The Summer Reading Program Problem
Trust me, I'm a middle school literature teacher
We should all read to our children every day, especially those of us with younger kiddos. Those of us with older kiddos should encourage them to read every day. They should see us reading every day.
The one thing we shouldn’t encourage about reading, though: making it a competition.
Our local library hosts a myriad of wonderful youth events and programs, and we try to participate in as many as we’re able. This year was the first year our oldest was really able to participate in the summer reading program.
To give a rundown, children in his age range had to read 25 books between June and July in order to complete the program. Easy peasy. In addition, for every five additional books he read, he got to enter his name into a drawing for potential prizes.
Upon completing the program, we proudly trekked back to the library to collect his prizes, and it was quite a haul. He got a pencil, an eraser, a sucker, a free book, a bouncy ball, and a seemingly endless hoard of coupons to local restaurants and excursions. He was over the moon about it, and I can’t lie: it was cute seeing how excited he was about the prizes. This boy could eat for free for a couple of weeks if he really wanted to, thanks to the program. But—and I hate to be this guy—I kinda hate the program.
Let’s start with the positives. I think it’s great that they’re getting the community engaged and excited about reading. It’s the library, for crying out loud—it’s part of their duty, and I love how committed and enthusiastic youth services is about the program.
I love that it doesn’t cost a thing, so families who can’t afford to eat out or take their kids to do fun things now have those opportunities.
I love that our main branch has a gargantuan selection of high-quality and award-winning books for children to choose from. They’re also phenomenal at keeping the library stocked with new releases.
Lots of pros. I feel like a jerk complaining, and having taught eighth-grade ELA classes for the past five years, I wish more students had participated in programs like this when they were younger. But here’s the double-edged sword: maybe they did. And maybe that’s the problem.
I don’t agree with the idea of making reading a competition. I don’t agree with incentivizing reading through extrinsic motivation. Although programs like this initially attract interest from younger audiences, reading will likely lose its luster for many once they realize there is no external reward for their labors. Once the prizes stop rolling in, so does the desire for reading.
Elementary schools and middle schools also do a poor job of incentivizing reading through programs such as Accelerated Reader. Yes, programs like these garner early interest in reading, but they don’t increase the longevity; they don’t create lifelong readers.
Last year, I refused to participate in the library’s summer reading program because of my grievances with the idea of such programs. This year, I figured, what the heck. I’ll just log all the books we read and let the kid get his prizes. It was fun seeing how many prizes he was awarded, but we’ve been reading that ferociously for a while now. He would have enjoyed reading this much before some summer reading program incentivized it.
As parents—and the same is true for any teachers reading this—it’s part of our duty to create lifelong learners. The easiest way to do that? Create lifelong readers. Help your children discover the beauty and excitement of reading. Let them discover magical worlds they never want to leave. Teach them about the heroes of history. Allow them to discover themselves through stories and characters that resonate.
Reading shouldn’t be a chore. Reading shouldn’t be boring. Let’s teach our kids to read only what they want to read. We need to teach them that it’s okay to quit a book if it’s not meshing with them. We need to teach them that what they read in school is only a minute sample of the beautiful world of literature out there. Teachers, we need to be as thoughtful as we can in selecting books that reveal the power and beauty of language, worldbuilding, and character to our students.
So, sure, sign your kids up for the reading programs and let them earn the prizes. But don’t teach them that that’s the only reason to read. Continue reading to them. Let them see you reading. Talk about books together. Offer recommendations. Take them to the library. Let them discover books that speak to them.
We can make reading exciting without a sales pitch and without extrinsic motivation. Read to them. Give them autonomy. If this generation of parents emphasizes the power and importance of reading over the convenience and ease of video games and nonstop streaming, together we can create a new generation of voracious readers and learners. What a beautiful, poetic feat that will be.
God bless,
Chandler