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Original poster

Anyone got a teen who reads?

83 replies

FreakStar · 20/07/2020 12:43

My DD is 14 and used to be an avid and able reader. However, since starting secondary it's become increasingly difficult to get her to read until now she never reads at all. Not magazines, not online news, not books, nothing! I've bought her books for Christmas, I've taken her to the library and the bookshop where she's picked out some books, she's ordered books from Amazon but they all sit on the shelf untouched. We've tried backing off, we've tried scheduling it in, we take her devices away before bed in the hope she'll read in bed before she turns her light off etc. Her English teacher has recommended books and said she can borrow her copy, still no reading. So this morning I've told her I'd like her to spend time reading in the holiday which resulted in her crying and saying she'll fail her GCSEs if she has to read books and she doesn't enjoy reading and it's boring. DH and I both read, I don't understand how it can be boring if you are engrossed in a book. reading to me if knowledge and insight, and in my mind anyone who says reading is boring is usually uneducated. I don't want her to be one of those people who never reads. What can I do?

OP posts:
Malmontar · 20/07/2020 13:07

Sounds like you need to give her a break tbh. Giving her those ultimatums will make her hate it more. Just because you enjoy something doesn't mean she should, even if it is good for her. So many people don't like reading for pleasure and they're not stupid. It takes a lot of effort to get engrossed in a book.

ScrapThatThen · 20/07/2020 13:07

Yeah, partly technology saps attention spans and makes reading mentally challenging, partly English literature GCSE ruins books.

My 14 yo was an avid reader, has stalled, but planning to start again over the holidays.
My 16yo hasn't read a book since 8 and has read five during lockdown - she's discovered psychology non fiction like the Optimism Bias. And started reading New Scientist. I would never have predicted she would be reading more than her sister.

Fanthorpe · 20/07/2020 13:03

Audio books. Don’t force it. She’s obviously a bright girl and understands the consequences.

I’d want a better argument than ‘boring’ though, if she means she’d rather be doing other things then she needs to say that.

Sadly there are plenty of young people who don’t read. One of my children had a tutor for English A level who said she’d met several candidates who didn’t want to read the set texts in their entirety.

avocadoze · 20/07/2020 12:59

Audible. That’s been my answer.

Changemyname18 · 20/07/2020 12:58

I think.you have to chill. I love reading , but my teens do not. It is not the end of the world. There are other ways to be educated and learn. And I've learnt this after fretting throughout primary when they would do anything other than stick their nose in a chapter book, and the teachers were wound up about it as well. One did read- Deadly 60, Top Gear and a world atlas endlessly, but this wasn't 'reading'. I hate the whole thing about 'you must read, if you don't you are a poorer person for it'. If she feels forced to do it, she will not enjoy it. Imagine being told to do a pastime that you do not enjoy, especially when you are 14. She will, in time, find books to read that she will enjoy. But not in the current atmosphere. I know there will be others that will come on and stress the importance of being a reader, and the impact on comprehension, vocab and widening your language. I get that, but there are other ways kids learn this, not all learn best from the written page.

bookmum08 · 20/07/2020 12:57

Some people just don't like reading for pleasure. They just don't. Unfortunately she will have to read for GCSE - why oh why is English Literature compulsory? What are the books she chose? Maybe she's picked the 'wrong' genre. YA fiction goes through phases of what is popular. A couple of years back it was all dystopia fiction, before that those blimmin vampires, currently it all seems to be LGBT 'finding yourself' books. Did she pick something because it is one of the latest 'trendy' books but finds she just isn't getting on with that genre (i have never got on well with fantasy - even gave up on Harry Potter and Narnia). Did she read before? What did she enjoy then if she did?

Original poster
FreakStar · 20/07/2020 12:53

She read the hunger games when she was about 11, before she decided reading wasn't 'fun'. I don't think it's book recommendations she needs, she's always been good at picking her own books and knowing what appeals. I don't really know what the problem is- she hasn't always been like this.

OP posts:
HasaDigaEebowai · 20/07/2020 12:47

Would books of movies work eg divergent, hunger games, maze runner, the 100 etc help? Tbh I don’t think you can force it really. My DSs both read constantly so I can give recommendations but not sure how to get a teen to read if they just refuse. What books is she doing for gcse?