Teens and Reading

The other day I was talking with my students and asking them what book they are currently reading in English. After a heavy sigh and a groan one student said, "The Scarlet Letter." To which I replied…"hey, that's a great book. I read it for fun a few summers back."

You should have seen the look on their faces, hahaha.

"Why on earth would you do that?!" one girl asked in disbelief. 

"Well, because it's a classic and I never read it in high school - it wasn't in our curriculum. So I wanted to read it!"

Two girls exchanged a shocked look and they turned their attention back to the worksheet in their laps. 

"Is it so crazy that I like to read for fun?" I asked.

"YES!" was the resounding answer.

One girl went on to tell me that her mother used reading as a PUNISHMENT for when she was bad as a child. Another student told me that they couldn't even make it through the first Harry Potter book because "it was so boring." 

Needless to say, I was more than a little alarmed. None of these students liked to read, and they certainly weren't the first students I'd encountered with this opinion. The general consensus was that reading was "boring," "laborious," and a venture only undertaken for school. 

Well, way back in the 90s, me and my classmates LOVED to read. We had shows like Reading Rainbow that encouraged us to explore the world through books, and schools that put on reading contests. 

Which is why it hurts my soul to go to school everyday and see kids who have earbuds glued to their skulls and an iPhone stuck in their hands. In my school district, kids can use technology to their heart's content and it only serves as a distraction. Not to mention, it shortens their already impossibly short attention spans. 

Shoot…I only had a flip phone in ninth grade so that I could call for a ride home, if I absolutely needed it. But I digress. 

I only mention technology because it is one more wall standing between kids and the desire to read. Sure, devices have book reading capabilities, but do you really think teens are choosing stories over Candy Crush? Because they're not.

In English, students are even allowed to pick a book of their choice for the final unit, and they still hate it! They get to PICK the book (something we never got to do) and they're still complaining. 

The future of this country is in dire straits. 

We have students who can't take in big gulps of information, who get bored ten minutes in to whatever their doing, and who have a largely negative perception of "reading" in general. And these deficiencies show up everyday in class. These kids act like they're doing us a favor by showing up everyday, but they're not doing anyone any favors if they're not learning anything.

So what can the collective "we," do about this hatred of reading? Well, for one, DON'T USE READING AS A PUNISHMENT FOR YOUR KID. And don't let them give up on a book if at first they find it boring. 

This nation needs to launch a PR campaign in schools to support reading. Public perception is everything, and students aren't going to do things that they feel don't benefit them. So let's show them how reading, even for fun, can benefit them! Let's take showing movies of books out of our class curriculum - it only teaches them that they can skip the book and go see the movie! 

Things need to change, and that change starts at home. It starts with you reading to your kids when they're little. It starts with parents sparking a love of reading in their children, instead of letting them live attached to a device. 

There are a lot of changes that need to be made in regards to reading, and if those changes aren't made, you and I will be feeling the repercussions when we're old and busted and these kids are running the country. 

Need some more disturbing information? Check out these stats and resources:

>> Reading rates have dropped precipitously among adolescents. (Common Sense Media: http://tinyurl.com/p8um3pl) 

• 53% of 9-year-olds vs. 17% of 17-year-olds are daily readers.

• The proportion who "never" or "hardly ever" read tripled since 1984. A third of 13-year-olds and 45% of 17-year-olds say they've read for pleasure one to two times a year, if that.

>> Parents are also reading to their kids less than ever. In 1999, children ages 2 to 7 were read to for an average of 45 minutes per day. In 2013, that number had dropped to an average of just over 30 minutes per day. (TIME: http://tinyurl.com/n4zrwag) 

>> Reading skills correspond directly to one’s ability to… (http://tinyurl.com/lor5d2w)

• be an informed citizen
• communicate effectively
• earn a higher salary
• succeed in one’s chosen career, and
• achieve personal fulfillment

>> Literary readers are:

• 3 times as likely to attend a performing arts event
• 4 times as likely to visit an art museum
• 2 1/2 times as likely to do volunteer or charity work
• 1 1/2 times as likely to attend sporting events, and
• 1 ½ times as likely to participate in sports activities.

So the real question is, what are you going to do to stem this aversion to reading that has swept through our middle and high schools?