Children cannot be blamed for preferring computer games to books if they never see their parents engrossed in a novel, according to author Charlie Higson.
Charlie Higson's latest book is
The Sacrifice, the fourth instalment in his zombie horror series for
teens Photo: Frantzesco
Kangaris
Charlie Higson, writer of the Young Bond spy series and The Enemy zombie
saga, says parents should look at their own reading habits if their offspring
rarely pick up a book.
His suggestion follows a National Literacy Trust survey
which found that fewer children than ever are reading in their spare time,
with one in six admitting they were too embarrassed to read in front of friends
for fear of being labelled a “geek”.
Higson said he was taking the findings with a pinch of salt because “surveys
are surveys and kids are kids, and they don’t always tell the truth”.
But he advised parents: “The way to deal with it is not to worry about it but
to take a gentle approach and read a lot yourself.
“It’s all, ‘Ooh, kids don’t read’ but how many adults still read in a way
that they used to? Adults’ lives are full of other things.
“Do kids see their dad sitting in the living room reading a book? I should imagine they don’t very often. I read a lot but I mainly read at night when I go to bed, or on holiday.
“If adults make books more a part of their lives then they will become more a part of their kids’ lives.”
But parents need not be too worried if their children appear to spend more time online or playing video games than reading books, according to Higson.
“When I was a kid, if you wanted to entertain yourself you went out and played or watched TV on the three channels available. If you wanted real excitement, you’d have to go to books to get it. But now you’ve got computer games and I think they’re brilliant,” he said.
“To say kids aren’t reading is not correct. Kids are reading a lot more than they ever did but they’re not reading books - they're reading on screens.
“If you play computer games, there is a lot of reading involved; if you’re talking to people on Facebook, there is a lot of reading and writing. Twitter’s the same.
“Yes, there’s a different way of communicating through screens which is probably less lengthy, but they’re still communicating to each other. There is no such thing as ‘the English language’ - it changes every day.”
Full story at The Telegraph
“Do kids see their dad sitting in the living room reading a book? I should imagine they don’t very often. I read a lot but I mainly read at night when I go to bed, or on holiday.
“If adults make books more a part of their lives then they will become more a part of their kids’ lives.”
But parents need not be too worried if their children appear to spend more time online or playing video games than reading books, according to Higson.
“When I was a kid, if you wanted to entertain yourself you went out and played or watched TV on the three channels available. If you wanted real excitement, you’d have to go to books to get it. But now you’ve got computer games and I think they’re brilliant,” he said.
“To say kids aren’t reading is not correct. Kids are reading a lot more than they ever did but they’re not reading books - they're reading on screens.
“If you play computer games, there is a lot of reading involved; if you’re talking to people on Facebook, there is a lot of reading and writing. Twitter’s the same.
“Yes, there’s a different way of communicating through screens which is probably less lengthy, but they’re still communicating to each other. There is no such thing as ‘the English language’ - it changes every day.”
Full story at The Telegraph
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