As novels became more prominent during the 1700s, society and the media grew increasingly concerned that young people spent too much time reading books. They even went so far as to call it ‘reading rage,’ ‘reading fever,’ ‘reading mania,’ and ‘reading lust.’ Source
Just goes to show you that every new thing gets villianized.
“Times are bad. Children no longer obey their parents, and everyone is writing a book.“ ~Marcus Tullius Cicero, Roman author, 1st century BC.
those damn books are making children rebellious and ruining the economy and making them lazy!