A PROPOSAL FOR INCREASING THE RATE OF READING HABITS

Problem and Its Importance

Before describing the problem, I would like to mention the advantages of reading because if people realize the benefits of reading one book in a month, they begin to develop reading habits. First of all, reading is good for both human psychology and physiology. Psychologist Dr. Kalyoncu and neurologist Dr. Ovak states that reading increases the brain blood flow in addition to speeding up the brain’s metabolism and the electrical activity (64). They also point out that reading delays ageing and diseases such as Alzheimer, which stems from ageing as well. Other major advantages of reading are that our vocabulary gets richer; also we could learn different cultures, different lives and different perceptions by reading. A noted Professor AC Grayling says in a review of A History of Reading, “To read is to fly: it is to soar to a point of vantage which gives a view over wide terrains of history, human variety, ideas, shared experience and the fruits of many inquiries.” Yes, that’s right. We go on a journey without paying lots of money and carrying heavy suitcases, and we can go wherever we want simply by turning the pages of the book. Furthermore; we could become a knowledgeable and sophisticated person who could talk articulately and think creatively. Despite of all these benefits, reading culture in Turkey still hasn’t settled. You might be saying that this is already known by everybody. Yes, I have nothing to say about it. What I would like to point out is the low rate of reading habits at METU, whose mission is to educate scientists. According to a research done with university students which are from METU, Gazi University, Bilkent University and Başkent University; among 803 students, only two of them c...

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...ates one book to their dorm, and books will be collected free of charge. As for bookshelves, their costs are between 150 TL and 200 TL, so every dormitory could afford one bookshelf. Moreover; all these regulations have important advantages, they trigger students to read more and more. For that reason, we should give some to get more. In other words, we should throw out a herring to catch mackerel as the idiom says.

Conclusion

After the regulations, which I propose; you will see a student who read Victor Hugo’s Les Misérables during the break or you will see a group of students who discuss the chapters of The Karamazov Brothers enthusiastically. Afterwards, you will see that students will be more successful and creative in lessons, and their social lives will be more vivid. In the end, you will be proud of yourselves and mumble “Yes, they are all our students.”