Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1880-04-23
Why Young Children Read Trash.

Mr.. Charles Dudley Warner discuss
ing the question of children's reading,
in the ChriStiln Union, calls attention to
the comparatively small number of per-
sons, even in this country, who read.
We boast, he says, about the circu-
lation of our newspapers. The best of
them are daily marvels of news, of in
formation, OF miscellaneous reading, of
entertainment of all sorts. They are the
cheapest things manufactured in modern
days. Considering the capital in brains,
industry and money put into every hum
Der, they are at their price the wonder
of our civilization. And yet the most
wonderful thing about them to me is the
smallness of their circulation compared
to the population. Take su h center
as New York, with a compact popula-
ton of nearly two millions. and radiat-
ing lines of quick distribution that en-
able the newspapers within few hours
to reach millions more, and set against
this the actual circulation of the three
or four commanding journals. 1t is q
mere bagatelle.
Still there are many newspapers,
and large proportion Of the population
sees one every ,ay-that is, of the city
population; but the number of people
who master the contents of a dailEbews-
paper is not large. Readers pick out of
them the items of business or amuse-
ments or politics chat interests them.
And it is hardly fair to credit our people
with the habit of reading because they
glance at the daily newspapers, or be-
cause in the country they are in the
habit OF spreading the excellent weeklies
over their faces to keep the flies from
distur bing their Sunday nap. / believe
that the majority of business men read
book very rNrely; the majority OF young
men in business and in society fancy
read little-they do not give their even
ings to reading, and are not apt to take
UP book unless it becomes the talk of
society People who spend great deal
OF money on dress, on dinner, on amuse-
ments, would think it eXtravagant to
buy book, and if one is commended to
them they will wait till they can borrow
it or get it from the library. They do
not hesitate two minutes about an oEdin-
airy two-dollar dinner, but they will
wait months to borrow a fifty-cent
book.
He concludes that" one of the reasons
why the young who read at all read
nothing but trash, as they are said to do,
is because their parents, or older per-
sons about them, either have not the
habit of reading or they also read trash.
In such households as | have described,
where the elders go about declaring that
there is nothing to read, the children
catch the tone and think there is moth
ing to read-that is, nothing except the
latest story-book or the picture paper.
In a lower strata of society, where the
mother has neither time nor inclination
to read anything, and the father pores
over the Police Gazette, it is quite natural
that his son should take the BOYS OaUn
story paper about rufians and burglars.
The short OF it is that the children in
this country follow their elders. And l
suspect that the vast majority of people
are little for reading, except as it fur
nishes them smattering of news or
gives them temporary excitement"