How many times have you seen a family — husband and wife, perhaps two or three kids — at a restaurant with every single one of them staring at their phone, be they reading texts, hanging out on social media, or reading and responding to text messages?
If you're like me, it's been more times than you can remember.
This brings us to Second Lady Usha Vance, who was in Atlanta, GA, on Thursday to speak with young students at a charter school about her "Summer Reading Challenge."
When Vance asked the kids to share how often they get distracted by cell phones or tablets, almost every child in the school gym eagerly raised their hand.
After visiting the school and touring several classrooms, the Second Lady spoke with Daily Wire about how she tries to block technological distractions from her own kids, suggesting that her efforts would be good for all of America's children.
For my children, and I think for all children, my goal is that we do things that try to counteract that. Whether that’s spending time outside, whether that is engaging in the kinds of activities where you just can’t be distracted, you really have to commit to build strength or skill or whatever it might be.
Exactly. Remember when summers were about being outside with our friends, often from early morning until evening when "the street lights came on"? Me, too, and those are some of the most cherished memories of life — regardless of what we were doing.
It's All About Reading, for Starters
Vance told Daily Wire it starts with reading, for her and her family:
Reading, I think, is maybe the most important of all these because when you can read and focus on something for hundreds of pages, then you can really do anything at that point.
The Second Lady glowingly referred to her 8-year-old, the Vances' oldest of three kids, and how much he loves to read:
Our oldest child is a total bookworm. He’s eight, so he’s read dozens of books this summer. Right now, I think he has been reading, actually, copies of the "Mahabharata," which is an Indian epic, and he also just finished re-reading all the Percy Jackson books.
“I think he read 'The Hobbit,' recently,” Vance added, referring to J.R.R. Tolkien’s prequel to "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy.
Yep, how I not only loved the incredible world of Middle Earth and Hobbit Bilbo Baggins, but also how "The Hobbit" opened me up to the incredible "The Lord of the Rings" and its magnificent imagery, along with worldly lessons — some of them dark, most of them inspiring.
While Usha Vance speaks less about politics than her vice-president husband, she told Daily News she has “high hopes” that people will come back to Washington. She also said the Vances share an appreciation for the important impact literature and reading can have on virtually anyone — not just children.
ALSO CHECK OUT: Dismantling the Department of Education Is a Good Thing: Will the Left Allow It to Happen?
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In a statement on Thursday, Vance encouraged all of America's kids to embrace reading, enthusiastically saying that regular reading can help build strong foundations "that will serve them for a lifetime.”
Not only was Second Lady Usha Vance's encouragement of children to read essential; it was also a wise message for all of us. That is, if we can get off Facebook and/or X long enough to pick up a good book.
Editor's Note: President Trump is fighting to dismantle the Department of Education and ensure America's kids get the education they deserve.
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