Blame Smartphones And Gadgets: Parents, Teachers Resorting To Bribery To Force Children Into Reading More Books

Children are reading books less and less as the digital age continue to soar. Parents and teachers now have to resort to bribery to push more kids into reading books instead of using smartphones and other electronic gadgets.

Parents are promising rewards to their children so they read more books. This includes sweets and chocolates, money, extended screen time, late bedtimes and visits to zoos and parks. One mother said she has always taught her child that reading is learning, but she admitted that pushing kids to read isn't always a walk in the park, the Telegraph wrote.

Teachers, on the other hand, offer incentives like stickers and creative activities such as painting and drawing in order to encourage children to read more. Many teachers also give extra playtime to kids.

Kids Are Bored With Books

Asked why kids don't like reading books, parents and teachers said it's because children find the reading materials boring and unimaginative. They said kids lose interest in reading when the characters are one-dimensional and there's no humor involved in the storylines.

This is why many children turn their focus on smartphones and gadgets, which offer hundreds of colorful and vibrant content. Helen Parker, a publisher at Rising Stars, said new books should be up-to-the-minute, eye-catching and exciting so children will be interested enough to pick them up and read, the Telegraph reported.

Reading Proficiency Of Kids

Experts believe that the third grade is usually the time when a child transitions from learning to read to reading to learn. A research published in the Annie E. Casey Foundation found that kids who still cannot read proficiently by the time they reach third grade are more likely to drop out of high school. This is why educators resort to using creative methods to teach children to read and write better.

Many American cities have third-graders that cannot read proficiently. Kansas City is one of the cities making aggressive efforts to turn the problem around. Turn the Page KC is addressing the four most notable hurdles to reading proficiency: chronic absence, community outreach, school readiness and summer learning, the Kansas City Star listed.

A nationwide book drive called Books Across America is campaigning from May 25-31 to encourage children to read more. The drive is giving books to children with ages zero to five, and aims to educate parents and educators on why reading, talking and singing to children have important effects on children's brain development, KCTV5 reported.