Editorial: School’s English department should have activities that encourage students to read more

Reading is encouraged to enhance writing skills and understanding texts. Our school’s English department suggests that students read a variety of books, at a minimum a book per month. However, even if students read a book in a month, they will only have a total of twelve books by the end of the year. Reading one book per month is recognized as the basic requirement for each student. If the English department and students agree to increase student reading, this will have a better impact on students academically and personally.

It is scientifically proven that students can learn a great deal from reading, especially before age eighteen. Their brain is still in the developmental stage, so it is easier for them to learn and improve their writing than older people. The increase of reading enhances their vocabulary and comprehension, which also builds onto their writing abilities.

To build onto students’ writing and comprehension skills, they must read more than twelve books a year. Schools offer instruction on certain books, but they also spend time on studying film and non-literary texts. These are also important to students, but we could reduce some of the time that is placed into these assessments and increase reading activities. Students don’t need to have a full academic unit on every book; instead, teachers can encourage students to read and talk about novels outside of assessments.

To increase the number of books our students are reading, teachers can try to set 2o minutes reading as our English homework. Some teachers would set reading journals as homework, but is it really necessary for students to write a reading journal after reading? Reading journals can help students to improve their reading comprehension and enhance their summarization skills, but struggling to write after taking pleasure in reading seems awfully ironic. It generally takes the joy and fun out of reading when teachers add obligations, and some students gradually lose interest in reading since they see it as another academic chore.

Reading will not only benefit our academic results, but also build onto our understanding of the world. Most people cannot travel all around the world to experience different cultures, but reading enables us to understand people’s choices and their points of view as characters may live in completely different environments and family situations than us. Reading places us in the situation of people who live in different countries, social classes and general circumstances. Some of them have an uncommon personality for our surroundings, and make decisions that we would strongly condemn. However, reading gives us a chance to experience peoples’ lives in different cultures through powerful words and draws us into unfamiliar situations.

Students experience all types of pressure at school during their teenage years, which is necessary to condition us for our futures. Reading is the best method to help with stress and pressure according to the University of Sussex. When we panic, our heart rate generally increases, which creates tensions in our muscles. The University of Sussex study proves that reading reduces our stress by 68% (Reading for Stress Relief). Reading lowers unusually high heart rates and eases the tension in our muscles. It is the best option for stress relief compared to a drinking cup of hot tea and listening to music.

The English department should definitely encourage students to read more because it not only enhances students’ writing skills and prepares them for their summative assessments and IB exams, but it also builds on students’ creativity and reduces their pressure throughout their school years.