Proud to be a swot
Sir: It is a sad fact that in journalism sweep- ing generalisations are often inevitable. I was, therefore, not amazed to read Emma Forrest's article 'Eating Pop Tarts, watch- ing pop videos' (20 March). I too am a 16- year-old and do not identify with her article in the least.
Our school library is constantly in use. It has a wide range of books, CD encyclopae- dias, and subscribes to over 30 magazines (including The Spectator) as well as stocking half a dozen broadsheets daily. Fourteen- to 18-year-olds appreciate the 'studious atmosphere'. If they find it intimidating, then why are they at school?
If you look around my classroom before morning assembly, you will not find 27 four-eyed `swots' boning up' on Kant's Cat- egorical Imperative. However, you will find about a third reading, of their own free will; anything from Terry Pratchett to Lung Chang to George Orwell to Albert Camus (not always translated).
Exams and tests are a part of life and the sooner children are told that this is the case the sooner they can get used to them. I have been sitting one week of exams every year since I was seven, and now whilst my contemporaries are cracking under the pressures of GCSEs, I am enjoying the seeming reprieve of coursework and confi- dently anticipating 17 May. Far from mak- ing me turn away from reading, the prospect of exams makes me do more back- ground reading on the subjects I am study- ing so that I have a clearer understanding of them. And yes (shock, horror!) acquiring knowledge is gratifying.
Some teenagers like exercising more than one brain cell and wish to fulfill their full potential. Some teenagers are not content to watch MTV all day. `Unliterary is our unique contribution to modern culture.' Miss Forrest seems to be quite proud of our generation's supposed ignorance and lethargy. If 'not reading is our way of alert- ing the intellectual establishment that we've moved on', then what have we moved on to?
Sabina Kalyan
10 Kimble Drive, Bedford, Bedfordshire
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