Discussion: should young people read books?

One of your exam questions asks you to discuss if young people should read books. For this discussion, you are invited to find inspiration in Paul Fairfield’s podcast “The Importance of Reading Books”. 

In his podcast, Fairfield brings up several arguments for the importance of reading. Firstly, he explains that some books educate young minds in more areas than schools are able to explore (ll. 5-7). Secondly, he argues that reading helps increase people’s attention span (ll. 15-18) and the ability to think critically (ll. 42-43). Thirdly, he argues that reading is an essential part of education, which cannot be replaced by screen technology (ll. 58-60). Besides Fairfield’s arguments for reading, consider that reading might help develop empathy, as readers often tend to put themselves in the shoes of the characters they are reading about. Furthermore, reading fiction gives people the possibility to look at the world in a different li...