's getting ready information on
the Internet, which is easy to cut-paste into assignments.
He's getting entertainment from TV, games and movies downloads
- reading is not a priority."
"Reading
faces stiff competition from the Internet pool of information
but the longstanding fact is that reading gives wholistic
knowledge that can't be replaced - not by TV, not by Internet."
Despite
the Internet boom, even today it is estimated that less than
15 percent of the world's plethora of information is digitised.
The vast majority is in print form - mostly books.
Bhatnagar
averred that according to different surveys and reports, reading
among young adults is not exactly declining. It's just that
the format is changing. She said: "With online books
and audio books available, most reading is done online, but
variety and comprehensive information is limited."
Teachers
and librarians from various schools met ahead of Teachers
Day Friday at a workshop organised by publishing house Katha
to discuss ways to inculcate the reading habit in students.
Participants
felt reading is essential not only to "kindle the imagination
of young minds" but also "to improve their concentration
and analytical ability".
What
one reads is not as important as the fact of reading, the
participants said. "Be it books, magazines, comics or
even reading signs on the road - reading would increase the
vocabulary of a child."
So
what can you do to get your child to read more?
"Give
them access to books, set aside time for reading, spend time
with your child as he reads, encourage family reading, read
and make your child act out portions to arouse interest, display
books," suggested Bhatnagar, who was the resource person
for the workshop.
The
group came to a consensus that reading should be a fun activity
and not something that is forced. Nagging, pressuring or criticising
a child will only increase his resistance.
Seema
Passi, teacher at Apeejay School Saket, said: "Students
may not listen to their parents. But they respect their teachers.
Students consider teachers their role models and treat them
as friends. So when a teacher tells a student to find a book
in the school library and read it, he will make the effort."
Indo-Asian
News Service
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