Young People Do Not Read

It is wrong to generalize. For example, we tend to use a blanket statement that young people don’t read. It’s because of their phones. They are forever scrolling away or are incognito because their headphones shut out the world.

But they do read, not Shakespeare like grandma or Alex Haley’s Roots, like grandpa, but they do. I saw them at the book market to raise money for the local Children’s Hospital, yesterday. It was held at a big shopping mall around here. Every store front had long tables filled with books, even religion. I stood there for a while, fascinated by a young girl who was engrossed in a religious book. See? Another stereotype that young don’t have time for church or any religion for that matter.

Young people read because they have interests, and most of them are online, but Google is not everything. It has second hand smoke. Meaning? Somebody sent the movie, blog, music video or book to the internet.  It cannot be Googled if it is not out there online. Some knowledge exists only in books. That is why some young people read. That is why they were at that book market, because it had classic books.

Some young people do read. We conclude they don’t because we see them playing with their phones in public.

Nonqaba waka Msimang

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