Ensuring the younger generation reads

Many years ago, a teenager called Nehemiah Akut, had wondered why he found it hard to read beyond his text books, especially once it was holiday. In time, he tried to read novels, just like his friends. He would flip through and give up, unable to read-from cover to cover. Now a full grown adult, […]

Many years ago, a teenager called Nehemiah Akut, had wondered why he found it hard to read beyond his text books, especially once it was holiday. In time, he tried to read novels, just like his friends. He would flip through and give up, unable to read-from cover to cover. Now a full grown adult, he has learned from his antecedents. “We should inculcate a reading habit in the new generation by setting a strict reading timetable for our children,” he told Bookshelf.
However, some readers have allowed adulthood take their minds off the need to read a variety of books that would develop their minds. As such, there is the tendency of the very young being demoralised by the inactivity of some members of the adult generation who should be role models. One of those in this category who have experienced a shift in their reading habits is Frances Onwukema.   
“I have always been interested in books,” she says. “Not just the basic story books. I went out of the box to read adventure books, romance, and so on. But now it’s kind of dwindling because of work and generally, adulthood.
“I think that the younger generation would become a stupid people without reading. There is one great thinker who has said something about a generation of smart phones and stupid people, referring to people who do not go out of their way to read but occupy themselves with just what the internet offers and scheme through,”Onwukema adds.
She however, suggests a way out of this dilemma: “Parents should set a time for kids to read, like two hours a day. They must read a book each day. Not just children story books,but books that would make them rack their brains and think, because a child who doesn’t read doesn’t think. But one who does can analyse issues.”
From birth, every human being develops certain habits which could be judged as good or bad, fruitful or unfruitful, depending on the society he or she is brought up in. Therefore, repetition of any practice becomes habit. This appears to be the position of Mrs. Joyce Daniel.
“Habit is not something that starts spontaneously,” she points out. “It is a daily and continuous building and moulding of attitudes towards reading which will further develops into character that will hence become a habit, especially for a child. For example, a child learns by doing what he or she sees. A non-reading parent will automatically have a non-reading child, especially if that parent is the mother.
“Mothers have great influence over their children from a very tender age and this can be used positively in inculcating reading in a child. She starts by reading in front of the child, and then she reads bed-time or any-other-time stories on a daily basis, until the child sees it as a daily routine and starts to develop interest for story books. 
“As a child grows, the parents should be mindful of areas of interest of that child and buy books that relate to such for the child to read passionately. Every age has a prescribed level of books suitable for assimilation. Parents should endeavour to check the age bracket of a particular book as it relates to the child and follow the instruction.”
For some, where they grew up may have given them little access to books. This was the case with Aminu Yusuf Roni, who was raised in a rural environment.
“The limited access to reading materials was just threatening,” he narrates. “I managed to get something to read off my father’s old books while growing up. Not even in the public library that we had then could I find anything to read.
“But to every challenge there is a victory. That was the case with my situation. Since I fell in love with reading, I have been benefitting from it; in grammar and vocabulary development, motivation, fun and general knowledge. I celebrate my victory and have enjoyed it since.”
For Roni, reading is the panacea for public, societal and contemporary consciousness and he believes the government’s focus in building a reading generation is the key to sustainable growth. 
In relation to Roni’s love for books, BilkisuIliya describes her reading experience as an ‘awesome one.’ She would usually be so engulfed in whatever she was reading that she would sometimes forget to eat. She was in love with literature and its varieties. But that was not to last. Everything changed for her when she opted for the sciences in secondary school.
“I was warned I had to work extra hard to get good grades. That was how I ditched Literature and then Physics and Chemistry became the centre of my world,”Iliya says.
Iliya’s story is one among many who have narrowed down their reading to what their courses of study and careers demand. Perhaps, what the mind requires is an open bookshelf, open to more possibilities than what the present situation demands. Places for it to wander, research, explore and soar beyond every fabricated physical limitation.