Omg thank you for posting this. I had similar issues which forced me to believe I was stupid until I was about 17 years old. The education system is messed up. I now have a diploma, 2 undergrad degrees and a masters degree. Who’s stupid now.

Former English major and library worker here, I’m so sorry your experience was so negative. It sounds like the educators you worked with were overly prescriptive and used punishment in areas where it probably wasn’t appropriate. I do think a lot of the reason people become reluctant readers is shame both around what they read and how they read, as well as a lot of people only reading things specifically assigned to them in school.

So, how to start towards remedying this . I agree with others saying that starting reading to and later with kids as early as possible is crucial. Encouraging kids to explore and find stories that they enjoy in combination with books that are culturally important and that work to build their reading level is also important, but a lot of people only focus on one. From what you said about liking picture books, it probably would have been more appropriate for your teacher to have encouraged you to slowly transition by mixing in middle grade graphic novels and chapter books rather than scorning you. Books are, after all, a form of instruction and entertainment just like movies or art. You can’t only consume junk food books that aren’t challenging you or promoting growth, but at the time if you never read anything you actually enjoy there is a high probability you will lose interest in reading. There also needs to be more awareness and sensitivity towards kids with diverse learning styles or disabilities who may struggle with reading.

I think there has historically been a lot of elitism and judgement surrounding reading that needs to be set aside. I think some of the mentality you mention has also fueled anti-intellectualism among people who struggle with reading. It seems to have gotten better in recent years, but overall adult literacy rates are stunningly low, and that is only damaging to society as a whole.

Oh, your post breaks my heart. 💔 I’m a librarian, and I hope you are able to read peacefully now, at whatever pace is comfy for you and whatever books you find fun and interesting!

I was always shocked at my lowish scores in “reading comprehension” as a kid, because I LOVED to read and thought I was good at it. I had the same problem as you. I was paying attention to different things than the number of dang apples.

My best recommendation for adults is to go to a library. They are judgement-free book palaces where you can borrow whatever books you want, ask the librarian for book suggestions, and sit and read (often in a beautiful environment) for as long as you please. My favorite library was built in the 90s and has a 90s vibe to it that reminds me of when I was a kid. It is a place of healing. ☺️

My mother was an English teacher and she read to us every night until I was around 13. I think it made a world of a difference.

I would use subtitles to help.

I find it confusing why people talk themselves down when I bring up a book. It’s not necessary, I’m talking up a book, let me sell you what I am reading.

Also helps if they see you read.

Don’t have much to add, other then man, that is a horrific way to “force” reading! I’m not sure your age(I’m in my 30’s) but in Canada, I was basically given free reign to read what I wanted from a very early age. My parents let me read complex history and tech books, and I borrowed Star Wars novels well above what a grade 5 student should have been reading. I was at a grade 11 level by grade 6. Being allowed to read what I want made me a very good student…in English, Social Science, and History at least!

Oddly enough, I read a lot less now. A concussion will do that to you. It’s not that I find reading boring, it’s that I find it a lot more difficult now, and if I read for too long I get dizzy and sick.

I hate and despise how the system of reading levels has transmuted, like so many good ideas, from a set of useful guidelines and a diagnostic tool to a set of rigid rules inflexibly applied by inferior minds.

My parents approach seemed to work. We went to the library weekly and got however many books I wanted (usually more than I’d realistically finish in a week) and the deal was I had to read one book each week that was the librarian’s recommendation. We had great librarians. I got so much good stuff from them.

That morphed into my parents bookshelves always being accessible, though when I was younger the stuff I shouldn’t read was sorted to top shelves (naturally, this meant I dragged chairs over to reach the top shelves but such has always been the case with prohibited literature).

My parents simply normalizing that taking a book out of the bookshelf or off the coffee table it had been left on made it normal for me too. ‘Oh, dad got his book, sat down on the couch and is quietly reading? Dad’s pretty cool, maybe I should do that too. Where’s my book so I can read like Dad does?’

