What ever happened to old fashion reading?

Today, I was sitting in my Language Arts class, and we were filling out our reading logs for the year. I, having a natural interest in all things English related, had already had my list mostly filled up since last December. When I was writing in the last of my books, a girl in my class looked over at my desk.

“Do you actually read for fun?” She asked me.

When I heard her say this, I told her yes and brushed it off, but the words were will burning in my head. Did I actually read for fun? Well of course I do, but maybe that was not that easy for her to understand. Yes, I am a fifteen year old girl living in a world of sex and drugs with "better things to do than read", but I’m also a fifteen year old girl living in a world of literature; a world of great authors and great stories. I’m a fifteen year old girl living in a world of beauty.

Across America, roughly 49 percent of High Schoolers read more than ten books per year. Ten books! I could read ten books in two weeks! And only about half of all High Schoolers—kids that are going to be leading our future in the next ten years—are reading. This is unreasonable!

It’s not just reading that our generation is lacking in, but also hardly any teens are keeping up with current events. On the morning of the Royal Wedding, I came to school asking people if they’d seen at least bits of it, and most replied, “No, whats the big deal anyway?” The big deal is that this is a monumental event in our lives that we will tell our children about! This is our future generation we’re talking about! If half of us are incapable of reading ten books a year or watching the news at least one night a week, what are we going to do when we’re the leaders of our nation in the future?