Young readers' interest waning
Following is from a study published by Mark Bauerlein of the National Endowment for the Arts, and Sandra Stotsky of Northwestern University.
The NEA's "Reading at Risk: A Survey of Literary Reading in America" identified a serious decline in both literary reading and book reading in general by adults of all ages, races, incomes, education levels and regions, specifically in young adults.
In overall book reading from 1992 to 2002, young women slipped from 63 to 59 percent, while young men plummeted from 55 to 43 percent. This gap has historically existed since mass publishing began in the mid-1900s.
But such exponential growth in so short a time suggests that a formerly moderate difference is fast becoming a decided marker of gender identity: Girls read, boys don't.
"American Time Use Survey" (Bureau of Labor Statistics) reports that young men and women both read only eight minutes per day during leisure time. But the equality is misleading, as young men enjoy a full 56 minutes more leisure than young women — approximately six hours for men and five for women.
And, from the Department of Education: In the 1998 fall kindergarten semester, girls outperformed boys in reading by 0.9 points. By spring semester, the difference had leaped to 1.6 points.
K-12 literature curriculum may be contributing to the problem. According to reading interest surveys, boys prefer adventure, war, sports and historical nonfiction, while girls prefer personal relationship and fantasy tales. When given choices, boys do not choose stories featuring girls, while girls frequently select stories that appeal to boys.
Lead characters are rarely strong, active male role models. Gone are inspiring biographies of important male American personalities. Conversely, stories about adventurous and brave women abound.
By middle school, quality literature that might appeal to boys has been replaced by Young Adult Literature, that is, easy-to-read, short novels about teenagers facing social problems.
Older literary fare has been replaced by "culturally relevant" literature that targets students' ethnic group identification, on the assumption that sharing the lead character's ethnicity will motivate them to read.
There is no evidence that either of these types of reading fare turn boys into lifelong readers and learners.
On the contrary, by high school age, a majority of boys have lost interest in reading about issues or personalities written in high-quality prose. And they are not motivated enough by an exciting plot to persist in the struggle they will have with the vocabulary that goes with it.
Appreciation for the spoken and written word is at an all-time low, as most children prefer a quick fix to arts and culture, promoted by media's and technology's relentless, addicting stimulation.
Next time: A follow-up on these alarming trends and their direct impact on how children view performing arts. A quick solution meantime? Turn off the TV and hit the library!
March Fun Fact: From 1950 to 1978, the average running time for a Broadway musical was 2.3 hours. With Americans' ever-diminishing attention span, today's musicals average just over 100 minutes.