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Schools work hard to educate our children, but when it comes to reading, do they try too hard? Are schools ruining reading for our kids?
Statistics have shown that 33% of high school students and 42% of college students will never read another book after they graduate.
So what is the cause for this sharp decline in reading once students graduate? Why aren’t their well-educated minds developing a love of reading that will help them maintain their healthy minds for years to come?
I believe that it’s the books children are forced to read in classes, particularly English and literature classes, that is causing this decline in reading.
Let me explain.
A large portion of English and literature classes revolve around taking classic novels, reading them over an extended period of time, and then dissecting the novel in various long and drawn out forms. This is where I believe the heart of the problem lies. At heart, what we’re trying to do by having our teenagers read classical works from the greatest authors is noble. Unfortunately, classical books don’t appeal to children.
I get it, schools and teachers are trying to expose their students to some of the best literary pieces before they graduate and become a statistic that never reads a book again. However, wouldn’t a more noble goal be to teach children to love reading, and teach them a love that extends beyond their high school years? So that maybe, further down the line when they’re old and wise and ready to appreciate the classics, then they can read these great masterpieces themselves?
Just take a look at this list of books that are popularly read in high schools. Very few of them have plots that really stand out to children and teens. Where is the magic? The epic adventures? The murder mysteries? The intense page turners that keep you up late at night?
Instead students get force fed stories about adultery and creepy man beetles (The Scarlett Letter and Metamorphosis were two books I read in high school and loathed), with sides of drawn out analysis, awkward, teacher-dominated classroom discussions, and time spent struggling through long book reports about books they either they didn’t really enjoy or were compelled to read. And if a student doesn’t do well, if they get a bad grade in English or struggle to pick out the “right” parts of the stories, then they can’t help but take that personally and blame the books. They look at that bad grade and think “I got a C in English, so I must not be very good at reading, so I hate reading.” But reading isn’t something we need to be “good” at. Readers at all levels can enjoy reading. Some of the most popular books out there are teen literary novels that anyone could read and enjoy.
Don’t get me wrong. I’m not trying to bash the classics. I’m just trying to say that I’ve always felt more of a sense of fulfillment after reading them than a sense of joy or excitement. These are the books that might cause me to pause and think about the mysteries of life, but they don’t cause me to fantasize and get lost in their worlds. And that fantasizing and getting lost in new worlds are key to developing a love of reading.
Yes, the life lessons these books teach are great, but there are other ways to teach these life lessons without sacrificing reading.
Why are we okay with perpetuating the stereotype of an English teacher speaking to the class about a classic novel that they know very well no one has read? This scene is found in almost every movie or television show that takes place in a high school, and is supposed to be comical. But it’s reality. I’ve been in my own classroom where the teacher asked question after question without a single hand raised to answer and no engagement from the class. This is wrong. When you read a book you love, you want to talk about it. You can’t help but talk about it. If we have to put this much effort into forcing students to talk about a book, then maybe we’re not picking the right books for them to read.
So why not start teaching reading in a way that sucks children in and teaches them to love books? Why not have kids read great books from different key genres during their school years so they can discover a genre that they love?
Sure, there’s free reading time where kids are supposed to pick out their own books that interest them and read. But they don’t always pick good books, they text when they’re supposed to be reading, they grab the shortest books to write a book report on. There are so many ways that kids can cheat themselves on their reading experience if we’re just relying on free reading to teach them about books. The kids that enjoy reading are usually the ones who grew up in a home with parents and siblings that also love reading. They’ve been around people who love books, talk about books, and enthusiastically recommend great books to them to read. So how can we try to mimic that kind of behavior in the classroom? How can we take the books that they are forced to read, and replace them with books that are hard to not fall in love with?
People don’t stop reading because they aren’t interested in the stories. So many of the popular movies and television shows these days are based on books, and when I share details and information about these shows that I’ve learned from reading the novels, people are always interested. But they never take the time to read these books themselves because they “hate reading.” However, when I ask them why they hate reading, more times than not it’s because they didn’t enjoy reading in high school, and haven’t really read since. So I challenge them to read the book the show or movie they already like is based on, and more often than not, they actually enjoy reading it.
So I don’t think as many people “hate reading” as they think they do. I think that many of them just haven’t found or realized the type of books that they love and that reading can be enjoyable, and many have bad memories of long, drawn out discussions, D’s on book reports, and other semi-painful memories from their forced reading experiences in high school that are keeping them from ever picking up another book.
