Read, read and read as much as you can. That is what they used to say to the young ones for building character, reaching success points in life and being a responsible human/person. Not to forget a good writer and all, which obviously involves writing skills.

The habit of reading, without a shadow of a doubt, does help develop these life-lasting traits. Why? The answer is simple enough. When a child starts reading a book or a tale, or even comics, they start forming an imaginative image/vision alongside the words they read. I did however, mention comics as well which of course is debatable. The reason for adding comics is not that you get slang language, rather, on the contrary, a child develops a sense of trendy humour which is essential for social acceptance later in life. Now let’s get on track again.

Reading is a multi -faceted-result-delivering habit. Be it newspapers, print or online, or e-books they all contribute to the same. Obviously, a child is burdened with school curriculum and other physical activities as well which are equally important but reading is that particular habit/trait which when begins in the formative years helps overcome several difficulties in life at a later stage. Now how do we surmise, reading overcoming several difficulties later in life? Like they say “a child’s health is the food which it has had during the first five to ten years of life” similarly reading ascertains how the child as a person will react to its surroundings, peers, situations and elders and deal with them accordingly.

Take a varied selection of books from classics to modern children’s literature, or even other reading material like newspapers and magazines, etc. They all have character and situation interaction. This helps later in real life. Moreover, the very involvement of a child with a book is a valuable phenomenon in itself. It develops self-confidence, tangible solutions to problems, and the book becomes a companion like a pet, resting on the bedside table. We even see the same in movies and shows nowadays. Because the trend of tangible reading had declined over the years which is now coming again to normal.

Why we see the same in movies and TV shows, is when the children got away from healthy reading and the studies found in (full scale researches) that the child’s neuro growth is marred. Yes, I have used a strong word marred’ only because of the reason that after a little over two decades the habit of reading has gained value again as I stated earlier. As they say it all boils down to the basic values. Which – the values i.e. are not only taught by parents but also a regular reading regime. So, should it be a newspaper or book in print form or an e-book on a tab. The truth is whichever the medium, the means to an end are the same. So Whichever platform your child chooses the objective is simply reading. If this objective is successfully achieved, we shall see a generation with better understanding of situations and how to excel in a life which they choose for themselves.

—The writer is senior contributor to major dailies & magazines digital media strategist Karachi.

views expressed are writer’s own.