The once popular pastime, reading, has been undermined by the rise in screen time.
Relying on technology usage to get us through life has led to the disappearance of staple activities from our everyday lives.
Young children are told “reading matters,” not because it is something fun, but because it is the most vital building block to education.
The books people choose to read often have a long-lasting, powerful impact on the people we become.
In this generation, kids spend countless hours reading- posts, tweets, and memes. Reading books has been isolated by the oppression of texting and social platforms.
Technology has changed the way we read.
The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) released a report in June demonstrating a gradual decline in reading comprehension among 13-year-olds.
While that news triggered concerns, in addition, as of June 2023, a separate survey showed that only 14% of children said they read for fun every day. However, in 1994, 35% of students reported they read for fun every day.
“Reading wasn’t always fun for me. But, when I changed my outlook on it to something that allows me to be in any world I wanted to be, you get to experience things the characters are experiencing. That’s what draws me in and makes it fun,” said junior Leah Searle.
With the increasing amount of technology provided for students, it is seen to be a major distraction in academic performance. The use of cell phones has fundamentally taken over the academics of American classrooms.
Prior to social media, when students were told they had free time, they were often seen chatting with a friend or pulling out a book to read. Nowadays, when told there’s free time, they’re seen scrolling through their feed, isolating themselves from the classroom environment.
Students haven’t been able to enjoy reading. Not because they don’t want to, but because they can’t fit it into their busy schedules. Teens are consumed with homework, work, sports, and other extracurriculars preventing them from sitting down and turning pages.
“I love to read but I’m always busy doing schoolwork. Reading is a way of decompressing but I don’t have the time anymore,” said junior Avery Koening.
According to Open Education DataBase (OEDB), different styles of reading create different patterns in the brain. Not only that, story structure encourages our brains to think in sequence, expanding our attention spans, which is something that most teens do not have anymore due to the notifications on cell phones.
You’ll never run out of battery reading. Reading books is beneficial for your health and happiness.
