Thanks in no small part to Disney, kids read today because they have to, not want to.
Actually, and this is a topic that bothers me (being a young person), I find that the majority of young people today don't read, and what's worse, quite a few of them
can't read (or can't do so very well). This I would attribute in part to movies and television, but also to Playstation/XBoX, etc. I used to be one of those anti-book junkies; I had never, in my life, read a book for the sake of personal pleasure or interest. But one day recently I picked up just one book and read through it, and now I can't stop reading; I've got a stack of books that I plan to read within the coming months. In the interests of preserving an important aspect of our human culture, I do wish that young people would read literature. (i.e. not ads, or magazines, or DVD covers...) Soldiers too, I think, should read. It might not seem relevant at first, but wouldn't soldiers benefit in some way from learning, on their own, about the regiment's achievements and traditions and about the history of our country?
Television is probably my least favourite invention of all time. Apart from the fact that it's almost all junk being broadcast on every TV station, it just makes my head hurt. Movies, I think, are better because there are some really intriguing flicks available (even today), but even then, I find the majority of movies are just junk. It seems the best forms of home recreation left for me are playing my piano, reading my books, and doing pushups. There's just nothing else worth doing on my free time.
I'm somewhat distraught that bogus changes are being made to Winnie-the-Pooh. I sort of grew up on those stories. When I was really little my mom used to read it to me, had cool pictures too. I remember hating the Rabbit 'cause he was a bit of a prick, and my dad saying it was dangerous that Owl lived in a tree (in case of a lightning storm). Then again, as mentioned before, this is Disney for ya. Way to tarnish my childhood memories...
End rant.