How to get teenager to read

[123teenagerfood]

I'm a prolific reader, from birth. My husband reads 2 books a year. My son sees me reading all the time, he is exposed to books on a daily basis, we read to him every night and loved it as a young child. He has read a number of classics and modern classics, I found him reading Sylvia Plath poems the other day. But unless I suggest a book or ask him what he would like to read, he just doesn't bother. He is currently reading We Have Always Lived in the Castle and says he likes it. How can I cultivate a love of reading? We have a library at home, he generally chills in it, he is well read but only as I set out books and he chooses. We go to the library and he gets books as well. Maybe I am asking too much?

DD won't touch a novel but loves play scripts and poetry books.

You don't. They have TikTok now.

DS is 15 and is predicted a 9 in English Lit, it's his favourite subject but he won't pick up a book.

I continue to suggest books. He continues to mock me.

I hope that one day he might

You need to accept that your son is his own person with his own separate interests - he is not an extension of you. You have given him plenty of opportunities to experience the pleasure of a good book. It is now up to him whether or not he chooses to pursue that pleasure or whether he wishes to spend his time on other things. Respect his choices and don't try to force something that should be done for the joy of it.

I was an avid reader as a kid, and I carried on reading through the teenage years. My equally able dsis simply didn't enjoy it. Same upbringing, different interests and priorities. My own dd was like me as a child, stopped reading for a few years as a younger teen and then rediscovered it as an older teen. We are all different.

Honestly, just leave him be. If you try to push it, you may end up putting him off for life. If he wants to read, he will.

My techy son enjoyed audio books, and still does. He 'read' lots of classics by listening to them, often alongside doing practical things like making lego when he was young or building construciton kits or doing other practical engineering projects. He chose to save his physical book reading energy for non-fiction science and tech stuff.

Another idea is to listen to audio books together on long car journeys - lighter and/or funny ones were always popular (Gerald Durrell 'My Family and Other Animals', Jerome K Jerome's Three Men in a Boat, Sue Townsend's Adrian Mole series etc). It was lovely to share the laughter. I think it's important that reading can be seen to be just for fun and not for school/exams or 'becoming well-read'.

I think you can do all the right things to encourage reading, read to them when they are small, lots of books at home, trips to book shops and the library, being a reader yourself etc, but books and reading just aren't for everyone. I have 5 dc, 3 are avid readers (as am i), the other two wouldn't pick up a book for love nor money.

My youngest son has never read a book,his year 6 teacher said he would struggle at Grammar school. He is 24 , Achieved first at Uni studying Economics and earning a fortune..it really doesn’t matter. Myself and my other children enjoy reading,but that’s our choice.

Sympathizing heavily here. My two teens also don't seem to like any book, while I love books and just don't have the time for them. I still read every day, we have loads of interesting books at home and there are just so many great books for teens/young adults available now. I've even offered them a cash reward (euro 30 for every book from 200 pages onwards). My 13 year old is still reading Isadora Moon books - which doesn't seem age appropriate but I'm taking it as a small win. My 15yo is occasionally flipping (backwards) through some manga but that's it. I'm still reading to my two younger boys but also there not much interest. By the time I was 15, I'd finished all the books in our (admittedly rather small) local library. It makes me really sad that none of them share my passion.

If he’s enjoying The Walking Dead, you should try pointing him towards the sort of ‘literate’ comic books Vertigo used to publish. If he’s mature enough to enjoy Sylvia Plath, then he’s mature enough to enjoy Promethea or Sandman.