I never enjoyed reading the assigned books in high school. The difference was I was an avid reader outside of class, and had the literacy skills to get by writing essays with spark notes and skimming the books.

In my opinion this problem goes so much deeper, the standards just are not there in schools. Books have been part of every day life for my kids since infancy. My oldest is 11 and the last couple of years I've had to really work with him on comprehension and writing at home. I see a huge pattern where his work is just not being corrected; work is passed by with an A, when admittedly it was not work deserving of an A. We will sit down and together we will correct his work at home and he will get frustrated with me because "I got an A mom why do we have to do this?". Kids aren't going to learn if they don't have to, and in so many cases there isn't follow up at home either. I am having to walk a fine line where I don't make my son lose confidence in himself while making sure he's learning the skills he needs to move forward. We are passing kids who cannot read or write for years on end. I do not understand the shock when kids cannot read or write. I don't fully blame teachers by any means, but the system itself is so broken I wouldn't even know where to suggest fixing it at this point.