THE READING CULTURE

Many people these days find reading a difficult thing to do. One of the reasons for this can be traced back to the fact that many children, as they grow up, are not encouraged by their parents or guardians to develop a love for reading. In our context in Uganda it even gets worse. Parents and many teachers have committed a fatal error which, I believe has contributed to what we see today as a generation that is not interested in reading. This error is forcing children to read and making non-reading a punishable offense. As a result, when these children grow older they will not want to do something that they perceive was always being forced onto them. So my advice is, please let us encourage our children to love to read. The best way to do this is read to them when they are still infants and also lead by example. We adults should also enjoy reading and show our children that we want them to be like us.