Article Title: Set the children free – show them the joy of reading for reading’s sake

Article Summary

In this article, the author speaks of the joy of reading for reading’s sake. Recent studies have shown that students who read for pleasure have dropped down drastically and more and more parents have stopped reading out to their children. As such, the author says that schools must make more space for reading cirriculum as a decline in adults reading to children has a significant impact on their wellbeing. Reading creates a virtuous circle as children and teenagers who are read to are more likely to read independently, and those who regularly read for pleasure are in turn more likely to do better in exams. The magic of reading for its own sake is that living through the book enables students to reflect on what they consider to be one of the most pressing social questions of today, as it affects them. Not only does it teach students to debate opinions in public but they are also unburdened from parroting the “correct” answer and instead are able to see strengths and weaknesses to holding particular positions. Thus story time in school will enable them to look beyond themselves and escape the confines of reality with imaginative freedom.