Manifesto

Manifesto
I attended elmenetary and high school in the Caribbean. When I was a child, I read because there was little esle to do. I grew up without a television, and it was impossible to spend hours with anyone on the phone. Besides playing all day in the yard, the only thing available to me was books. Our students are not reading because many of them are not encouraged to do so at home. Parents are buying these ipods and other electronic devices for their children instead of exposing them to books. I did a survey with my class, and I was surprised by the number of students who said they were never read to at home as children, or students who never find time to read at home. Many of us blame the cannonized books and suggest that if the books were more interesting or more up to date, maybe the students would want to read. The question is, how will the students know if a book is interesting or not if they never read it? I give my students opportunities to choose books they like, and bring them to class for independent reading. Only about half the class get those books. The main complaint is "I hate reading." Early exposure to books fosters a love for reading. I don't know if I can honestly say that the Humanities is dying because I have been teaching for only three years, and I have only taught at one school. However, my experience with my students is that approximately half of them are either reluctant to read, or have difficulty with reading. I also find that teachers I talk to from other schools have similar problems. But they also teach in New York City. I think the problem can be fixed with early exposure to reading, and with parents taking more control over their children, supervising them more, and placing greater demands on them to do schoolwork. I think a collaborative effort with teachers and parents can solve the problem.