Readicide

Readicide is a problem in schools and you see it everywhere. I mean how many times have you had to work with a student who hadn't read the last 10 chapters or any chapter of the book? How many times do you look around and see kids getting the needed information about the plot off of SparkNotes? A lot of my peers are losing that enjoyment of reading I saw in many of them in earlier years. I think most of the problem is in our own schedules. "Do this," "go here," "practice practice practice," "don't forget to eat dinner," "did you do that homework?" "Hey that television show you really love is airing RIGHT NOW," and when you think about what a lot of people are doing you don't think of their reading habits. A lot of my friends used to love reading, and many of them still do, they just don't have time anymore. But there are those who loved reading and it got to the point where they were/are only reading the books assigned in school and just hated them. I've seen it in acquaintances all the way to close friends. And the problem is not only the lack of personal reading time these people get but the books they do read are all literary fiction. Now don't get me wrong literary fiction can be amazing, I personally loved Jane Eyre more than I'm willing to admit, but when it's the only thing you read it can be hard to swallow. Integrating good genre fiction in place of certain texts that no longer convey the meaning they were intended to may not be a bad idea, especially as society makes leaps in multiple areas such as feminism. Integrating more books into the curriculum and not teaching quite as in depth as some of my previous English teachers have could be beneficial for kids both educationally and socially. It could help teenagers grow into adults who don't hold antiquated views that don't hold well in society anymore and help us know what our own society is and how we want to change it.