Alex

Writing

11/10/2018

People Should Read More For Fun

I think a lot of people need to read more. This is a problem that many people don’t think is

actually a problem, but I do. When I was in 4th grade I had a friend that didn’t have any

electronics, and his mom said that every day when he came home from school he ate, did his

homework, and read. Upon hearing this news, a lot of people asked why he read. He would give

two answers: it was very sophisticated to read and he had nothing else to do. He was also a very

smart kid that made people jealous and my teacher occasionally pointed out to people that they

would be smarter if they read and that Xavier, my reading obsessed friend, was living proof.

This is a true fact, that reading makes you smarter. According to lifedev.net, reading can also

improve: your writing skills, vocabulary, memory, analytical thinking, tranquility (a word I

learned from a book) and reduce stress. But a sad fact is, a quarter of American citizens have not

read a single book in the last year. That is a very large number, about 82 million people. And

their excuse, not having enough time.

Now I know some people that have a lot of electronics and spend a lot of time on them, either

looking through social media, watching videos or playing games, and a lot of them don’t read
books for fun. Their excuse for not reading when they have to is that they don’t have enough

time. When I am not reading as much as I usually do I cut back on my ‘non-beneficial’ things

like watching YouTube and playing Fortnite and use that time to get myself back on my reading

track. A lot of people could cut back on their non-beneficial things and use that time to read. In a

survey asking if people liked reading for fun, a 12-year-old boy answered that he didn’t like

reading because there are more enjoyable things to do. But I have a question for people that

agree with this boy: are these ‘other’ things more beneficial to you than reading? Or are the

‘other’ things more popular and you’re trying to fit in?