Charles Elliot once said, “Books are the quietest and most constant of friends; they are the most accessible and wisest of counselors, and the most patient of teachers.” Reading is a skill that should be practiced and utilized more often. From fictional fantasy to nonfiction novels on finance, reading is a vital survival skill essential for our schools, society, and minds. 

Reading can be useful, regardless of the age of the individual. When I was growing up in elementary school, I would come home from school and do my chores. Before I could relax, however, my Grandma would always make me read for at least 20 minutes a day. She didn’t care if it was a comic book or a novel; she just wanted me to read. 

At the time, I used to hate reading and would get quite frustrated with my Grandma. But as the years went on, I began to not only love reading, but to also see the influence those 20 minutes a day had on my education. I flew through the required novels for class, the grammar portions of our tests, and the skills of reading comprehension. 

Dayton Stone, a student advancing towards a degree in Secondary Education for English and Spanish, talked about the influence reading has on children and academics in general. 

He said, “Lower-class families are speaking only about 200 different words a day, not including the filler words such as and, or, etc. At the end of the year, this creates about a 1,000,000-word gap.” 

Dayton then talked about the influence of reading on bridging that gap, even just by being read to by someone else. 

“If you are read to daily, you hear 296,660 words per week,” he said. “It’s just about comprehension, generally speaking, in an academic setting. It helps with comprehension of a new topic.” 

Reading is not just beneficial for an educational setting, however. As an adult, reading can reduce stress and worry, increase empathy, enhance vocabulary, create growth, help make informed decisions, and create longevity through increased brain activity. 

Reading fiction is sometimes frowned upon by avid non-fiction readers, but I would like to put an emphasis on how fiction builds empathy. While reading a fiction novel, even one with very little literary richness, readers are constantly placed in another person’s shoes. Readers live vicariously through other’s trials, tribulations, and triumphs. Thus, when another individual appears with a personal situation, it is not the first time one is trying to understand another’s feelings and experiences. 

Reading also promotes lifelong learning, a skill essential to adaptability and becoming a well-rounded person. Through reading, individuals are introduced to new ideas all the time, helping prevent their knowledge base and skills from becoming stagnant. 

To acquire these benefits, it is not necessary to read for hours on end. Even just a simple 10 minutes in the morning could be beneficial to one’s life.