Hey there and welcome back to The Quoted Blog! One of my best friend's Meredith wrote the most amazing essay all about reading, and I wanted to share. So, here it is! ~Ella
Is Reading a Waste of Time?
With so many other forms of media and entertainment, reading books has fallen on the backburner. The idea of reading a book for fun is something that much of society would simply scoff at. Many of the young people today only read when forced to for school, or for a job. What used to be one of the biggest forms of entertainment has fallen behind phones, tablets, and computers. Reading, however, is not a waste of time, like so many believe. It is an insightful and beneficial way to relax, relieve stress, and learn more about so many things, including vocabulary and communication.
One of the reasons reading is so beneficial is because it improves the reader’s vocabulary and spelling ability. When reading a novel, whether fiction or nonfiction, the mind is constantly taking in the new words it reads, filing them away for future use. Being exposed to new words and seeing how they are used in context with the rest of the story can greatly expand mental vocabulary. The mind takes in how many words, new and already known, are spelled, as well. Without reading, a person is not exposed to as many words as they would have been, so their vocabulary is much smaller. They also have more trouble communicating efficiently and effectively. Reading is proven to improve communication skills. An article titled, “Importance and Benefits of Reading Skills in Communication,” says, “Reading teaches you new words and perspectives. It helps strengthen language and sharpen sentence structure. It gives you better command over the language.” In a novel, the story is told through the thoughts and dialogue of the characters. Reading these character conversations can serve as what-if scenarios for real life, showing the reader how different characters communicate with each other in different situations. This can translate into actual scenarios for the reader, enabling them to communicate more effectively. Overall, reading helps to improve the general knowledge, vocabulary, and communication skills of the reader.
Reading does not just improve vocabulary and communication skills, it is also an anti-stresser, and improves sleep and focus. When reading an actual paper book, a person is giving their brain a break from all the screens they are constantly exposed to daily. Just a few minutes of reading before going to bed improves the quality of sleep. A study titled, “Does reading a book in bed make a difference to sleep in comparison to not reading a book in bed? The People’s Trial—an online, pragmatic, randomized trial,” says that 28% of the people who were instructed to not read a book before bed for seven days reported better sleep, while 42% of the people who were asked to read a book before bed reported better sleep. Reading is proven to aid sleep, with many more people reporting better sleep who did read a book before bed than with people who did not read. But reading does not just increase the quality of sleep. It also reduces stress. Stress is significantly lower for those who get enough sleep in a night than for those who do not. Since reading improves sleep, it relieves stress as well. Reading is also an opportunity for the reader to leave their troubles behind for a few minutes, and become engrossed in a new story. It helps to clear the head, and sometimes even offers the person ideas of how to handle their real life problems. Stress relieving and sleep improving, reading should reign far above other, less beneficial, forms of entertainment.
When faced with the decision of scrolling through Instagram on a phone or finding a book to read, it is often much easier to just choose the phone. Rather than standing up and grabbing a book, many people would prefer to stay where they are and just play on their phone or other devices. But while technology is beneficial in many ways, reading is a much healthier and better way to spend free time. Staring at a screen for hours before drifting off to sleep can decrease the quality of sleep greatly. After reading, it is typically much easier to drift off to sleep within thirty minutes. But after scrolling through Facebook on a bright screen, it can take much longer to finally fall asleep. Another thing that books have over the content found on the internet is the publishing process. Anyone can post anything on the internet, whether it is true or not. But a book must go through the publishing process, which often includes editors and people who will fact check the information found in the book. Books are a much more reliable source of information, and while Googling something really quickly is much easier, a book can offer much more reliable information. Reading a book rather than scrolling through often exaggerated posts on a social media platform is an overall much better way to spend time, and a much better way to gather information. Books offer so much more than many devices ever could and should be a normal part of most adults’ and young peoples’ lives.
Every time a book is read, a whole new world is discovered by the reader. Reading serves as a chance to adventure with pirates, decipher a mystery, or explore a haunted mansion. Along the way, inspiring messages, insightful words, and motivating thoughts are thrown at the reader for their own, unique interpretations. Louisa May Alcott says in Little Women, “I am not afraid of storms, for I am learning how to sail my ship.” Sometimes subtle, notes of the author’s wisdom are inserted in many stories for the reader to discover. Alcott places this statement in her story to develop her characters further and so she might inspire a reader to face the storms, or problems, in their life. They, like the characters in Little Women, are learning and just getting a hang of things, so there is no need to fear. Books are normally thought out and planned. They are full of interesting dialogue, inspirational thoughts, and important stories. By simply reading a novel, a reader can expose themselves to a world of new ideas and messages that they can carry with them in life.
Because reading is so beneficial to vocabulary, spelling, and communication skills, it can greatly improve a person’s performance in school or at the workplace. Reading is able to improve focus, enabling a student to remain engaged in a teacher’s lesson for longer periods of time, rather than zoning out or falling asleep. Since the person is constantly reading through different sentence structures and writing scenarios, their grammar can improve as well. This makes them better equipped to send impactful and serious messages to others in their professional environment. These skills can make the ideal employee for most workplaces. Jobs are often looking for responsible and studious people who are able to communicate effectively. These qualities can be improved greatly by reading. In school, students who read for pleasure are able to organize their thoughts and create an essay that clearly answers the prompt much better than students who do not read more than they must. Reading also enables students to better utilize figurative language and vocabulary from their observation of the context in books. Reading is essential and important in all areas of life.
In conclusion, reading has several benefits, and is a great way to spend free time. Many people avoid reading, unaware of how it can improve general knowledge, relieve stress, and create good communication skills. But the internet is not as reliable as a solid book, and social media platforms are certainly not as beneficial as reading a novel. Fifteen minutes of reading before bed can reduce anxiety, enhance focus, and increase the quality of sleep for the reader. Reading can take a person anywhere, from a fantasy world to a dystopian wasteland, and inspire them along the way. All the reader has to do is put the phone down, and open a book.
Works Cited Page:
Finucane, Elaine, et al. “Does Reading a Book in Bed Make a Difference to Sleep in Comparison to Not Reading a Book in Bed? the People's Trial-an Online, Pragmatic, Randomised Trial - Trials.” BioMed Central, BioMed Central, 4 Dec. 2021, https://trialsjournal.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13063-021-05831-3.
Flandreau, Melissa. “The 100 Most Iconic Book Quotes.” BookBub, BookBub, 28 Apr. 2020, https://www.bookbub.com/blog/famous-book-quotes.
“Importance and Benefits of Reading Skills in Communication.” Harappa, 3 Aug. 2021, https://harappa.education/harappa-diaries/importance-of-reading/.
(essay written by Meredith H.)
And, that was it! If you thought, for some reason, that reading is a waste of time, now you know that it is not!
I love this essay so much, and Meredith did a great job on it! Thanks for reading it! Comment below your positive thoughts on Meredith's essay!! ~Ella