Reading: Schools And Their Obligation To Students
“A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies… the man who never reads lives only one”. This quotation came from fantasy writer George R. R. Martin’s book A Dance with Dragons. This quotation has a significant importance to today’s society as it describes the joy and the fulfillment of reading. To me, the meaning to this quotation is that readers generally feel more fulfilled by the stories that they have read; rather than a person who never reads as they do not feel the same joy or fulfillment.
When I was younger I used to read every book that I could find: mythological, horror, mystery and even biographical books. I found all of these books were interesting to me as they all tell stories of people who triumph over most obstacles to get to where they are now. Biographies, in particular, are more meaningful to me as they are realistic and show that anyone can accomplish anything if he or she puts his or her heart to it. These stories were the most fulfilling for me as they inspired me to work hard and believe in myself. I found that reading was important through my own life and it pains me to see people who refuse to pick up any book because they say that books are boring. If I had not been exposed to reading at a young age then I would not have the same interest as I have now. This is why I believe that high schools should do more to encourage students to read.
Teenagers are addicted to technology; this is a fact. At present, technology has gotten out of hand with social media and teenagers using technological devices in general. But what if there was a better alternative to using technology? What if there were a way for teenagers to stimulate their brains without the drawbacks of technology? What if teenagers could spend their spare time increasing their knowledge instead of being on social media? There is a way: reading. Reading is beneficial, especially for today’s youth in that it is a better alternative. According to Common Sense Media, teens spend an average of 9 hours a day online, as compared to 1970, when 60% of the youth reported reading every day; it seems that today’s youth has replaced reading with technology. According to a study, “reading exerts a positive effect of the developing brain”. Many studies prove that reading is a better alternative to using technology, but, that does not mean that teenagers should not use technology anymore but that they should incorporate reading to their daily schedule. Some high schools are taking initiative by implementing a reading program to encourage today’s youth to read. This is only a start.
Unless students are willing to take the reading program seriously and find a book that interests them then this would hold no merit. I believe that there should be an incentive to this program as to encourage more and more students to read. Although there are many benefits to reading already, students will not read unless there is something in it for them. “54. 7 percent of adult Canadians score in the two lowest skill levels in numeracy, up from 49. 8 percent in 2003. People with inadequate literacy skills are more likely to be unemployed than those who scored higher”. This statistic outlines the fact that people who have higher literacy skills tend to be employed. This literacy problem can stem from a lot of factors: lack of books at home and performing badly at school or dropping out. These factors could have been prevented if they had read more often.
Reading is an important aspect of everyday life as people are exposed to a lot of text in their everyday lives. Almost all high paying jobs require a certain level of literacy which is important for any level of success. As of right now 1 in 6 Canadians are illiterate. This means that 1 in 6 Canadians had trouble or are having trouble in securing a job. This is a saddening statistic in that most other people who are being interviewed against them will have more of a chance than someone who might be more deserving of the job. If these adults were to establish a basis of reading in high school then they could change their future for the better. If someone told all of the illiterate high school students about the struggles that they might face in their future then they would most likely change for the better. If high schools did a better job of encouraging young adults to read then this might not be a problem for the future. Many people think that reading is boring and time consuming, this is because of the fact that people would rather watch Netflix than to read because they do not have to stimulate their brains. All that they would have to do is watch the screen while the show or movie tells a story.
I remember when I watched the Scorch Trials in theaters and coming out thoroughly unimpressed as the book had more details and, in my opinion, was more interesting. I believe that books have more of a narrative aspect than movies as movies need to compress all of the information in books into a two hour film. This means that they have to skip a lot of content while keeping the main storyline, but while doing this they skip most of the important details losing most of the original meaning; therefore, making the film less emotionally stimulating than the book.
“In my whole life, I have known no wise people (over a broad subject matter area) who didn't read all the time – none, zero. You'd be amazed at how much Warren reads – and at how much I read”. This quotation was stated by Charlie Munger in his book titled, Poor Charlie's Almanack: The Wit and Wisdom of Charles T. Munger. Munger is a very intelligent individual who is an American investor, businessman and philanthropist. He is considered one of the smartest people on Earth and he states that this is mainly because of the fact that he reads often. By reading extensively on certain subjects he was able to vastly expand his knowledge on law, physics, financials and countless other topics. If all teenagers were to read as much as Warren Buffet or Charlie Munger then I believe that the future of the world would be one of technology that only exists in our dreams.
Today’s youth should find genres and topics that they are interested in. If they have sparked an interest in reading at a young age then most problems would go away. Reading may seem like a burden to some, but one that must be embraced by high schools and teenagers. If all of today’s youth is willing to change their habits and incorporate reading in their everyday lives then I believe that all of humankind will benefit.
