Throughout the summer, it’s common to see students without any plans for the day. Whether it’s hanging out with their friends, cozying up in their bedrooms reading a new book during vacation, or watching a movie on a couch, all of these activities share a common thread of relaxation and enjoyment.
When asked whether she’d rather read a book or watch a movie over the summer, sophomore Chloe Chan completely favored the latter.
“Fully trying to understand and follow along with a book requires attention and energy,” Chan said. “I can just play a movie and sit back and relax.”
Chan isn’t the only high school student who prefers to watch a movie rather than read over the summer. According to Scholastic, a children’s book provider, “kids ages 6–8 read an average of 19 books; that number drops to nine among 9–11s, six among 12–14s, and two among 15–17s.”
As we mature, reading becomes assigned work in school, and the workload increases with every year in school. This may be why students see it as a task rather than something they’d want to do by choice.
“Students are required to read a lot during the school year so during the summer, students may like to take a break from reading and do activities they don’t have time to do during the school year,” Chan said.
Summer break is also a window where high school students are busy with other activities. This leaves less free time for students like Chan to read.
“Over the summer, I will be prepping for standardized tests, preparing for my upcoming classes in the fall, and traveling,” Chan said. “Since I will be spending most of my time studying for the ACT, I will have less time and motivation to read.”
Palo Alto High School English teacher Kari Snell gave us better insight on this issue. Whenever her children see her reading, they instinctively reach for a book, mirroring her actions.
“I think having conversations and modeling it can be a great way to encourage reading,” Snell said.
Sophomore Talia Boneh has always loved reading, but also spent some time watching movies over the summer and during the school year.
“Watching movies can make me feel a little bit sluggish, but reading books makes me feel like a scholar and keeps my brain active over the summer,” Boneh said.
One local program for teenagers to participate in is the Everyone’s a Reader yearly challenge from the Palo Alto City Library. Participants are given a set goal of books to finish, depending on their age, to complete each tier, with three total possible tiers. After each completion, they’re awarded digital badges and extra raffle tickets for the end-of-year raffle, which holds the grand prize.
If going through an entire reading list over the summer seems like too big of a task, students can also set small individual goals for themselves.
“I wish I had more time to read because I like reading a lot,” Boneh said. “I try my best to make time for reading two books every month.”
Although high school students tend to get busy during summer vacation, it is still important to allow free time for relaxing.
“Even though it is difficult to make time and read over the summer, I think reading regularly is still important for high schoolers like us to be doing,” Chan said.
