By Roshan Ratnam Murugappan
There was a period of my life where I could read for hours.
As a primary school student I absolutely loved to read. I would race through the missions of Alex Rider, lose myself in the vivid world of Wings of Fire and join the adventures of the Famous Five. Books weren’t just words on a page, they were new worlds that I could enter. Each chapter brought a new character, a new environment and another element to the story, and my imagination seemed to have no limit. But somewhere along the way that changed.
As I entered high school my workload increased; assignments, tests and extracurricular activities took over my time. The constant pressure to keep up meant I had less time to read for enjoyment. At the same time social media became an increasingly easy way to fill in the spare moments of my day; a few minutes of scrolling could quickly turn into an hour. But, I don’t think I’m alone in this.
For many teenagers, reading can feel like another task rather than something we do out of enjoyment. When there are textbooks and screens competing for our attention, reading a fictional novel is the last thing on our to-do list. Yet, perhaps that is exactly why we need to read!
Reading gives us something scrolling often doesn’t: the opportunity to slow down and immerse ourselves in our own world. Instead of constantly moving between short form videos, a novel takes us on a journey, one which asks us to focus and use our own imagination. And imagination is the most important thing a book can give us.
When we watch a movie, much of the worldbuilding is already created for us; we can see the characters, the setting and tensions that cause conflicts in the film. A book is vastly different, it gives us the words and our minds build the rest. We imagine what the characters look like, the setting’s intricacies and what might happen next. Every reader can therefore experience the same story in a different way.
Furthermore, reading can also introduce us to perspectives beyond our own. A novel can place us in another person’s shoes, encourage us to understand their experience, culture and emotions that we may never be able to encounter ourselves. Even fictional characters can teach about courage, resilience and what it means to grow.
Additionally, reading gives a place to escape. Life as a teenager can often feel overwhelming. As high school students we know this best; there are deadlines to meet, expectations to manage and an endless stream of notifications from our phones. A book can provide us a quiet break from all the things that make life hectic. For a few chapters, we can forget about the notifications and escape into another world.
And you don’t have to become a lifelong reader overnight; maybe start with ten minutes before bed. Visit your local library and choose something that genuinely interests you. It can be anything! Fantasy, mystery, science fiction, biographies, comics or anything that’ll motivate you to turn the next page. I, for one, am a big fan of fantasy novels, especially ones that involve vivid world building and dragons. I’ve recently picked up Talon Saga by Julie Kagawa and Christopher Paolini’s Inheritance Cycle.
But at the end of the day, rediscovering reading isn’t about trying to become the primary school version of myself; it’s about understanding what my younger version already understood: books can be fun. They make us inquisitive and can transport us somewhere we can never dream of.
In a world where our attention is being pulled in a hundred different ways, perhaps we should give ourselves permission to slow down, open a book and let our imagination run free.
So, the next time you find yourself reaching for your phone, try reaching for a book instead. Turn the page. Let your imagination take you somewhere new and keep imagining.
