Books are becoming more and more uncommon as society continues to advance in technology. How can you blame anyone? Movies, shows, videos, photos and social media are all so eye catching compared to a book cover. Many people would rather watch a whole season of anything than to read one page of a heavy hard cover.
The modern world makes it hard for society to choose a book over a visual motive because our society is becoming more and more digital and eye catching. As of today, there are over 5 billion videos on Youtube with a range of categories and topics. That number doesn’t include every other site ever know to man.
With so much content to discover online, what can a book do for you that the internet can’t? Well, a man by the name of Ian Welsh said it best in his blog post Books vs. the Internet. To briefly summarize, Welsh says that books are facts and the internet is more opinion based. He also includes information how the internet makes people more likely to be unhappy with themselves because of societies unsaid standard.
I would read Mr. Welshes blog to better get an idea of what he is saying. Although I agree with what he wrote about, I believe there are some other critical factors to consider for societies lack of literature.
First of all, let us explore all the people that give excuses all the time as to why they don’t read. It could be time management, lack of commitment, different priorities or just no interest in reading. These are all valid excuses, but what people fail to realize is this perception of books becomes a chain reaction for generations to come. Almost the same method of the “monkey see, monkey do” game we all use to play.
Children now in America are consistently on their tablet surfing the web and playing video games with all their time. These children are growing up in the digital age, but people should persuade and recommend children to engage into read.
One statics I found oddly fascinating in “How American Children Spend Their Time” by Sandra L. Hofferth and John H. Sandberg is that the more educated the parent was, the more likely the kid was to read or be read to. The love for literature can start at a young age if someone is willing to inspire other people and children to read or at least get the ball rolling.
Books are important to society because they help push educational motives and increase serious thought that our children should have while developing at a young age. It is not just children that need to start picking up a book, but everyone in society who finds down time.
Photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash
Work Cited
, & (1997). What did you do today? Children’s use of time, family composition, and the acquisition of social capital. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 59, 332–244.
Hofferth, Sandra L., and John F. Sandberg. “How American children spend their time.” Journal of Marriage and Family63.2 (2001): 295-308.
BlackSheep.blog 