Why Does Reading Can Improve Reading Skills?

Consistently, people tell students that reading is critical and is “good” for them, but have they ever explained why reading is critical? What does reading do except to improve our reading skills? As a small child, we learn the alphabet, then we learn to read, and from that point on, we just continue to improve reading. A common known idea is that reading can develop our knowledge and critical skills throughout our schooling years, but studies show that reading fiction can improve empathy, awareness, and even our social skills. Many argue, however, that many who read already contain empathy skills and never gain any empathy skills through reading. Another argument is that fiction books do not bring awareness of different events, for fiction
Through reading literature for school or pleasure, teens have the chance to improve their awareness of the constant challenges that many people face around them; this improved skill can increase the desire to read more literature so that teens have an understanding of the world that they never had before. According to the article “Disturbing (or Not?) Young Adult Fiction,” the author, who happens to be a teacher, discusses that she has witnessed through her students that “the concepts that make us the most uncomfortable are the ones that teach us the most” (Sullivan). Many fiction books nowadays contain graphic, disturbing events that many parents find unacceptable for their teens to read, but these graphically detailed books are often the best way to teach students. The best way for most students to understand the drastic events and phenomena in this world is through a graphic fiction story; moreover, the story catches their attention and explains the situation through often a beloved character who is facing the disturbing dilemma. When students read of such stories, for example, poverty, abuse, murder, and so much more, they want to take action since they fell in love with the character and witnessed the thoughts and emotions the
When a young reader interacts with peers and discusses a difficult situation that one has read in a fiction book, they show the empathy that the book developed into that teen reader. The young reader can then communicate suggestions or comfort to the struggling teen building a bond between them. This example displays how reading a fiction book can potentially improve social skills. In fact, in the article “In the Minds of Others” they agree “reading stories can improve your social skills by helping you better understand other human beings” (Oatley). When teens have an understanding of their peers and the people around them, they communicate more effectively since they understand them better. This idea proves that increasing awareness and empathy support the idea that reading literature enhances social skills. Continuing in the article “In the Minds of Others,” the author explains the idea of improved social skills saying that “it can hone your social brain, so that when you put your book down you may be better prepared for camaraderie, collaboration, even love” (Oatley). When reading a book, the reader becomes the character in their minds; every conversation, action, and thought, is no longer the character but the reader. Consequently, when the reader walks away from the book, the mind still contains some aspects of