I haven’t logged into my Goodreads account in months.
I used to be a very avid reader, setting ambitious yearly book goals and always looking forward to my next read.
Then, I stopped.
My time got filled with other activities. In the past several years, I would only read books that weren’t required for school during the summer.
Even for required readings, I noticed many of my peers reading less and relying on online summaries, like SparkNotes, more. Students are simply too busy and have too many commitments to make reading a priority.
While there are many personal reasons that led to me reading less, there’s a more widespread problem. Many teachers are including fewer books in their curriculum, opting for small excerpts or summaries instead. If students are no longer frequently exposed to long texts in school, it makes sense that they are reading less. Being exposed to literature at school opens the door for students to be exposed to books, authors or genres that they will continue reading at home. Per a 2021 study by Pew Research Center, 27 percent of 17-year-olds reported that they never or hardly ever read for fun.
But when did kids stop reading? This can be traced back to the pandemic. When students across the country were forced to complete their learning online, many did not get the same quality of education that they would have received otherwise. Many teachers lowered their expectations, recognizing the challenges of distance learning. Students had a reduced workload, and they read less. In some cases, this gap in education has not been filled.
The decreased inclusion of books in school curriculum has coincided with an increased use of technology. While this could be a coincidence, it reflects an overemphasis on the wrong things. Prioritizing new ways to learn in other subjects has harmed the standards of reading actual books. Many schools attempted to fix the problems caused by the pandemic by trying to get back to their pre-pandemic expectations and rigor but their solutions haven’t really borne positive results.
Another frequently cited cause of this lack of reading is the increased usage of social media. Among its many negative effects, social media has changed attention spans, which is a factor in students reading less. Many students are active on TikTok or Instagram and scrolling through short videos can make the brain crave more of the instant gratification which those apps provide. This can make it more difficult and less likely for students to even want to read longer amounts of text.
Among people who do frequently read, there is a more modern development that is also cause for concern. Skim reading. While it can be helpful in certain situations to quickly scan an article for the necessary information, it is a harmful practice in the long run. Skimming text can be used to save time, but less time spent reading equals less time to sit and understand complex thoughts and create opinions based on the text. This issue has become more prevalent with the increased usage of technology, both in schools and individually. By reading through a physical copy of a book, one is able to better interact and feel the text, allowing for a slower pace, which can provide deeper understanding.
This isn’t an underground issue. Many are aware of this change and are worried about what this means for the future of education. Recently, I saw an article circulating about the increase in college students who don’t read books. It discusses the phenomenon college professors are noticing where their students suddenly aren’t able to read and understand long, difficult texts.
I think that a main culprit of this trend is the increased busyness we deal with. We live in a culture that praises productivity, often leaving acts done for the sake of entertainment alone criminalized. As high school students, we are often pressured with the expectations of having many achievements: developing an impressive resume, having a sport, maintaining leadership positions, community service, taking multiple AP classes, etc. Regardless of whether this pressure comes from parents or internally, it leaves little downtime.
The cure for this is to practice slowing down. Noticing things around us is a vital action needed to appreciate life. I often forget this, but whenever I stop and am observant of my environment, I am struck by how much goes on around me on a daily basis that I often ignore. I am so wrapped up in my own life and worries that I barely look around and really take in all the different people, lives and actions going on right around me.
How does slowing down relate to reading? Once we remove the element of being busy for the sake of being busy, we will be more comfortable with setting aside time to read. Reading and seeking to understand texts is like a muscle, and it needs to be exercised. Setting aside time and allowing oneself to be okay with doing something that doesn’t give immediate results is nearly a countercultural action.
We should all strive to slow down and be more present.