Early this morning both our daughters came into our bed. Our older one is fighting with a cold. After awhile of lying next to me, she said, “I’m bored” and wandered downstairs. Later I find her curled up on the “cozy chair” reading. No surprise. Ever since she learned how, she has been an avid reader (and even before she learned how to read, she loved being read to). When she brings home notes about how she’ll get prizes for reading a certain number of books, I can’t help but feel how ridiculous it is. I want reading to be pleasurable–as it is for me. And it is for her. Being rewarded for reading is like being given a certificate for having a dish of ice cream. Of course, this analogy doesn’t quite work, since of course reading is important in our world in so many ways.
Should we get rewarded for something we would do anyway, something that we love to do? Why not? Look at athletes, movie stars, people who love to make money. They are amply rewarded (well, not all them, just some of them). I think there’s a legitimate concern now that we “over-reward” in our culture, particularly in school. The concern is that children won’t do something for the satisfaction of doing it, that somehow giving rewards for something they would do anyway and enjoy somehow cheapens it and makes it less enjoyable. At the same time, why not reinforce the good stuff? Why should we only get rewards for things we don’t like to do ?
It is perhaps unfashionable to say anything bad about reading, but having earned a PhD in English and as a lifelong reader and writer, I think I’ve earned the right to do so. What bothered me about what happened this morning is that reading so easily quells boredom, and I’m not so sure that’s always a great thing. I feel like the time my daughter has spent on more active, creative play has decreased quite a bit since she’s started reading on her own (school has also decreased this as well, since a lot of that effort gets channeled that way). But the ease of going into a book when you’re bored can be dangerous. It was quite early this morning, and I’m pretty sure she would have been better off going back to sleep. But trying to get to sleep is boring compared to reading a book. Who of us has lost sleep because of reading too much? Let’s be honest, reading can be a real distraction to the business of living, to the cultivation of quiet awareness of our world and of rich relationships with each other. Bored, uncomfortable, stressed? Books are great antidotes, but like any antidote, we can come to rely on them too much.
Interesting thoughts on the downside of reading. I sometimes stay up too late reading. And yes, I read when I’m bored. (Hey, at age 71 I think I’m entitled!). I see your concern about your daughter. I’ve been a bit sad because my grandson isn’t the avid reader that many in the family are, but it’s true that when he’s bored, he has to come up with something else – and often it is creative (when he’s used up all his computer time, that is).
I know I’m addicted to reading. I protect my supply (by using the library a lot), buy used paperbacks to take on airplane trips (so I can leave them along the way), and have to have reading material in the bathroom. I loved to read when I nursed my babies.
Well, there are worse addictions.