Should middle school students be required to study poetry?

Middle schoolers benefit from the study of poetry in many ways. Poetry can help young teens connect with their own changing emotions as well as with the increasingly chaotic world they are beginning to discover. Furthermore, the study of poetry can also improve reasoning and critical thinking skills, since close reading and analysis of the poem is required. An understanding of metaphor, enhanced through the close reading of poetry, is important for young students as they begin to shift from their literal thinking to more figurative thinking. Poetry also offers the potential for significant vocabulary development.
Perhaps the most important reason middle schoolers should engage in poetry study is the many ways the activity would help them build grit, develop confidence, and understand nuance. Because there can be multiple meanings to a word, stanza, or poem, it takes patience and real grit to see the reading through until the very end. The same benefit a student can gain from reading a well-reasoned argument can be gained from the careful study of the poem. Poetry, then, is in a unique position to help students build empathy and develop a better understanding of the complexities of our world.