Written by: Manushri
Edited by: Li
Graphics by: Asma
The pleasure of reading; hours spent lost in a word weaved from its writer’s eloquent words. This is bliss.
The weight of reading; aching under yet another book stacked upon a pile of its predecessors littered with halfhearted annotations This is the burden of reading.
For many students, the advent of increased schoolwork in High School translates to the latter being the more popular opinion. With more time in the student schedule being dedicated to club meetings, extracurricular activities, and homework for other subjects, the library has become a popular space, almost ironically for studying and homework as opposed to reading. Books line the shelves only to be covered in dust as students approach the textbook center to borrow books for their English classes which have prescribed reading lists. The question then arises: what is the cause of this peculiar situation? To delve into this issue deeper and understand how reading habits change over the course of a student’s career, we interviewed some bearcats on their reading experience.
When asked about how their reading habits have changed since starting HS, Mika, a junior states, “In middle school, there are more opportunities to read for fun or borrow books because the English class provides time to go to the library, but, in High School, there’s less time to read for fun and you just read what is provided. Because of that, I read a lot less for pleasure.” Thalia, a senior, expresses a similar sentiment, explaining “During summer I read for fun, but, now, there’s so much work. Sometimes I really get hooked on a book but then I realize I have so much to do. That’s why I try not to read books because when I do my schedule gets messed up.”
Mika and Thalia’s words prove prophetic for current Middle School students. Myra, a fifth-grade student states “I enjoy reading as a hobby that I do in my free time. But, maybe since my schedule will change in the future I will have less time to read.” It is interesting to note how, even in Middle School, reading habits change significantly across the span of just two years. Aarav, a 7th-grade student explains, “For me it’s [reading is] a hobby, when I was little I used to read a lot more, but now because of homework and tutoring I don’t get much time to read. It will probably change more when I go to High School because there’s going to be a lot more work.”
Through the voices of both Middle and High schoolers, a common pattern appears to have emerged: the correlation between an increase in academic responsibility and a decrease in time spent reading for pleasure. For young students like Myra, reading is a hobby, a means to escape into a different world, yet, the threat of a busy schedule looms large and threatens the prospect of reading for pleasure in the future. Even during Middle School, students like Aarav find themselves overwhelmed with an increase in academic pursuits which robs them of time to read even when it is a much cherished hobby. It is evident that the unfortunate reality for High Schoolers similar to Mika and Thalia is that reading for pleasure has morphed into a concept of the past amidst the glare of unfinished novel annotations which are the concern of the moment. Several studies show that reading is crucial to developing the human mind, which can serve as a justification for why more novels are assigned in literature classes as students traverse their educational journey. However, the positive intent of these reading assignments has not always led to their intended positive outcome. They represent rather, yet another academic burden for the overwhelmed student. Hence, it is crucial that as a school, we seek to find the fine balance between promoting reading for pleasure, especially in High School, and promoting reading as an academic activity. This can be achieved through facilitating avenues of dialogue and feedback between students and educators to help nurture a love for reading in topics and genres that interest students whilst naturally fueling their love of learning. One great example of this is the Great Author Study (GAS) project done by the Grade 9 AP English Literature and Composition students which enables readers to explore an author of their choice in a group setting to delve deeper into the author’s life and evaluate their work. The bottom line here is simple: the love for reading is innate to every student as is their endless potential, the responsibility on our end is simply to awaken this love, to encourage it to flourish despite the academic stressors that plague High School students.
