According to a 2019 survey conducted by the National Assessment of Educational Progress, fewer American children than ever before are reading for fun. The shares of 9-to13-year-olds who say they read for fun on an almost daily basis have dropped from nearly a decade ago and are at the lowest levels since the question was first asked in 1984. That’s a problem. See, reading is more than just a fun escape into a different world; the act of reading helps form strong neural pathways in our brains that build the vital language, literacy, and emotional skills that grant us lifelong benefits. These are especially important in a child’s development, and it’s why I believe that more kids need to read for fun again.
You may be inclined to point fingers at phones, technology, and social media as the reason children aren’t reading anymore, but I think a bigger part of the problem is our education system. The system that encourages us to read a variety of fun books in elementary school is the same system that enforces the tired, never-changing “required reading” lists onto middle and high schoolers, year after year. Sure, some of the books on these lists are American classics that everyone should have the chance to explore, but many of them are very out of date, written by long-dead authors who lived in a time when racism and other forms of bigotry were acceptable parts of everyday life–and it shows in their writing.
While curricula attempt to use these books as learning experiences, it’s clear to me that these very titles are still regarded as some of the best in the American literary canon. The rigorous insistence upon these titles is burning kids out, and quite frankly, they’re over it.
Until school curricula change, I think there need to be broader efforts to encourage reading in children that don’t involve them trudging through novels like Moby Dick. As I highlighted in the beginning, reading teaches kids vital skills that they carry for life. Reading, especially for fun, also builds empathy in children by exposing them to characters of different races, genders, and backgrounds, thereby enforcing the fact that we, as humans, all have some shared experiences. Reading is also a great food for the imagination; as a tween, reading fantasy books allowed me to create my own entire fantasy world from scratch, and it was an amazing exercise in creativity for me.
So, how should children get back into reading? I’m no expert, but I think we should utilize the tools children now have–phones, laptops, etc.–and coordinate with libraries to make more free e-books available on these devices, which would especially help children from low-income families who want to read more but can’t. Parents at home should also encourage picking up a fun book now and then and help their kids choose titles that more or less match their interests. Lastly, many kids are led by example, so try leading by reading! Adults can receive benefits aplenty from reading, t
