Reading is something many people should enjoy but some do not. Over the years many people have stopped reading, or rather have not started at all. Why do you think people stopped reading in the first place? 

The first and foremost reason why people dislike reading is that they don’t find it interesting. How can people invest their time in something that doesn’t excite them? 

Another reason is that reading can be very time-consuming. It may take hours, even days to finish a book. Most of the time students don’t have the time to read as they have school and some even have work. 

“Between the ages of eight to eighteen, the average American child spends eight hours a day on some form of technology,” says 11th grade English teacher Jedidiah Blake.  “It’s not just that it’s time-consuming, it’s more that young adults have other sources of entertainment. They have TIKTOK, Netflix, and YouTube as entertainment. Some find it pointless to read books and think that they don’t need it.”

 To add to that, students in school are not given opportunities to choose the text they want to read and are forced to read material that doesn’t interest them. Forcing oneself to do something is one of the key factors as to why people develop a hatred toward something. Forcing something as interesting as reading can become a pain for students. If kids are allowed to discuss their opinion on what they look for in a book, this would motivate them to choose and read a book of their liking on their own time. 

It can also be that it is culturally not relevant to read anymore. Teens who talk about their love for books or try to join anything that involves reading are made fun of because it isn’t considered cool.

According to a sample survey of 85 Parkdale students, 62.4 percent of students like to read, 30.6 percent said they dislike it. Others said they read sometimes, mainly when they are bored.  One student who answered the survey said they only read manga, and another said if it benefits them then they would read. A majority just replied by saying “It’s fun!” for them. 

One last fact as to why some kids/students do not read could be that many don’t see their parents reading so they naturally don’t read. Instead of having many books at home children and teens are surrounded by technology such as large TVs which can make them disinterested. 

How do you think teenagers can start to read again? 

“Since the only world that students know is digital work, Integrate technology into their reading: audiobooks,” said Dr. Blake. “Many of these students are auditory learners and benefit from hearing unfamiliar words pronounced correctly and from hearing texts read with fluency.” He added that schools should implement tests that measure the behaviors proficient readers exhibit. 

Allowing students to find the type of genre they like to read, or giving them the chance to decide when they want to read rather than forcing them may increase their motivation to read. Reintroduce them to classics like Harry Potter  and To Kill a Mockingbird. 

From my own personal readings here are some novels that could help reintroduce you back into the wonderful thing that is reading:

• “ Bright Ruined Things” By Samantha Cohoe 
• “ The Inheritance of Orquidea Divina” by Zoraida Cordova 
• “ All of Us Villains ( All Of Us Villains, #1)” by Amanda Foody 
• “KIngdom Of the wicked ( Kingdom Of Wicked, #1)” by Kerri Maniscalco 
• “The Maid” by Nita Prose 
• “ Memphis” by Tara M. Stringfellow ( Publish April 5, 2022 ) 

Reading takes us to a whole new world. It’s an enjoyable and interesting hobby. So please do try and take part, you will be surprised by how much you will learn.