Reading opens many doors.
As Dr. Seuss once put it: “The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you'll go.”
Reading provides knowledge and understanding of the world, of ourselves, and of different cultures. It can promote empathy, help develop critical-thinking skills, and transport the reader to places they would never travel to.
Yet reading for pleasure is on the decline in the United States. This is particularly acute among middle and high school children. In 2023, only 14 percent of 13-year-olds reported reading for fun almost every day, a substantial drop from 27 percent in 2012, according to the National Center for Education Statistics.
This decline is part of a wider trend.
The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) found that in 2022, only 48.5 percent of adults had read at least one book for pleasure the prior year. According to an earlier NEA-backed survey in 2017, it was around 53 percent of adults.
Mary Beth Calhoon, associate professor of special education at the University of Miami School of Education and Human Development, runs a reading intervention program for middle school children. She said there are many reasons for the decline in reading.
“There are so many different factors,” said Calhoon. “It depends on the students. Are we talking about kids who have reading difficulties or those who are reading at grade level?”
For those reading at grade levels, the effect of social media and gaming plays a major role. They are used to getting information in small blurbs or sound bites, said Calhoon. Attention spans are shorter, and thus they cannot maintain attention while completing an entire text, she said. Some schools are resorting to giving children only excerpts of novels or plays.
“One of the main problems is that they have not been asked to have sustained reading times,” she said. “Now, when you put a book in front of them, they do not have the level of concentration that we used to establish in kids.”
This deficiency translates into lower scores in the Florida Assessment of Student Thinking (FAST). Those tests require that students read and interpret texts for about 45 minutes or so.
Chakeia Andrews, clinical assistant professor and director of the undergraduate Teacher Preparation Programs, said studies show that students with early reading struggles may be prone to have lower confidence and this makes them less likely to choose reading independently.
“Additionally, limited access to high-interest, culturally relevant books also reduces motivation to read, especially for students who do not see themselves represented in available texts,” she said.
She added that, to engage students, studies show “providing students with choice in what they read and how they demonstrate understanding increases intrinsic motivation and promotes autonomy.”
Providing multimedia elements such as movies or videos to support complex texts can increase the likelihood that students will engage in reading, said Andrews.
Parents can play a crucial role in establishing reading habits, both educators noted.
“Parents play a critical role in fostering strong reading habits,” said Andrews. “Research indicates that children who observe family members reading are more likely to develop positive attitudes about literacy.”
Both educators offered some tips for parents to encourage their children to read:
- Establish a family reading night. On this day, everyone in the family unit reads a book and then discusses it with family members.
- Find graphic novels. Some young readers will be drawn in by the colorful pictures and venture to read the entire book.
- Allow children to choose their own books. This will help them engage in the reading experience.
- Establish a routine of taking the child to the library. Getting a library card and exploring the many topics available at the library can be attractive to a young reader and can establish a pattern for life.
- Follow their interests. Pay attention to their passions and find books or even audiobooks and podcasts that connect to those interests.
- Try different formats. Introduce them to a variety of reading material such as audiobooks, e-books, and magazines.
- Provide audiobooks to the children. Listening to stories instead of following the traditional written text may entice the reader to continue exploring books.
