Reading: A Privilege, not an Instinct
同志社国際高等学校

２年

水江

眞

己I have a heavy addiction. Not drugs, alcohol, nor social media but reading.
Whenever I use a kind of sauce, I have a habit of reading every single itemand description on the label. I’ve read my school’s student handbook fromfront to back not only because I was interested in it but unconsciously. My
surroundings are made up by words and numbers. Why shouldn’t I readthem?
In this modern age, being literate is normal and many people take readingfor granted. However, it wasn’t always like this. Not too long ago, most people
couldn’t read, and those who could were able to earn money reciting letters.
Literacy meant excellence. Just by knowing how to read, you could have a job
with unlimited demand. Even now, some people can’t read. I believe we should
show gratitude for our ability to read.
However, not all people share my belief. Less people read every day due
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to the rise of mobile entertainment. Even when people read, they read in short
sentences or even worse, in acronyms, mere symbols rather than words.
Reading, I believe, is a privileged act that should be used for more meaningful
purposes. Is today’s convenient world making people think that reading issome sort of mundane task? Or is the ubiquity of reading making us fail tonotice the privilege? No, we think of reading as a task, an overdone act that
we fail to think as a privilege.
When I lived in the United States, books surrounded me.

They were ashortcut to help me to learn English. I put my hands on any book I cameupon and soon the shelves in my house were lined with books. Whenever mytwo hands were open, they quickly searched for a book and became busy
flipping pages. Before I went to bed, I would read books. My mom would tellme to go to sleep, but I would read in the dark hours of the night using adesk lamp. I’ve lost sleep, money and my eyesight in exchange for reading inthe dark. However, the time I spent reading books helped me gain the English66

ability I have now.
After returning to Japan, books still possessed a big part of my life. Withlimited Japanese vocabulary, books existed as one of the few inputs I had tolearn new words. I would go to the library at school and find books to read
during my free time. The more I read, the more I wanted to read. I devoured
many books. I reread the same books multiple times. Now, I could recall
phrases from many of the books I read.
For me, being able to read in two languages allowed me to expand myworld. Being able to read in multiple languages, means I can understandmultiple cultures. To me, reading is not an instinct but a well-earned privilege
which I fought to gain and expand.
With the more means of entertainment around us, it’s becoming harderfor us to put our hands on a good read. On the train, less people have theirhands on books but smartphones, which wasn’t the case ten years ago. I’ve
seen many bookstores close because of the decline of readers. Less people
readwhilehavingtheirhandsonmoretechnology.

Thismeans,ourrecognition of reading as a privilege lowers yearly. We act as if we were born
literate. However, we think this way because everybody knows how to read.

Theyknewtheimportanceofreadingand

how

it

createdcountlesspossibilities. We should reflect on the importance of reading and think ofreading with dignity. I do not claim that we should let go of technology andread but have a life more entwined with reading. Why? Because reading is a
privilege we should use to the fullest.

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Look back at 200 hundred years ago when only the limited knew how to read.