In my ideal world, I’d like to see the focus in schools changed from teaching students about classic literature, to teaching students to simply enjoy reading, and let them discover classic literature on their own when they are older and wiser and ready to appreciate those kinds of stories.
What do you think? Are high schools ruining reading for kids? Share with me in the comments below!
Happy reading!
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Yes High school ruined reading for me. I graduated 1976 and look back on it as a bad experience. I swore I would never read another work of fiction for the rest of my life after graduation. So far I have stuck with my non-routine. There are too many other materials that are worth reading without wasting time on fiction.
I learned to hate reading in high school. Storybook literature is absolutely good for nothing. I don’t give a shit about it being a classic. It was a total waste of my time. I had to go to summer school because of those worthless writers. I damn sure didn’t need the material. All in the name of a worthless diploma. Looking back I wish I had dropped out. I would have been saner without it.
I have not read a work of fiction since the 70’s. I learned to hate reading all fiction in high school. I am still upset over the time I wasted reading it in my youth. Forcing anyone to read classic literature is sadistic.
I learned to despise all classic literature in high school. I am a senior citizen now and I despise all classic literature with the same zeal I had in high school. If I never read another work of fiction, it wont be too soon.
I am currently in high school right now, I’m insecure about my reading/ comprehension level, and I “hate reading”. Since I learned at an early age that I hate reading, I never built up my reading level, so now I’m doing my best improve it before it’s too late. I struggled to find books that would interest me; now the only genre I know I’m interested in is memoirs. In Primary school, every week we had to read 20 minutes; I hated being forced but I needed an a so I opened a book and sat there for 20 minutes. In grade 5, my teacher had a chart (on the wall in front of her desk), we were each grouped into our level of reading and would color our star if we moved up. She never taught us how to improve instead she assigned readings that weren’t interesting. I feel she favored those who had higher reading levels. In conclusion, my “hate for reading” is improving (as in I’m hating it less), but that “hate” comes from a long history of the school curriculum.
Hi Becky,
I’m so glad you’re starting to find books that you enjoy and I’m sorry that your teachers have done things in a way that’s made you feel like you weren’t a good enough reader. Trust me, readers come in all kinds of shapes and sizes with many different likes and dislikes and no one gives a crap about your “reading level” in the real book community. All we care about is that you are enjoying reading.
Have you heard of booktok/bookstagram? A lot of readers there are around your age and they often have fun book suggestions. Although, they are heavily on the fantasy/YA side of recommendations and there’s not too many memoirs like you’ve mentioned you enjoy. But you might find some ideas on books you would like there.
Happy reading and holidays!
I learned to hate reading in high school. I Am in my 60s now and there is not a day that goes by when I don’t kick myself for not dropping out of high school and concentrating on technical school. High school ruined my life because I would have been better off reading something. Literature was an unnecessary obstacle and put in the program out of spite.
Absolutely agree that they teach reading in a terrible way, tha kfully it didnt quite ruin it for me (probably because I disnt mind not doing their reading, and getting a bad grade). I remember in HS I would read the Dresden Files books in english class, while holding whatever book they were reading outside of it to cover it up. Absurd. I feel so bad for tbise who did become discourged from reading.
I more than agree with your opinion. As a parent I’m really disappointed with the selection of books and articles my children we assigned to read in middle school and high school. At times I was rather disgusted by the stories because they were mostly very dark or negative. Here are just a few, “Jumping the Nail”, “Into the Wild”, and “Devil’s Arithmetic” (about the Holocaust). Kids should be reading enjoyable books that have a positive message and are appropriate for their age. Additionally, who is considering the psychological effects these books have when the topics are suicide (8th grade), the Holocaust (7th grade), and a guy that makes really bad decisions which ultimately leads him to death (11th grade)? Is there a commitee that
I completely agree with you. My school is forcing us to read one classic a week. I’m in 6th grade…I used to love reading but the classics have been taking up so much of my time that I can’t even glance at my own books. The classics have literally destroyed my love for reading. My teacher also crushes fiction books. I just don’t understand why he doesn’t want us to read fiction. A book is a book and if your goal is for me to love reading then let me read the books that I like
True. Literature lessons have sucked the essence of life of myself, and I was loathing everytime I went to Literature lesson. My teacher always drones on and on for 40 minutes 3 times a week. Worst of all, we had to write a lot of PEEL Paragraphs, and guess what, everytime my paragraphs get shown to the class as one of the worst. I have once thought of skipping literature lessons because they were such a pain in the ass. Alas, I didn’t, with much persuation from my classmates. I’m still in 7th grade, and I already despise it. Hope it gets better soon.
