Forcing Child To Read: Negative Long-Term Effects To The Child

Many parents understand the benefits of reading to their children. Every parent feels like they’re in a race to get their child equipped for school. Of course, every parent dreams of raising a child that’s academically ready, which positions them for a successful life ahead. It’s every parent’s wish to get their child to read because of its many academic advantages. However, not every child has the natural urge to read books. So, some parents resort to forcing, bribing, or punishing their children just to get them to read. Neither one of these is beneficial for the child! 

Do you know that forcing your child to read does more harm than good? When you force your child to read, you create a feeling of exhaustion in their mind. Doing this will only make the child feel that reading is a chore they have to do in order to be considered “good”. But, forcing your child to read won’t even improve their reading skills; it will only make them read books because they “have to.” 

Whenever you force the child to read, it no longer becomes a fun activity that they’d want to look forward to. Instead, the reading activity feels forced on them and is not enjoyable at all. As a parent and educator, don’t allow the child to associate these feelings with reading. When the child is forced to read, it affects the child long-term. Forcing to read does not bring any good to the child, instead, it creates fear of reading and complete exhaustion that prevents them to read for pleasure! 

According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, some children don’t do well in school because of how aggressively they were forced to study and read when they were young. Instead of being excited and passionate about school, it now gives them a feeling of fear of being punished for not reading. On the other hand, using the reward system to get your child to read does not have long-term benefits either. When children are given rewards for reading, they will only read as long as they are expected to be given the reward. Unless the child reads for pleasure because they actually enjoy doing it, their reading will never be able to reach its fullest potential! Reading should not be presented to children as a chore or duty. It should be offered to them as a precious gift (Kate DiCamillo). 

What You Can Do

Now that you understand that forcing your child to read is not a long-term solution to actually getting them into a lifelong reading habit, here are some helpful tips to get them to read without the need to force them to do so. 

Let your child choose the book 

Some children find reading difficult because of uninteresting materials and are more likely to be interested in personalised books because of their personal relevance to them (Bracken, 1982). Letting your child choose the book they want to read helps them gain more knowledge and helps them understand just how fun reading can become. 

Find ways to make reading fun 

Find a way to make reading fun for your child- whether you’re camping under a tent, sitting on bean bags, or popping popcorn to go with your reading time. Another thing you can do is to get your child a personalised book. A personalised book has personalised elements that feature your child as the hero of the story. Imagine the look on their face when they see themselves in a published storybook! 

Believe in the benefits of reading yourself! 

Children follow what they see more than the instructions they hear. Basically, if you want your child to read, be a reader yourself. Reading is not only for the kids, it’s for everyone, regardless of the stage of life you’re in. If your child never sees you or anyone else in the home reading a book, they may find it difficult to appreciate the benefit of doing so on their own in the future. Children love to copy what adults do, so be a good example to them.