“Reading maketh a full man, conference a ready man and writing an exact man.” Francis Bacon rightly points out the influence reading has in our lives in his precise essays which are dense with meaning. Books are the repositories of knowledge which pass the treasure from generations to generations. Given the latest developments in information technology books, unfortunately, are made to recede a little. But the importance of books in human lives cannot be sidelined or ruled out completely. Technology is not as rosy as it sounds because the CDs can get corrupted, flash drives could get infected with viruses which would eventually lead to the irreversible loss of very important data we have. This is the major drawback of technology and we cannot totally rely on technology.
Poor readers do not read well, they do not read much and they do not do the practice they need to improve themselves. Poor readers have less academic success. Poor reading skills tend to equate with lower pay and poor employment when the skills of youth are concerned. Being a poor reader certainly brings disadvantages to the individual and to the society as a whole. One has to be widely read and knowledgeable to appropriately fit into the current job market. This skill does not get acquired overnight; instead students need to develop reading habits from an early age starting right from the primary school.
One fascinating part of a particular study revealed that the number of books in a home had a great influence on the test scores of students. The test scores considered were the scores in science and history, not literature and English. This itself is a clear indication of the influence books have in students’ writing works. The collection of books would have definitely added to the students’ knowledge and also to the self confidence which would have, in turn, made them fare well in examinations.
How can you help young people to read? One ought to have a good number of books around. Parents and teachers should encourage the young children and students to read which may or may not be related to their syllabus. It could be a collection of short stories, poems or anything for that matter. Once this habit is instilled in young students, they would carry the tendency forward and get immersed in a wide reading.
Taking the school perspective, students need to do a good number of projects, assignments, term papers etc as part of their curriculum. The teachers should also aid them with a list of select references which the students would be required to read in order to be able to do their homework. Once in a college or a university, students cannot miss out on the primary reference. It would be too late for them to develop reading once they are in college. Any writing work cannot begin or come out of a blank mind. This is why books have a great influence in our lives and in students’ writing works in particular.
