Most high school students don’t read.
The students at Jacksonville High School complain about the books we read in English class and don’t pick up anything outside of school. If you tell a fellow classmate that you’ve read Paradise Lost or The Brothers Karamazov for fun, they’ll ask if you’ve had your head examined recently. However, reading can be the one of the simplest pleasures of life.
Reading takes you to different worlds that you wouldn’t have the opportunity to be a part of otherwise. The universe that most high school students experience is too narrow to be considered a full life. To experience other viewpoints, one has to get out of the comfort zone. If reading a novel is what it takes to teach a student something new, then they ought not to complain.
Thomas Jefferson, one of the founding fathersof the United States, once said, “I cannot live without books.” I, as an avid reader, don’t see how anyone could. Books take you out of your everyday universe into somewhere else. Most of the time the loudest complainers are the ones who didn’t even read the book they claim to hate so much.
If you tell me you hate to read, I will ask you what your last experience with literature was. If you tell me something you read at school, I will stop listening to your tirade. Even while reading extraordinary literature, English classes can make some books more “boring” by defining every little thing about them. However, if you read the book, the class will be simple. If you try something outside of school, you’re much more likely to enjoy it.
Don’t ever complain about not liking reading. Reading is a wonderful example of something that will never go away; you will have to do it until you die. You read all day – you read road signs, text messages, notes on the board and Facebook updates. Try different types of books; you’re bound to find one you like.