REASON AND CONCERN

Reading
By: Roquillo Tolentino

ABHIGIT Naik, a Hindu writer consultant of Information Technology and Service and Buzzle author wrote on the importance of reading to children, importance of reading books and inculcating the importance of reading at home, as follows :

“There are worse crimes than burning books. One of them is not reading them.’ - Joseph Brodsky.

“Reading is the basic foundation on which academic skills of an individual are built. The education system knows this fact very well, and hence ‘it’ is given a top priority in primary education. Many believe that reading is an apt measure of a persons success in academics. Most of the subjects taught to us are based on a simple concept - read, synthesize, analyze, and process information. Although a priceless activity, the importance of reading has been deteriorating rapidly. One of the prominent causes for this is the technology boom, wherein you can get whatever information you need with just a click!

“Reading, however, doesn’t mean making it through your school texts to clear the approaching tests. Neither is it restricted to educational purposes only. You can read almost anything including encyclopedias, novels, dailies, magazines... the list is pretty long, but that hardly matters, as long as you like doing it. Whether you like fiction or non-fiction is not important, but whether you like reading or not is! Sadly, however, people nowadays seem to have totally lost interest in this activity. Children are too busy with their computer games and television, whereas adults are glued on to their computer screen, amassing the wealth of knowledge through Internet search engines. Reading does have its loyal fan following, but the fan base is rapidly decreasing.”They say that the right time to inculcate good habits and values in a person is his childhood. With so many advantages to its credit, reading has to be inculcated in children at a young age. Reading skills and strategies enhance the child’s ability to comprehend various concepts with immense ease. It develops critical thinking skills in children by making them think, instead of spoon feeding them. Understanding the concept and critical thinking are the two important qualities of a successful individual. Other than this, reading also improves the person’s vocabulary, command on the language, and communication skills. Trends show that children who read are able to concentrate on their lessons more properly than those who don’t. More importantly, good reading skills are directly related to good writing skills. A person who doesn’t read will always experience a dearth of words when it comes to writing./TE