THERE IS HOPE IN READING

(An Oratorical Speech)

by Marissa Pare-Castro
August 2014

There is hope... in reading. Members

of the Board of Judges, reading advocates,
teachers, fellow students, ladies and
gentlemen, Good morning.

You have a cellphone, don’t you? Is

there anyone here who does not have a
cellphone? What about a tab or an ipod?
Rich or poor, most of the young generation
today have cellphones and have
experienced the power of computers and
technology. Things have changed in the
past decades and they keep on changing.
Science and technology has been doing it.
As a result, we now have a new world—the
cyberworld. This is the world of virtual
reality and most of the time, this cyberworld
requires reading to communicate with others. We read texts and messages in our
cellphones, emails, twitter, and facebook. Even other apps require reading to use them.
Thus, reading is the primary medium of communication in the cyberwold.

Considering the fact that reading is the primary communication tool in the
cyberworld, how come that most of the youth today do not read books anymore? They
will ask for the latest gadget but not for a new book to read. They are so excited to read
their texts and messages in their cellphones and facebook but not to read the task given
to them in school. Real reading was taken over by the gadgets and the apps of non-
sense games of the cyberworld. Where is the hope in reading then?

Televisions are a part of the cyberworld. In this mode, we do not read. We

watch and listen. Since a lot of parents do not like reading as well, they just watch their
favorite teleseryes or play computer games instead or let technology do the baby sitting
for their children. How many parents do you know who read stories to their children
every day? No wonder why a lot of children do not have the spirit of reading within
them. It is not alive in their homes. A lot of children know the characters in
Probinsyano, O Nanay, and other TV shows but hardly know those in the books like
Cinderella, Rapunzel, Peter Pan or even those in the bible like Abraham, Joseph,
Solomon, Moses and the Apostle Paul.

From home, let’s go to the classroom setting. I never experienced plain reading
in my school when I was in elementary. Reading has always been associated with a
task. There was never a time when we just read and enjoyed reading without any work
afterwards. Our experience with reading in school was always with work, not
enjoyment.

A child has no reading experience at home; no one reads to him and no

resources to read. Here comes school time. The child reads but there is always a work
associated with it. How will the child learn to love or even like reading when his reading
experience is only reading with a lot of tasks to do?

National and international tests results for the last decade show that Filipino
students have deteriorating reading comprehension skills. Consequently, this affects
their performance in Mathematics and Science. This is ironic when technology is
supposed to have helped Filipinos improve their understanding as they are exposed to
technology.
Despite this sad reality, there is hope in reading. Yes, there is hope in reading
when teachers develop a culture of readers. Imagine a classroom where children read
books for a few minutes a day. You see the fun and excitement in the children’s faces.
This is plain or recreational reading. This means that there is no schoolwork associated
with reading. It is really just plain reading, reading for fun, for pleasure. And that during
this recreational reading, the teacher is there, reading as well, like the children, a role
model as a reader. Is there anyone here who has experienced recreational reading in
the classroom?

The United States has their DEAR Program for many years. This is a time in
their classroom schedule for both students and their teachers to "drop everything and
read”, which is the meaning of the acronym DEAR. This is the best example of
recreational reading. Like us, Americans know that there is hope in reading. They drop
everything and read regularly so they can rekindle their young people’s pleasure for
reading. They do this through variety of reading materials, meaning through books, not
by the use of technology.

No matter how far computers and technology may go in the future, reading, or,
reading a book specifically, is irreplaceable. Our gadgets lose their power once their
source of energy is dead but a book can be read anytime, anywhere, for as long as you
want. Furthermore, a book can reach the hands of the poor which technology cannot
because the use of technology requires continuing expenses. This only proves that no
technology can ever underestimate the power of reading books.

There is hope in reading. We might look at reading books as the old school, old
fashioned, but it will always be the best regardless of time. But we, the youth, need role
models to emulate. How can we love reading when what we see are adults who only
play games and watch TV?

Researches show that reading as a lifelong learning habit can only be sustained
by the love of reading. When reading becomes a habit, reading comprehension skills
and even grammar skills are easily acquired. The impact of reading does not end with
those skills. The greater the content of the book, the greater the reader will be. This is
not only applicable to children, to teenagers. The more we age, the more we have to
read because reading protects our cognitive ability. So, why did you stop reading?

It is not yet too late. Forget about that teleserye tonight. Try reading a story to a
child in your home for a change. Buy books instead of toys as gifts this Christmas. In
school, let us try recreational reading, especially, when we know that those children
come from indigent families. Once we bring that book back in our hands today, that
book that sticks closer than any friend we could ever have, there is hope in reading.