Freshman year, our teachers required us to read six short stories, four books, one play, and multiple poems. Sophomore year, we had to read seven books and one play. This year, junior year, my AP Language syllabus lists six books. All the school-mandated literature, although occasionally interesting, is to be read on a specific deadline and often has a test or essay accompanying the piece. I have always loved to read, so when I realized I no longer reach for a book to relax, I was curious as to why. Perhaps social media plays a role, how students nowadays are addicted to screens and scrolling for hours on a for you page designed so you never leave—but school must also contribute a large portion of the lack of interest.
I think most students can agree, deadlines suck. I can recall many late nights of trying to hold my eyes open in the wee hours of the morning attempting to get the assigned reading done before class the next day; excessive amounts of other homework having prevented me from reading the day before. Literature can be taught without strict deadlines, for example, sophomore year Ashleigh Tighe taught the play Macbeth fully in class. The best part? Macbeth was one of my favorite units that year, likely due to the lack of reading homework on my plate.
Then, after forgetting much of the plot of the literature, we students are tested on the content, including the little tiny details no one remembers. Administering tests is fine, I understand the importance of testing reading and comprehension through a test, but it also makes students associate reading with something they don’t enjoy—grades. Students’ grades are directly impacted by whether they read (including reading the SparkNotes page the night before) or not, making reading a burden and pushing them to dislike it. It teaches students that reading must be graded, instead of actually enjoyable.
That all ignores that the homework and obligations school brings simply saps the time I could spend reading. My valuable time I used to spend reading as a child now must be focused on studying for my next test, finishing homework, and, of course, reading for school. I remember checking out tens of books from the library at a time, but there’s no time now. Reading is no longer one of my hobbies: I no longer have the time to read enough to enjoy it. But I know there’s not much that can be done. Reading literature is an important part of learning, and it teaches students skills transferable to other fields. Through reading for school, we learn how to write, we gain a better vocabulary, and we view perspectives other than our natural beliefs. School-mandated reading is essential, but that doesn’t change that it has impacted how students grow up to enjoy reading. One semi-solution I’ve found is teachers allowing students to read books the student chooses off a list—Andy Evans does this for one book in his English 1 Honors class and I was able to actually enjoy the book I chose. Similarly, the English II Honors summer homework had great book options, and since I could choose what to read, I actually wanted—and remembered how much I love—to read. Please, just let me read.