On September 22nd, 2016- I took a poll of the students in my Honors English Period 3 Class. The question I asked was, do you like to read and followed that question with do you read in your free time? As Honors students, the obvious answer would be everyone in an Honors English class would enjoy literature and read regularly in their free-time. That is not the case. Of the 19 students I asked in my class, 14 said they enjoyed reading and read regularly. The other 5 said they did not. When I inquired as to why they did not enjoy reading, most said they were too busy and there always seemed so many other things to do. One student who answered no, Alyssa Stouch, stated, "I'm really busy and reading means too many paper cuts." That's when I realized, the fear of paper cuts (Pulpuslaceratapopohobia) it truly what is preventing the youth of America from reading on a regular basis!
In all seriousness, I took this poll because I was intrigued as to how many of my classmates took and Honors English course because they enjoy reading and learning about the history of literature and the English language. Too often, I feel, school's focus more on testing and assessments rather than the subject itself. School should be a place that encourages learning and sparks interests in the minds of the students of America. Rather than focusing on preparing a student to pass the AP Exam, teachers should encourage academic enthusiasm so that school can mean more than what's in the grade-book. I can only hope that by the end of the year this statistic will be 19-0, and those who do not seem to think they have the time will make the time to open a book and dive into the many world's within novels.
Great post! I loved the topic and the humor! I agree that we will aim to make sure that all 19 kids love reading by the end of the year!
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