I learned to hate reading in high school. I see “classic literature “ as being purely superfluous. It left such an impression on me that I vowed that my children would not have to tolerate any of it. Whenever the movie comes on TV for one of these literary pieces of crap, I turn the TV off. I don’t want to see or think about the nonsense I went through.
I highly agree. I remember that the last time I was assigned a book that I truly loved was in seventh grade, where the teacher would give us a collection of books to choose from that were from the certain genre that the certain unit was on. She never really exposed us to classics, and we just damn liked it that way. The year after that, the only kinds of books that we read were things like Roll of Thunder, Hear my Cry, and Raisin in the Sun. Basically books about racial segregation. Freshman year we were forced to read To Kill A Mockingbird and Great Expectations, both classics, and both extremely boring. I grew up loving books, but during those years, the passion just died out. Schools should take it into their first priority to teach their students to love reading, not find it as boring.
I feel the same way from what you described. Right now we are reading the book 1984, and I feel like it’s for every paragraph there’s a question, and for every chapter, there’s an essay. I hate the way reading classes are because the class mentally and emotionally drains me, and doesn’t make me want to read books again.
I so agree. I work as an instructional coach of high school teachers, and every day I see a strange codependency between hard-working, creative teachers and non-reading students. Many of the teachers I work with plan activities and assignments that are designed specifically to accommodate the fact that their students do not read outside of class. Teachers will identify important quotes for students to analyze in class. They will give students time in class to read and discuss key passages. They will assign writing prompts that ask students to discuss the big ideas that the class has already spent time on in class. The problem is not the students. It is the books. If we want students to read we have to give them books they want to read, build up skills, confidence, and reading stamina, and guide them to becoming the kinds of readers who will dive into Lord of The Flies because they can.
Hello there! Would you mind if I share your blog with my facebook group? There’s a lot of people that I think would really enjoy your content. Please let me know. Cheers
Hi Jack.
Glad you like the content. There is a Facebook share button on this page that you are more than welcome to use.
I am in Merensky high school in Tzaneen,and I used to love reading in primary school and ever since I got into high school I barely read any books.
All that you’re saying making so much sense. Mainly English in school is teacher us of poems and how to write an article but its only that, no reading only prepared or unprepared reading.
Thank you for this information really interesting.
I personally love to read. But a lot of high school students are not reading and it bugs me-in my WHOLE Honors English class, I’m the only one who read poems by Lord Byron.
Well, I don’t blame the students. My teacher isn’t very good at explaining things that happen in the book, and her taste of books is rather…..inadequate for an English teacher. The books she chooses are A.W.F.U.L. She made us read a book called The Epic of Gilgamesh, which was actually disgusting.
Now we have started Romeo and Juliet-she’s ruining the beauty and eloquency of Shakespearean English by phrasing it crudely and using filthy words.
She saw me reading Metamorphosis(I actually don’t think it’s that bad) and got angry. She told me that I wouldn’t understand the book. Oh well. Anything is better than her trying to explain Romeo and Juliet.
Also, she apparently hates Kierkegaard, when she is not aware of any of his philosophies.
So sometimes, it’s the teacher’s fault.
Bravo! Thanks for championing reading. I grew up being read to by my mother and older sister so I fell in love with reading even before school started. I had to suffer through all the High School classics which you pointed out were lifeless and boring. Until I had one English teacher that actually did teach me that there were books I would be interested in reading that were outside my particular interest. While 99% of the students just did it because they had to do it and reaped no benefit. I was amoung the 1% who enjoyed the books that had been selected. She was an amazing teacher. I have always despaired that kids are coming out of schools with no love or understanding how much reading can be magical. Just another area that American education is failing our Nation’s children and ultimately our future.
I sooo agree with you. I can give a great example My wife hated to read and really was one of the people that your article is written about . But then I convinced pleaded begged ect.. till i got her to try a series that i truly enjoyed . Fablehaven by Brandon Mull. After she made it through the first book she was hooked . Now i find that i have the task of referring her to something she would like but hey at least she is reading and enjoying
I agree. Schools should switch it up when it comes to required reading. You can have the classics but throwing in different genres or more current reads would help more students develop and maintain a love for reading. I have always loved reading but I wasn’t too jazzed on what I was required to read in school. Most of the time I couldn’t get into the story to really enjoy it because I thought it was boring or couldn’t relate to it.
