She said she sees the same thing year after year: students who don’t know what’s going on in the world because they don’t read. They don’t read the newspaper, they don’t read books, they don’t read magazines and they don’t watch the news. She’s frustrated because they don’t read anything n and these are students who want to go to college!
Trying to give her suggestions and ease her mind, I said, “A love of reading is learned, and if it isn’t being learned at home or in school, perhaps you have to step back from the goal and approach it a different way.”
I suggested that, instead of quizzing them on current events, she have them read the newspaper together. I thought they could also read the magazines (like Vibe) that interest a 17-year-old and tie those stories to current events. There’s sure to be an article in Vibe about the rap artists who are currently moving into the business world.
Hopefully, a discussion about what interests them would develop a thirst for more learning. Or, maybe not.
The father of Negro History Week in 1926, Dr. Carter G. Woodson, wrote (in The Mis-Education of the Negro), “When you control a man’s thinking, you do not have to worry about his actions. You do not have to tell him not to stand here or go yonder. He will find his ‘proper place’ and will stay in it.”
The action in question is reading. But what is controlling this thinking, and how do we turn it around? Without a love or habit of reading, much development or enrichment is lost. Those who don’t read are only swayed by hearsay or visual media.
Is it safe to say that the 17-year-old who doesn’t read can tell you the lyrics to every top ten BET song? That very teenager may wonder what good it does to know about eminent domain or the move to limit an aspect of malpractice awards.
What do these issues mean to them?
As adults, we can answer these questions. Many of you are homeowners who may find yourselves facing a local municipality that wants to take your property through eminent domain and turn around and sell it to a commercial developer, who plans to create a multi-zillion-dollar mega-shopping complex.
Some of you have relatives who have been injured by a doctor but were able to sue for damages, including pain and suffering. The amount future Missourians can get for pain and suffering in a lawsuit is going to be severely limited.
Those developments are just two current-day reasons to read. The very teenagers who don’t read anything may find themselves facing issues they don’t understand. This puts them in a place of ignorance, which, we all know, will determine their actions, and not for the better.
A love of reading can start in childhood at home. It can even start in one’s adult life or it can begin out of necessity in a world that isn’t going to stop turning, take us by the hand and lead us to the information that we need so that our actions will be appropriate and are decisions sound.
It’s usually not like teenagers to recognize a skill that they’ll need for life n a good life. That is where people like my friend come in.