The Gift of Reading
A teacher friend and I had a conversation the other day that has stayed with me. We both taught English at the same high school, while I retired, she is still in the classroom. We were discussing how often the statement, “I hate reading” is stated in today’s classroom. It’s also typically followed by, “why do we have to write so much?” Sadly, these were from students in advanced English classes.
It’s hard for me to comprehend how the attitude towards reading has slowly changed over time. I’ve always seen reading as a gift. Reading did not come easily to me, maybe working hard to unravel the mysteries of phonetics and sentence structure was the foundation of seeing the mastery of reading as having great importance. Once reading ‘clicked’ for me, a whole new world opened. It could also be that my grandmother and several teachers nurtured my love of reading. Books allowed me to escape my small town in Southern New Hampshire. I discovered characters with accents from countries across the ocean who were both similar and different from me. I could become an explorer, teacher, sailor, nurse, or spy just by opening the pages of a book.
Yet, none of this seemed to engage today’s students. Was it a lack of interest? A lack of the immediacy that technology, the internet, videos, and texting give them? My last year in the classroom, I asked my freshman students to list two books they had read without it being assigned to them. It had to have been read for their own pleasure. They chuckled when I said for pleasure. Sadly, only four out of the thirty students had read books for the joy of it. There were a few who listened to audiobooks, but they didn’t read along with the text.
I started to think back to where my love of reading started and was encouraged. My grandmother started sending me books to read when I was young. It started with hand-me-down Bobbsey Twin books. I devoured that whole series, then moved on to the Nancy Drew series, and then the Hardy Boys series. At the local library, I discovered Beverly Cleary’s Ribsy and Henry Huggins. I loved Robert McCloskey’s book Homer Price. The story of the uncontrollable doughnut machine was a favorite that I shared when I taught elementary school.
I know there are wonderful series for kids today. Diary of a Wimpy Kid and Captain Underpants are still a favorite. I love to see kids with a Harry Potter book or a Percy Jackson book, but those with a book in their hands are seen less and less. I look at the field of author’s creating engaging, fun books and think how do we get them into kid’s hands? It’s holiday time and I wonder how many kids will be receiving a book as a gift. At baby showers, books are often requested to start a library for the child. It’s one of my most favorite things to bring to a shower. But what about as the child ages? Do children in grades 4-12 ask for or receive books anymore? Do we forget about books and instead go for the latest gadget?
My two kiddos are now grown adults and are still voracious readers. Both my husband and I are readers too. Maybe that’s another place to start? The gift of reading is a precious one. So maybe in the new year ahead, we can all share our love of reading, nurture it others, and give the gift of reading.
I leave you today with a quote by Victor Hugo, “To learn to read is to light a fire; every syllable that is spelled out is a spark.” Maybe we can get those sparks started again.
Cheers to the storyteller in all of us!