The Lonely, Good Company of Books
As a child, I was always told that reading was going to be in my educational life for as long as I was in school and as I got older it was only going to get more complex. I never quite understood why books like Shakespeare were so important to my education but I was always told it was so I never questioned it. In The Lonely, Good Company of Books, I completely agree with Rodriguez on his claim about the disconnection of young students’ education and reading lists of books. A student’s education is based on way more than just reading books throughout their educational lives. From personal experience to claims made my Rodriguez to simple facts it is clear reading is not as crucial as it’s made out to be in young student’s lives.
Rodriguez made it clear that he was emotionally disconnected from the books he read even though he continued to read more and more. Growing up as a student it is very hard to relate to books that most of the time has nothing to do with what’s going on in one’s life. Even though that is the case for many students’ teachers still encourage reading because they feel over time one’s outlook will change. That’s not the case for most students’. Rodriguez describes how a nun that helped him with reading would always say, “A book could open doors for him. It could introduce him to people and show him places he never imagined existed,” (173) but that is an opinion that doesn’t apply to everyone that reads. Most students’ can’t get all of the benefits out of reading therefore making it not an affective educational tool. Besides the emotional disconnection, technology also makes it easier for students to learn things visually and orally so reading won’t have to play as big of a role in a student’s education as it used to. Even though reading is very important, it’s ineffective to most students’. Just think, a child is not born with a natural hatred to reading but why then, is reading such a problem for so many elementary and high school students?
Rodriguez made it clear that he was emotionally disconnected from the books he read even though he continued to read more and more. Growing up as a student it is very hard to relate to books that most of the time has nothing to do with what’s going on in one’s life. Even though that is the case for many students’ teachers still encourage reading because they feel over time one’s outlook will change. That’s not the case for most students’. Rodriguez describes how a nun that helped him with reading would always say, “A book could open doors for him. It could introduce him to people and show him places he never imagined existed,” (173) but that is an opinion that doesn’t apply to everyone that reads. Most students’ can’t get all of the benefits out of reading therefore making it not an affective educational tool. Besides the emotional disconnection, technology also makes it easier for students to learn things visually and orally so reading won’t have to play as big of a role in a student’s education as it used to. Even though reading is very important, it’s ineffective to most students’. Just think, a child is not born with a natural hatred to reading but why then, is reading such a problem for so many elementary and high school students?