Dear Year 7 student,

I have had difficulty enjoying books since I was born. I hated when my mom forced me to read books, all kinds of books, all! When schools give us books to read or tell us to read books to make activities, I don't read them, I lie to everyone, teachers, my mom, dad, brother, everyone, I just go to ChatGPT and ask it to make me 3 lines of each paragraph of the book, and even so, I feel bored.

When vacation comes, since my parents know how much I hate and i dont have the will and pleasure to read books, they make a rule that for each hour I read a book, I have the right to play 30 minutes on electronic devices. I hate that rule so much that I could scam them. I lied by reading the book for about 2 hours and I just told them what AI told me in their summaries.

I don't like to read books because I feel they are boring. Imagine with me, you spend hours and hours reading some written sheets of paper while you could be playing soccer with your friends, playing video games, scrolling on social media, etc. You stay quiet and set with a 

book, which is really boring.

So please, help me anyway you can. I need to start enjoying books.

Sincerely,

Year 9 student

Dear Y9 student, 

 I totally understand your problem. I had this problem too, I hate books. How about we do it together? I really think you should start looking for audiobooks. Or choosing books about things you're interested in.  .

I think your problem actually is caused by your lack of reading books and your mom forcing you to read them. I think your mom is making you read them because she wants you to succeed best at school. Have you tried talking with her? Say that you do not have a great relation with books and that you don’t like when she makes you read them. Explain your feelings, be calm and explain the importance of your choice, because it is terrible doing something that you dislike. In my opinion this advice will work because your mom loves you so ,maybe, she could let you stop reading that much. If I had that problem, I would try to tell  my mom the way that books become more enjoyable for me and do my best to start reading them.

 I saw you have a rule obliging you to read a book for each hour, and this could make your interest lower because it isn't more your willing, it is a rule , you would stay locked in your house, making it difficult to play with your friends or to have fun. Try to choose books about things you love or like. One idea is to start with small goals like reading one page a day, and don't force yourself to finish books you dislike. Or try to listen to Audiobooks, because maybe you don’t like reading them, but you like hearing them. And if you are not having fun, change genre, change writer.  When you do that, it helps you.

If your mom forces you to read, tell her how you feel and try books or audiobooks about things you enjoy instead. If nothing works, talk to your teachers or to one person that already went through this problem and is a professional on this. It might work . I wish you the best and that you feel better, I hope this was useful and can help you. If you like books, it will be better.

Sincerely,

Y7 - Matheus Antunes