Getting real about high school reading: Why we do it, they don't, and how to change their minds
- Jolie Radunich
- Mar 22
- 3 min read
Updated: Mar 25
I feel energized reading books because I pick ones that apply to my personal and professional life. Loved: How to Rethink Marketing for Tech Products strengthened my marketing skills while How to Win Friends and Influence People built my social capital.
It makes sense why most high school students don't feel the same way.
They're skimming through the pages of required reading books—at best—without feeling their value.
So let's break it down—why our students are repulsed by required reading, and what we can do about it.
Level setting: Why high school reading doesn't happen
I was an avid reader as a kid and am today. But there was a period in my life where my interest took a nose dive. Can you guess when?
High school turned me off from reading. The reasons why are the usual suspects:
Ancient publishing dates
Older English structures
Tricky/ dull/ dry language
Little to no choice over the content
Are you surprised to know that speeches from my teachers and parents didn't motivate me more?
When you're older, you'll appreciate it. This is a classic! Just read it.
Being forced to read a series of books written eons ago feels irrelevant to the high school mind. It just does. Think about what was on your mind back then. The age of adolescence means...
😵💫Feeling heightened emotional sensitivity.
😵💫Rocking on the brink of adulthood.
😵💫Feeling tired ALL the time.
High school students haven't fallen in love with an industry or career path. Just 1 in 5 are working and even getting to know what the world of work truly looks like.
But they are anxious about what life has in store for them next. And 544 pages of Great Expectations by Charles Dickens doesn't help those unsettled feelings.
Going to great lengths to avoid high school reading
First, there was CliffsNotes.
Then, SparkNotes.
My 9th-grade teacher introduced me to Shmoop.
Today, ChatGPT enters the chat.
All (now) free.
We gotta hand it to them. Some students are reading—even researching—if you want to call it that. Just not in the way that we'd like.
In our knowledge economy, what you know and continue to invest in learning is your currency to access paths to success.
Our students are already consuming so much online. Lots of what they choose to read comes from social media. They care about status and are attracted to wealth, especially the flashy kind promoted by
TikTok influencers.
Instagram models.
Twitch streamers.
Athletes.
Imagine selling them on rewarding work that can help them achieve their goals. And showing them how the privilege of attending school means they're already on track to build a meaningful life.
Students are enrolled in school.
Sitting in classrooms all day.
Their ELA one is extra special.
Books, even the classics, can show them a way.
We need to teach high schoolers to look for opportunities in whatever they’re reading, even if it feels old and irrelevant.
Hype high school reading with empathy and career connections
It's time to leave the spoonful of sugar methodology behind. By now, we know that begging, pleading, and threats to read get us and our students nowhere.
It's okay to bluntly tell them you understand why they're disinterested, for many of the reasons I shared earlier.
Once you open the door to a conversation about reading, it's time to challenge the age-old question high school students love to ask,
When am I ever going to use this?
Teachers want to connect the books they assign students to inspiring careers but often don't have the time, resources, or expertise to do this for every main idea or chapter.
I see an opportunity for literacy edtech to revitalize the bridge between homework and dream work.
Today, most industry tools provide teacher support to make instruction efficient. And the word engagement gets thrown around quite a bit. But I doubt high school students are truly energized by gamified quiz questions the way they might have been a few years ago.
Instead of blaming technology for stopping readers, what if there was a platform to help drum up engagement—to provide students with that reassuring companion and career guidance counsel to offer motivation to keep learning?
High school reading isn't about getting through outdated assignments. These books are blueprints for the future.
Literacy edtech can make required reading matter if high school students see their future in it.
Trading Up Texts is a fresh take on connecting required reading to careers—from a Gen Z who's been there.
