Mandatory readings at school

[Carlos Mata Saenz]

When I was a child (and a teenager), my school used to have mandatory readings for us to do every year. Books in Spanish, English, and French. Some of the other students got into the habit of reading because of it; on the other hand, others started to hate it because of being "forced" to do it. Did you have the same experience at school? What do you think about it? If you had it, did you prefer when the books were children books, or when you read adaptations of the classics?

[Favour Alade Boluwatife]

I also had a similar experience while I was in school and I can say it was so tiring because we were forced to do it

[EllieGreenberg]

I used to burn through books like no tomorrow when I was little. I was easily reading 100+ pages a night after school until far later than any kid should be awake. But as soon as I was handed a book and told “read this chapter to this chapter” I wouldn’t go within a mile of that book. It was like pulling teeth to get me to read required books and ONLY because they were required. I remember once being assigned a book I had already read and enjoyed but as soon as it was required I had negative interest in that book. When, finally, I forced myself to read some of the books, the chapter requirements were out the window. It was pretty much all or nothing for me. If I was going to read the book I was *reading the book* not chapters 1-3. My poor mother tried her hardest but she said she was always the same way so she introduced me to sparknotes.

[McAlpine]

I had mandatory reading in high school--especially for English and history classes. I must say that I loved to read, but disliked being told what to read. I would ask the teacher why the class had to read a particular book. I always got good answers. However, that was not good enough. I needed more motivation.

I could always find an historical reason to read the books. For instance, I had to read The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury in ninth grade. Bradbury had been a famous author. It was enough reason to read the book. In fact, I looked into Bradbury, and found Fahrenheit 451. I read that book, too! In the end, it was a matter of self-discipline.

[Sarah June]

When I was younger I read voraciously. I have an older brother and actually read some of our school’s mandatory reading early because I’d read all the other interesting books in the house and I was limited on library books. I liked mandatory reading in school because it was usually more interesting than grammar lessons and even if I didn’t particularly like the book, it was still a story. I love stories. Mandatory reading in school expanded my knowledge and helped me find new books I wouldn’t have read on my own.

[Wanjla Carl]

Yeah we also used to have those mandatory readings in school. I used to really hate them at first. Once I started reading books for fun outside the the classroom I started enjoying them.

[Quizlit4Stephen]

Growing up in Scotland the book I remember most is Sunset Song by Lewis Grassic Gibbon.
And the main reason I remember it was 1. It was Mandatory reading and 2. I hated it.
I do plan to have another read at it, I'm sure my 14yr old self was no judge of anything

[Bianca Morano]

I don't hate the mandatory readings at school. In fact, it was the opposite, since I enjoy reading so much and I'm not really picky when I was young. But now I have become selective in choosing what to read since it takes most of my time and energy.

[Paul Link]

Yeah we also used to have those mandatory readings in school. I used to really hate them at first. Once I started reading books for fun outside the the classroom I started enjoying them.

[LY_Rachel]

I found mandatory readings took up my energy for other books and I ended up not reading anything else. They felt like a chore, another job to do. But in the last two years of high school, I got lucky and had two teachers who were really passionate about reading. One was really loud (in a good way) and the other liked to go on tangents (also in a good way). It helped that they were really good at connecting with us, as students, so it felt less like we were reading books for homework and more like we were reading books for later discussion. If it weren't for them, I don't think I would have ever returned to reading for fun.

[Nimra Kiran]

Yes, I have experienced this thing too in high school. It kinda gives you some direction and I found myself interested in reading through this experience that we were forcefully taught novels of different genres. We read Oliver Twist, The Oxford version of Shakespeare's Tales, Around the World in Eighty days, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. It was after this that I bought my first book and read it without any pressure from academics because it was my own choice to read. It gave me great experience to start reading on my own.

[EnclosedReviewer]

Dealing with mandatory readings at school can be a bit of a challenge. Sometimes the assigned books may not be what you'd pick for yourself. But it's also an opportunity to learn and expand your horizons. Try to find something interesting or valuable in each book, and it might surprise you!

[Sameeha Ismail]

We had mandatory library periods. Those were horrible. The librarian will select a book for each student, and we must sit silent or read the book during the period. Whew, most of us preferred to sit silent than read the tedious books the librarian choose.

[Jordan Meehan]

As a kid, I loved reading. I spent most of my free time reading. Once I got to high school and they started requiring us to read books that I had zero interest in, I started to hate reading. I stopped reading for enjoyment as a result for about 4-5 years. During college, I started to read for enjoyment again, but only on airplanes and beach vacations. Thankfully, my love of reading has fully returned and I often choose reading over other free time activities like watching tv/movies or scrolling on my phone.

[Alissa Nesson]

I was always an avid reader, but I rarely enjoyed the books we had to read at school, especially as a young child. I always used to wonder why, with so many great books out there, we were reading what we were. I think the reason kids who haven’t grown up with books think they hate reading is that a lot of the books we read (at least when I was a kid, a century or so ago) was that the books were old and the language was different from what we know now, and they can’t relate to the stories. I think when kids are really young and deciding how they feel about reading, some newer and more relatable stories would be a better idea. We can read classics in high school but the goal at younger ages should be to get the kid’s interest and show them why reading is enjoyable.