Encouraging Reading Books From A Young Age

Thoughts & Reflections

By Dr R Neerunjun Gopee

In an age where the electronic screen in the form of the smartphone in the hand has become a universal phenomenon, available to all age-groups as early as toddlers! – it would seem an anachronism to write about reading books. It is a fact that reading in electronic format has become so ubiquitous now as to replace the actual reading of material in the traditional form of print – books, magazines, newspapers.

Encourage reading in your home. Pic – Southern Living

Versions of the latter, including some of the most prestigious titles in the world, have had to close down and go digital instead. This is true for our local newspapers also, which are now read mostly in digital form, a trend which gained traction during the Covid pandemic and has since become standard. No doubt this is a reality we cannot get away from and represents the future mode for the current and coming generations.

Those of us of the earlier generations still clamour for print versions, and many subscribers to this paper known to me used to ask me when the print version would become available again once the Covid pandemic had passed.

It is also a fact that many bookshops have closed down, which is indeed a pity. Because the electronic format may replace but is no substitute for a book. The former can disappear at the touch of a click, but a book is forever! A book is like an old, trusted friend. To whom you can go back again and again.

As the Roman philosopher, statesman, and writer said, ‘A room without a book is like a body without a soul.’

The electronic format undoubtedly presents certain advantages, such as quasi-instantaneous and widespread access across the world to a larger audience. However, the pleasure of reading a book can never be matched by doing so with the digital equivalent. Curling up with a book in your lap as you doze off, especially on winter evenings, is not the same as doing so with a tablet or a laptop – besides the fact that this can be positively dangerous!

When I see the millions of people looking down at smartphones in their hands, most of the time, head bent forward and the back somewhat stooped, I am given to wonder whether at some time in the distant future if this trend continues, we will have generations born with hunched backs and heads down instead of looking up, and shortened fingers! A kind of unintended consequence of science and technology, which the French geneticist Albert Jacquard described as ‘les effets pervers de la science’ in an article with the same in Le Monde Diplomatique. In this case a physical habit would have become a hereditary trait, in line with Darwin’s Theory of Evolution. Though I hope not…

In our time as schoolchildren, at both primary and secondary levels, books were our prized and precious possessions, carefully covered and passed down to younger siblings. Our teachers used to make us read aloud from them, and reciting poems learnt by heart not only sharpened our memories but also improved our articulation.

At the college, there used to be a library period once a week, when we would all go to the library and read in silence, choosing from magazines that were neatly displayed on a rack, or from books that lined the bookshelves in rows. Books on all subjects, catering to everybody’s taste.Read More… Become a Subscriber

Mauritius Times ePaper Friday 25 April 2025