As an adult, I also find that just talking to kids (nieces/nephews for me) about what they like re: books in an inquisitive, non-judgemental way is helpful. I don’t really give two flying effs if they’re reading Percy Jackson, Harry Potter, the Chronicles of Narnia, or being the stupid 12yo overfaced by trying to read Moby Dick cause they love going to the aquarium. The magic of ingesting a story and then being able to recount it to others is pretty powerful. Then reading gives a kid something to say if someone is willing to ask. My nieces and nephews know I’ll always ask what the best thing they’ve read lately is, and for them to tell me about it. We’ll eat ice cream while we do it on a special outing, but they know their uncle asks about books so there’s always one in the hopper to talk about.

When they get old enough to have their own preferences I’ve loved the Barnes and Noble outing idea. Starbucks is there usually, so turn a kid loose (assuming they’re well behaved) in their age appropriate section and just let them be while you sip a latte and let them wander the aisles. Set a limit (‘you can pick only two’, but they can pick any two books they want) and suddenly they’re considering carefully exactly which two they want to bring home and the selection is valuable and ownable instead of foisted on them. Make books valuable and kids treasure them.

We started reading to our children (twins)from the very beginning. We also had them signed up for The Dolly Parton Imagination Library. They received a book every month to read until they turned 5. At the beginning of PK4 we began a 1,000 Books before Kindergarten challenge through our local library. And now this year they have the Millionaire challenge (read 1 million words before the end of the year. We finished that up last month.

All that being said our “reader” child is reading at a 1st grade level mid year and the “artist” is at 1st grade beginning of the year.

All of the credit goes to their mom who is more intelligent and academically driven than I am.

Children mimick adults. The behaviour they learn is nothing but imitation of how they see adults behave. Even how they learn language or how to eat, all from mimicking adults. Children that show an aggressive/violent behaviour are from households in which violence takes place too often. Because children socialize in no other way but mimicking adults in their social field. So, this being said, if you want your child to read, read yourself infront of them. If you want them to dance on ticktock, dance on ticktock infront of them. Am afraid there is no other way, unless God wants to.

When I was in elementary school we had to read out of our reading book out loud to all the class. I remember training to read every day before going to bed. It somehow escalated to reading whenever I had the time and space. I compartmentalized reading for my own pleasure and reading for school. I really was encouraged to read by my mother who did the training sessions with me and my siblings, while she mostly could not find the time and state of mind to read herself in peace.

Strangely her encouragement ended when my reading started to involve literature she could not get the hang off. Like SF and Fantasy. Then it was mostly why do you waste time with this stuff? Don’t you regret spending time on this book which is so not relateable because it is pure fiction?

I regret nothing. I don’t read books to educate myself, I simply read them for pleasure. And even though they educate me. I learn things while reading and it is not a chore. The things you can learn about reproductive organs while reading trashy books is somehow never ending. I loved and still love comics. They are not a waste of time. They are marvelous. I was introduced to a lot of literature just by reading Mickey Mouse comics and never recognized it. No - they are not. Some might perceive them as immature and for just for children, but no.

This, I think, correlates with reading below your level. Because you are really not. Books are mostly written by adults. Some are catering to children but from the viewpoint of an adult mind. So most of them have layers like an onion, or a cake. And frosting. While the kids are mostly interested in the frosting, aka the outside of the cake they probably realize later that their cake has an internal life which is also delicious. While the adults choose books for kids for the aesthetic, the pictures and the message children possibly only see the pictures.

Okay, the fuck was going on in your school? That is horrific, and it seems as if literally no one there had any education in pedagogics.

In fact, if i had to write a “How to push children away from reading”-Guide, it would look roughly like how you describe your school.

The best way to get people to read it to normalize it. I think a lot of that happens before school. If parents read at home and with their children, children will view that as simply something that people do for fun.

If you want your children to read, read. While they can see it. If they are interested, involve them.

And if you are a teacher, don’t do what is described here.

As a teacher, I’d just be happy if they can read basic sentences. The idea of reading for fun OR academics is so far away from where our education system is right now.

From the receiving end, my parents read books to me in the evening. At one point I got impatient that they were busy and went fine I’ll read it myself

Past that, my school fortunately didn’t have such a toxic environment, so shame on your teacher

The problem we had was kids thinking they were “cool” for not reading