The joy of a good book is a feeling that teens today are decreasingly familiar with. Less than 20% of teens read daily for pleasure, according to the American Psychological Association. Because they get such little practice, some students have never built up the stamina and attention span to read novels; the American Psychological Association reported that since 2004 attention spans have decreased from two minutes to 40 seconds as a result of screens and social media . On top of the allure of short-form content,students are also swamped with homework, athletics and extracurriculars and many struggle to find the time to read for pleasure. If the school introduces a mandatory summer reading program, it could help to alleviate these issues within the student body by helping lengthen attention spans, increase exposure to new ideas and improve reasoning and critical thinking.
There are reasons why our school in particular should implement summer reading. 40% of colleges have a summer reading assignment for incoming freshman, according to the University of South Carolina. These books often make strong statements and are meant to give the class ideas to grapple with, according to the New York Times. With the school being a college preparatory institution, it would be fitting for students to grow accustomed to summer reading before higher education. Furthermore, faculty and staff have summer reading assignments. Before this school year, employees of the school read “I Never Thought of It That Way” by Mónica Guzmán. The book discussed how to bring together multiple perspectives and help people from opposing viewpoints reach consensuses. The teachers and administrators benefitted from this summer reading, and students would gain insights from similar discourse.
The summer reading system can function as follows: Students can select a book to read over the summer from a list of appropriately challenging novels selected by the English Department, and present a book review at the start of the school year. This would be a fun, low-stakes way to ensure that students do the reading. For grade-motivated students, students, the presentations would be graded based on general effort.
Summer reading allows students to read at their own pace. There is no need for SparkNotes or a summary when there is no imminent deadline or quiz. Thus, students should not feel stressed or shackled by summer reading. For many students, the experience of reading “for pleasure,” as opposed to cramming five chapters the night before an essay, will be a new experience. Summer reading can consequently help students discover that they do, in fact, enjoy reading and may cause them to continue casual reading throughout the school year and their lives.
However, if there are no pop quizzes, essays and discussions, will students actually be incentivized to take part in summer reading? In an ideal world, the school would have a culture where the expectation and norm is that students will read for the sake of reading and learn for the sake of learning, knowing that it will better them. However, although some students may have this philosophy, a majority will not read if they have no ulterior motive.
Through teaching students about the benefits of reading, students will be inspired to read for their own self-betterment . Reading can increase empathy, according to a 2013 study. In a world rife with violence and injustice, increasing students’ empathy should surely be a priority of the school. Furthermore, reading can improve vocabulary and world knowledge, according to a 1993 abstract. These skills can aid people in daily life, standardized tests and job applications and give people a sense of legitimacy and authority in conversations. Also, just as social media shortens the attention span, reading lengthens it and improves focus, according to Hawaii Pacific Neuroscience.
Reading is crucial for teens in a modern world filled with short-form entertainment. Students will likely find that they learn and grow substantially, and, for non-readers, the joy of a good book will be a newfound delight. Through enforced summer reading, the school can ensure that students read more than solely the books assigned for English Reading is a basic necessity of modern life, and a good book should be considered the fourth meal of the day.
