For the tenth year in a row, Southfield High Students had summer reading homework, just like thousands of high school students across the country. Some students had to read two books; others just one, depending on their grade level and their English schedule. Asking students to pick up a book and read it over the summer is a great idea, and the district needs to keep demanding that its students exercise their brains over June, July and August.

It is safe to say that reading is probably not the top hobby for the majority of Southfield High School students. They’d rather be shopping at the mall, shooting hoops or watching television. Complainers say summer reading is dull and that summer vacation is for having fun and “chilling,” as teens say. But academics should outweigh fun during the high school years to better students for their future. Students will need reading skills for the rest of their lives. Summer reading and the time spent reading in general advances literacy abilities, enhances writing and helps students become better speakers. Reading is just too important to leave alone for three months.

Moreover, the summer reading assignments are not an overwhelming or tremendous amount of work. They are not long, thousand paged Harry Potter books on the reading list.

The Secret Life of Bees novel assigned to freshmen has 302 pages. That’s a little more than three pages a day, all summer. That’s about five minutes of reading a day, 10 at best for slower readers. The Color of Water – the other book freshmen could choose to read – had 301 pages, so it was the same amount of daily reading. There are no tricks or gimmicks in the assigned work. It should not consume the whole three months of summer to read a book.

This year the summer reading assignment that went with the reading was set up so students only had to complete an argumentative essay outline to be turned in the first week of school. An outline, not an essay. Teachers then had students complete an argumentative essay in class, based on that outline, for a grade. Pretty easy from previous years when students were required to complete a longer typed assignment on the books.

Summer reading has benefited many students in their first card-marking grade, and those who forfeit the summer reading end up being the kids with the lower English grades. That’s only fair.

The purpose of summer reading homework is to make students explore literature in a positive way. It aims to exercise the brain to keep it intellectually healthy. Taking a small percentage of time out of summer to read a book that students might just find interesting will advance the student in the long run.

Summer reading is a necessary task that more students could find enjoyable if they would just give the books a chance.