The Importance of Books

In the current day and age, the general consensus is that books are highly beneficial for students. They provide improved vocabulary, stronger critical thinking, greater empathy, and the list goes on. Teachers praise specific books, parents acknowledge the benefits, and students are constantly hearing about the importance of reading. Despite this, somewhere in all that praise, students skip the most important part: actually picking a book and reading it. More often than not, a high school kid can speak for minutes on end about the importance of reading books; however, when asked when they last read a book, their response is, "Umm, I don't know".

This matters now more than in previous years. Students are surrounded by social media platforms, endless scrolling feeds, and short-form videos to give quick dopamine. Its only natural to enjoy these forms of quick content after all. However, in doing so, these students aren't practising sustained attention on something outside of the classroom. In contrast, books force the student to concentrate, engage their imagination, and follow complex ideas and themes over extended periods. These are essential skills that are often lacking and extend far beyond English class, thus benefiting students throughout their education and beyond.

It could also be argued that the most overlooked benefit, however, is the impact reading can have on students who struggle with English. And really, can we blame them? How can you expect students to produce sophisticated, well-structured writing, when for many, their main exposure to exemplary writing is limited to English lessons where they analyse literary techniques or complete grammar exercises. As useful as these activities may be, they very rarely inspire a genuine appreciation for language. Books offer a secondary form of exposure to correct grammar, varied sentence structures, rich vocabulary, and compelling arguments in context. Whether they realise it or not, they begin to internalise these patterns and develop an intuition for how to make writing effective and engaging.

Ultimately, perhaps we should spend less time reminding students why reading is important, and instead spend more time encouraging them to discover books they genuinely enjoy.