Just a quick thought while reading an article on Digg bemoaning the “stupidity” of this generation (but really bemoaning what the author seems to perceive as a decline in literacy, which in turn is actually a change in the way the current generation absorbs information, but anyway…)

Most children of this generation seem not to want to read because their only institutional exposure to reading reinforces it as a boring activity. I began reading rather early (4 at the latest, but I don’t remember a time when I couldn’t), but beyond the basic “learn to read” sorts of books, my first enjoyable exposure to reading was Nintendo Power magazine. Reading is a very universal skill, of course, so I soon began reading all sorts of other things (including some of the classics), but the fact remains that I had established it as a pleasurable activity before my love for it was kindled.

What of those who are more institutionally bound? Their first nontrivial exposure to reading is something they would never choose to read – and yet they’re forced to slog through it anyway.