Reading Outside of School

Generally, students don’t read outside of class. They are stressed because of homework and just go home to watch TV as a way to rid themselves of their worries. A reported fact from a survey of 136 freshman high school students is that, “41 percent of freshman students receive homework assignments every day of the week” (Wilson 3). A more conducive way to erase stress from the school day would be to sit down and read an enjoyable book. Most students of this modern age have no time to delve into a book and be lost in its pages for hours on end. Part of it could be that students are overwhelmed by homework or they are too lazy. Another part of it could be that they have no motivation to read a book because without pictures, books are meaningless to them. In order to inspire students to enjoy reading for the rest of their lives, teachers and schools should allow the students to pick a book, make various trips to the library, and expose students to different book genres.

In elementary school, students would generally go to the library at least once a week to a month to pick out a book to read for independent reading. At times, students wouldn’t come back to class with a book because they have no desire to read. It would be better for students if they had a say in what the library carried. We need to understand that “children are the actual consumers of the resources” (Sanacore 1) in the libraries. So, the librarians should have student-friendly books on the shelves at all times. In order to obtain books that the younger students enjoy, the teachers should observe students “browsing and choosing materials from the school library” (Sanacore 2) to begin with. If the teachers notice a trend in what books the students read, they should...

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... they have the urge to do so. Of course, some students dislike reading and sometimes reading causes more stress, but they weren’t taught how to enjoy reading in the beginning. If one has such an aversion to reading, they aren’t a reader and that is quite fine. Some people aren’t the reading type. When school instructors nurture a child’s love for reading, the world may become more literate and engage in more reading as opposed to watching TV or playing videogames. Without reading, one would not have the motivation to learn what he is interested in. So, foster independent reading throughout elementary, middle school, and even high school because students will become immersed in their work and lead more productive lives. Reading a book can educate someone on an issue and it can be beneficial for a lifetime. It all starts with the younger generation and the library.