At school I was told books are very valuable and I should read a lot, then they shoved a math textbook at my face and told me to go on with it. I despised reading from then on, not reading books until I was told to. That was until my graduation, when the book-shoving stopped, and “just lectures, books are optional” began. That’s when my love for books blossomed.
I don’t know if every book-lover’s experience is like this, but this is what I personally experienced. Books are valuable resources and should be experienced by all, but they shouldn’t be used to torture young adults with it.
I believe that loving books comes naturally and force-feeding is a bad way to encourage that. Adults should let teenagers choose to read. They should give them resources, techniques, and especially time. With those, any book they want to read will be a joy to experience. Moreover, “reading” is not synonymous with “books” and there are countless other ways to read than full books: articles, short stories, tweets, news articles.
Young people should read more, but I don’t think forcing them helps.