geheimnisgoth:

You know, I hate that schools have a tendency to turn a lot of people off from reading, just because they not only refuse to adapt it but also force kids to read things they might not want to, making reading feel more like a chore or like homework than a fun activity you can just do. The entire concept of Summer Reading work is, in fact, doing more to hurt how kids feel about reading than it is to engage them or make them enjoy it. When I was in high school, everyone just read like the Sparknotes version so we could pass the test and do things that were actually fun rather than being forced to read something we weren’t remotely interested in.

Like yes, reading can indeed be very fun. During those silent reading times I had a blast reading Hitchhiker’s Guide to the point I just laughed uncontrollably in the middle of class. Reading can be great. But maybe let’s not try to sell kids on the concept of reading being fun with “The Scarlet Letter” as the advertisement. Because all that’s going to do is make them hate reading.