Power of Reading

It is pretty standard for teachers to assign reading as homework. Whether you want to do it or not is a different story. Reading is often taken as less important than other tasks. However, reading is a very important activity, even when it isn’t homework.

To start, reading can be very educational. Of course, there are non-fictional books that literally give you information about a topic. They can teach you about real-world things and help you gain an understanding of animals, plants, science, and anything else. What most people overlook as being educational are fiction novels. They have plenty of information even if it isn’t direct. For instance, if you’re reading a book about a person struggling in their life, it can teach you about things happening in the world. If they are struggling from poverty or discrimination, people can learn about social issues. This is crucial because if people were not educated on other peoples’ lives, they would judge people without knowing why they act the way they do.

Additionally, reading can help you cope with stress when feeling overwhelmed. In middle school, it’s very easy to get overwhelmed with schoolwork or feel pressured. It’s important to find ways to calm yourself when this happens. Reading is the perfect activity for that. It has been proven that just 30 minutes of reading can decrease stress levels. When you read, you are concentrated on the material you are reading. There is less time to worry about things. This may sound crazy, but reading works the best when it’s not related to school at all. When reading for fun, you don’t need to take notes. This makes it easier to immerse yourself in a story and not stress about other things. On top of all that, reading is also relaxing and good for your mind. The website, Insider, says, “A small 2013 study found that reading a novel increased communication between parts of the brain that control language processing.”

A lot of people claim they don’t have enough patience or time to read a novel, but really, they just aren’t dedicating enough time to reading. Try to read a chapter or two of your book tonight. When you’re done, you don’t need to write an essay on it, just ask yourself how it makes you feel. Maybe you’ll enjoy it more than you thought you would.