English teachers are teaching kids to stop reading. This was an observation I made in a brief moment of anger and annoyance as I caught myself zoned out for the hundredth time while reading Hemingway’s “The Old Man and the Sea”. Even though this opinion was created in a very emotion-filled moment, I still think it is true. 

Fast-paced, action-packed, witty, and entertaining are my basic guidelines when I’m looking for a book. When I was in second grade my teacher read “The Mouse and the Motorcycle” by Beaverly Cleary. I had previously been dispassionate about reading simply because nothing I read held my attention. But after listening to my second-grade teacher read about Keith and his little toy motorcycle, it ignited a spark. A spark fueled by Lucy Maude Montgomery’s “Anne of Green Gables” and John Green’s “The Fault In Our Stars”…and smoldered by… “The Old Man and the Sea” “Romeo and Juliet” and “The Odyssey.” 

Now it’s important to note that I’m not saying that “The Old Man and the Sea”, “Romeo and Juliet”, and “The Odyssey” aren’t “good” pieces of literature, I’m saying they aren’t the right choice for the teenage audience that is reading them. 

Since we have grown up in a world where getting a dopamine fix is as simple as opening an app and scrolling for five minutes, we basically have no use for reading. By giving us boring books teachers are accidentally enforcing this mindset that is already present in our minds. And since we have this mindset we aren’t going to change, unless teachers give us a reason to. Educators should adjust their curriculum to fit the changing needs of students.