High schools don’t make literature a priority

This middle school requirement compelled me to read every night to ensure I met my total. It also inspired me to find stories that resonated with me. My dad shared novels with me that he had read when he was my age because I was simply looking for something to read. I read books that challenged me and had me rereading their pages to understand more complicated concepts. In contrast, my first two years of high school required so little reading I hardly read at night, and I found myself so busy with other classes that I didn’t have the time to pick up a book just for pleasure. While I was reading numerous pages of my advanced placement world history textbook a night, I wasn’t reading literature. I wasn’t connecting or empathizing with characters because, put simply, it was no longer a priority.

The real difference is that literature, reading new genres and reading daily are not made a priority at a high school level. Yes, we have required reading or read small excerpts in class. But the lack of volume of pages and the number of actual books ensures that reading is not a habit and the ability to recognize patterns throughout a novel are lacking.

I don’t dispute that other skills are important, but I find this lack of a priority a deep disappointment. Analyzing literature instills critical thinking skills and the ability to look at nefarious aspects of life with renowned perspectives. It teaches empathy by allowing one to escape to a world they never otherwise could think to experience. When reading every day is a requirement, it makes it a habit. From firsthand experience, it helps to create stamina and focus and encourages you to read more later on in life. Even just reading a few pages of a book casually before bed has so many benefits, but like so many teens my age I find myself just scrolling on my phone.

A lack of reading is not a phenomenon that is exclusive to me or even my high school community, though. In an article published by The Atlantic titled “The Elite College Students Who Can’t Read Books,” a Columbia University professor, Nicholas Dames, shared an anecdote I found particularly striking. A student in his literature humanities class told him that at her public high school she had never been required to read a book, but only short excerpts, poetry and news articles.

The effects of this shift nationwide won’t just be seen with lessening literacy in students, even those attending Ivy League institutions, but as reading is seen as less and less important, we are going to see less critical thinking. Attention spans in students are going to get shorter and shorter, and an appreciation for writing and figurative language carried out through novels will diminish.

I don’t think the solution to this is easy. But what I do know is that if consistent independent reading of novels and literature is made a priority and an expectation in English classes, kids will read more. Maybe it’s just as simple as dedicating 20 minutes in class for independent reading time, but when no one makes reading seem important, no students will treat it as such.

Josie Wettan is a junior at Burlingame High School. Student News appears in the weekend edition. You can email Student News at news@smdailyjournal.com