The emerging technologies of the late 20 th century have been taking the emphasis off of book reading. There is even a movement afoot in California to demonize reading through a pedagogy which espouses the concept of the prejudice of the printed word. This is not to suggest that there is only one learning modality but rather to emphasize that the possibility of improvement in reading should not be sacrificed at the altar of easy and passive video viewing. It is easier to sit or lay on the couch in order to watch than to read. The latter necessarily involves the creative thinking processes of imagination and wonder.
Reading allows the luxury of setting pace and having access to regress.
The former is, at best, the sucking in of someone else's images while, at worst, it opens the uncontrollable floodgates of media manipulation through passive participation and acceptance of those pictures which we have been told over and over again are each worth over a thousand words. While the choice of what we read is limitless, the video images we see are carefully constructed for maximum effectiveness by a few special interest corporations who give us a few hundred channels of targeted programming. My professional adult colleagues in education often comment that they do not read much either, having little time for books. There appears to be plenty of time, however, for sports events, soap operas and other visual stimulation. Once literacy is achieved every book becomes an instructor and the further education of the individual begins.