Develop reading habits

I happened to read a short but a real story in one of the magazines and that was related to a child who faced a few family problems.When the girl was in class IV, the parents got separated, the mother left the home and during this period only the elder sister was admitted to some college hence this girl and the father were left at home alone. The father was working as a librarian in one of the schools.When the mother and the elder sister were not around,  this girl and the father used to have a lot of time.This girl felt a monotony seeping into her life. The father could realise the problem of the child and he decided to start reading books for her and also encourage her to read, but it was not an easy task to start with. The father being the librarian knew how to motivate the children to read books and help them overcome the initial inertia. He told the daughter that he would read for her first and if she liked it then she could do read independently. The girl initially was not impressed by the idea at all but she had nothing else to do so she reluctantly agreed. Her father told her that they would read books for hundred days and then if needed would stop the practice after that.They started with the reading of books and after a few months they became so fond of the routine that they could miss on anything but reading the books. The girl grew up reading the books and listening to the stories the father used to tell or read for her and this did not stop at hundred days but continued for about seven-eight years till the girl had to leave the home and to join a college. But even after joining the college her habit of reading the books continued.This changed the personality of the girl and now she was more confident and could take part in any discussion without any hesitation.Also she wrote her first book appreciating her father and the reading they had done together.

Another news which has come from one of the premier institutions of engineering(IIT Kanpur) that they are going to ban the use of the laptops on the campus of the college and the reason mentioned for the same is that the excess use of laptops and the net being available due to wi-fi, is causing many problems to the students and they are showing the signs of depression because they continue working on these gadgets late night and are not able to have proper sleep and hence are not able to concentrate on their studies during the class hours.For some, this may seem an incorrect step by the management but we have to think about it seriously. Though all will agree that the laptops and other electronic gadgets have become the part of the life of the people particularly the youngsters but at the same time improper use of the same has been a concern to many, but they are not able to portray their apprehension because they would then be tagged to be against technology and use of the things available to the young adults.But now many people have started realising the negative impact of such things available to them.

Why has it been so that the children have drifted away from reading books and have resorted to the gizmos like laptops? The most important reason has been that people particularly the parents are so busy in their work that they hardly have any time to read.The children staying in nuclear family are more affected by this than the other group of the children.Most of the children are pre-occupied in their so called studies that  they rarely have any time to peep through the books and spend most of their time in cramming the things told(not really taught) in schools and the tuition centers.They are made to realise by many people that the only important thing they have to do is to get into a good professional college and what happens there has been explained by the example of the engineering college mentioned above.I do not mean here that the use of laptops is not good but excessive use of these electronic gadgets is definitely harmful and that has been proved in a number of studies done so far. Also the excessive use of the electronic gadgets is causing serious health problems to the youngsters which is a serious concern to the people.

Whereas the reading of books does not ever cause any problem to the back or the shoulders or the eyes as much as it is caused by the work or reading on the screen of the laptop or computer.The books can be very handy to everyone in any of the situation. Book reading can be started at any age but the people who start this in their childhood continue with the same all through the life until and unless there are some reasons to reduce the reading hours. I know people who would not sleep without reading something before they go to bed.Reading books exposes one to the variety of the ideas and he/she can visualise the happenings and the incident which helps the person to develop thinking and that is the base for creativity.The kingdom of books is as vast as universe and there are books available on nearly every topic under the sun.Reading books help us to come out of any difficult situation because while reading the book one tends to forget the stress or the problem he/she might be facing. The children will not be able to develop the habit of reading which is very important for them, until the adults particularly the parents help them in it.It has been observed that the father or the mother would purchase a mobile worth Rs.Ten thousand but not a book which costs not more than  Rs.Two to four hundred. They should know that if mobile is important for the child then books are more important(here by books I mean other than the course books).The teachers should also develop the habit of reading books other than the subject they teach and share it with their students.This will motivate some students if not all and they will develop the habit of reading books as book reading is an extremely pleasant and intellectual exercise.