I am in total agreement with you. The majority of students don’t understand the classic and honestly fine them boring. It’s not to say they weren’t well written but students can’t relate to them no matter how hard they try. Teaching them to love reading is by far the most important. I love reading and the only classic I was exposed to was Macbeth. Our teacher told us to read for the love of reading. She was right.
It’s like this expose students to different types of books and eventually they will find what they like. Then it’s up to us to encourage them to read.
I enjoyed almost all of the books I was assigned in school, almost none of which would I have known to pick out on my own. They took me out of my favorite genres to see what else was out there. Of course, my mother read to me daily, starting the day I was born, and I learned to read at the same time I learned to talk, without being taught. My earliest memory is of reading at age 2. I would ALWAYS have been a bookworm, without ever having been assigned anything.
I’m afraid they are, especially if they don’t intersperse ‘current’ books alongside the classics. I can’t imagine banning any books!
When I was in 12th grade, my English teacher made us analyse The Old Man in the Sea to death. He was always harping on imagery. Imagery I knew even back then was never there, especially the way Hemmingway lived, which I found out later in life. He wrote that just to get some money. Sideways to that, and on my own, I was reading Lady Chatterley’s Lover at the same time. It’s a darn good thing he never knew.
We also had to dissect The Merchant of Venice until it didn’t make any sense anymore. I mean Shakespeare wrote that to entertain the crowds of his time, not to get analysed to meaninglessness, both the story and his mindset. I never went to the theater to see a play after that, ever. He just ruined it for me. And that’s not talking about the reports we had to do on these books and plays during exam time. If certain keywords and phrases weren’t there, you got a lower mark on those essay-type answers. It’s a good thing he didn’t touch on the serious plays that year, though the previous year he had us nitpick Macbeth to kingdom come. That was not fun.
The previous year, I had read Fannie Hill and the sequel. That’s on top of dozens of science fiction books.
People need to become readers earlier so they will love it. I don’t remember if my mother read to me when I was really little, but she did when I was maybe seven or eight. I got my first library card when I was about seven, so I grew up reading and loving books.
I didn’t usually like the books I had to read in school either, such as To Kill a Mockingbird or The Scarlet Letter. Didn’t care for Shakespeare. I did enjoy reading The Hound of the Baskervilles (big Sherlock Holmes fan here!) and Edgar Allan Poe. We had to read The Call of the Wild twice! A lot of the students said that they had already read it, but the teacher had us read it again anyway. Even if you don’t care for a particular book, sometimes the English teacher’s comments stick in your head and you can tell that they enjoy discussing the book. I can remember Animal Farm and “all animals are equal, but some are more so.” We also read 1984 and I think the teacher said that some of the things in the book later became reality.
Just remember that survey results aren’t an exact science. They haven’t polled everyone in the world or a particular country, so it’s just a sample of certain people.
You are so right! I was so lucky as a child, my mother was an avid reader who taught me to read before kindergarten, just by reading to me. And I never stopped. If a book caught my interest, I would read faster and faster because I wanted to learn the whole story as soon as possible. In third grade, I was reading adult books, usually Mary Stewart, Agatha Christie, Helen MacInnes, or Readers Digest Condensed Book selections. In 5th grade, my teacher asked me why I had taken an unabridged copy of Gone With the Wind from my mom’s bookshelf. She couldn’t believe it when I told her it was my book that I bought myself with MY membership in the Doubleday Book Club! She had to confirm it with my mom!
It was so easy to do my homework because I could read fast, so I had lots of time every day to watch tv, play with friends, or preferably read. In college, when I needed an English course, I choose a speedreading class. I was initially tested at 600 words per minute, and at the end of the class, I tested over 1000 wpm with 95% retention!
In school, I didn’t particularly like reading the classics, but later in my life I had a greater appreciation for them.
I always read to my grandkids (13), and great-grandkids (10 in June), and give books for birthdays and holidays. Best way to stimulate their interest in reading, which will help them be successful in life.
I love reading. (I’m not reading now, but depression is a whole new can of worms, not high school’s fault.) I started reading one of the classics (I’m Italian, so Divine Comedy) in the bathroom when I was about 6 years old because a famous actor was reading it on tv in a way that made it actually understandable despite it being 1200s poetry. In the tiniest characters I’ve ever seen.
I still loathed book report in school. I didn’t want to analyse what the teachers said needed analysis, and made little sense. I just wanted to damn enjoy my book. Also, many of the books were just unpalatable, and made me reconsider Farehneit 451’s usefulness for some specific authors. The worst is that our teacher tried to add some ‘contemporary’ authors too. I honestly think they asked someone help to find the most boring books published in the last decade.