Why do most people think that teens don't read?

They make decisions based on the teens that they see, I suppose. The thing is, a lot of adults don't read either. Some adults have actually told me I read too much. Like that's physically possible!

♥M♥

The idea that teens do not read is not a new idea. It was a 'problem' even in my grandparent's generation (and there was no television in those days).

I won't debate all the issues, that would take pages and would be better suited to a dissertation in education - haha. I'm sure y'all have heard a lot of them.

I will say that society is changing, and while reading levels declined in the past couple of decades, it should pick up more in the next few. The Young Adult and Middle Grade genres are breaking out (they always existed to some degree, just not as their own genre), what preteens and teens want to read about is changing, and publishers are marketing to the demand for them. The transition from kid book to adult book has been lacking for a long while, and filling that gap now will ensure a larger adult market as those readers of YA/MG get older. Just look at how big Harry Potter and Twilight have become - if there wasn't a need for new stuff in those age groups, fewer readers would have noticed them. It will be sad to see the old standards disappear (the good ones will hang on forever as classics), but kids of all ages want books with some relevance to their lives. Old movies for my generation were the black & white films my parents grew up on. Old movies for my kids are those without computers and cells phones in them - haha.

Most teens don't read, and people generalize. We readers are the exception, not the rule. Even among those of us who like books, some just don't have the time (like my sister, who is in all Honors or AP classes, plus track, and now only reads a single series outside of school).

To address the individual who cited Twilight as an example of teens reading en mass, I would like to say that Twilight's extreme popularity is a symptom of teens not reading enough, since anyone who has been exposed to more than a couple of books can tell that it's horribly written.

Because most teenagers won't read anything assigned by the teacher. They generally won't read classics or anything but YA lit.

I'm not saying there's anything wrong with YA, but classics are classics for a reason. They make a worth while statement about the human condition.

Unfortunately my peers never seem interested in anything but "Twilight". Even the friends I have who love to read won't read the assigned literature.

So, when the teacher assigns a book and every kid in the class groans, it does kind of give the impression that teens don't like to read.

Well, how often do you see teens hanging out at the mall...discussing Charles Dickens? Exactly. People assume teens don't read because people don't see teens reading.

Lynn's Vampire Knight Zero: I just finished reading the Oedipus Plays of Sophocles. I was re-reading Dubliners a few weeks ago. I'm a little more than halfway through Paradise Lost by John Milton. Did you really just call my classic literature garbage? >=(

EDIT: Oh, Twilight. Carry on. =)

Maybe because us teens are at an age where we just want to live life, but some of us aren't as careless and irresponsible as most of the teens these days. My younger brother, who's almost a teen, would be like,"It's impossible for you to read a 500 paged book in 3 days... blah blah blah."

And I'd be like,"It's impossible for you, because you barely read." =P

He'd tell me childish, dumb things like I skip pages and that I'm trying to look like the nerdy-angel of the family, you know, that useless crap...

My classmates would be like, " When do you have the time to read??"

"There's no time at all, don't you watch TV? When do you do your homework when you read like 4 different books at once... blah blah."

"Oh, you're such a book geek, don't you have a life?"

People like that need to be kicked in their soft spots...

They make me really angry.

PEOPLE THAT READ, SUCCEED.

I don't know who said that quote, but it was on a poster in the library...

Happy Reading!

And don't keep in mind what dumb teens (I'm 15, BTW) say about reading!

Maybe because, up til 3 months ago (when Twilight got popular) most didn't read.

I'm a teenager and I love reading but I don't know too many people my age who do. They consider skimming Us Weekly or Sports Illustrated as filling their book quota for the year. I might be generalizing but that's my honest opinion.

dudeeee i know! i think its just like inner-city (sorry if its a stereotype) or kids that think that geeks read AHEM.... so anyways all my friends read and actually good intelligent books too i mean i know ppl who say jane eyre is their favorite book but also read the clique series. so reading YA books and trash is just for fun but for a really good read teens will read classics or historical fiction or whatever. and another problem is that theres not a lot of time to read. i mean you have sports, homework, and friends, PLUS teachers always assign books so you never have time to read what you want. i got stuck reading A Separate Peace in freshman english when i was trying to finish Exodus by Leon Uris.

may fav:

1. the kite runner

2. ALL harry potter

3. gone with the wind

4. like anything interesting :D

and im 15 a freshman so ha :D

im not sure but i think a majority of them dont read as much as some others, i personally read like a book every day or 2. but i think it might have to do with all the drugs, drinking, partying, etc that people associate with teens now instead of acedemics.. its like my school, we have about 10 trophy cases for sports trophies and none for acedemics, we are finally getting a wall! so most assciate teens with non acedemics sport like stuff and dont really see teens at book stores or reading in the park etc, at least i dont, and my school library is never full or half full

but my teachers say that if you read your test scores get better, i love to read anything at all (never take it seriously if it is fantasty or whatever) but i think that they should give us moe reading time in school and stuff, i get no time at all but when i am home, and alot of people think that reading is nerdy and dumb, but it isnt if you find something interesting then it is exciting and wonderful, like living in a new world for a while. its sad that many people dont get to read the wonderful books, then they get to old or run outa time.

I guess people just assume that teens, especially girls, are just too preoccupied with looks, makeup, clothes, gossiping, etc. Society has influenced that too, with a lot of books involving girls with that image, and movies too. It's unfortunate, because that's entirely false in most cases.

EDIT: A lot of these cases are to do with American teens, I've realized too.