There is a recent decrease of younger generations voluntarily reading.
According to The Pacific Standard Magazine, “Reports from university and high school instructors like Mark Edmundson describe how many students no longer have the patience to read denser, more difficult texts like classic literature from the 19th and 20th centuries.”
The article continued, “Perhaps the most depressing statistic that the researchers cite is the decline of daily reading of some form of print—whether magazine, book, etc.—from 60 percent in the late 1970s to 12 percent today.”
Students at Keene State College agreed. First-year Maddy Lawyer said, “I read books a lot less than I used to. I only enjoy fiction stories, and I tend to struggle reading informational things because they don’t interest me. I think a lot of decline in reading is due to my being here, a lack of good options that interest students along with the fact that kids are raised on screens now.”
Lawyer was not the only student to have this opinion.
First-year Saere McGuinness said, “I sometimes read but not a lot anymore. I used to read more in middle school on long car rides, mostly because my mom wanted me to. I think the number of students reading has gone down in newer generations because you’re not really required to read in middle or elementary school anymore like you used to.”
First-year Hayleigh Nelson said, “I read books sometimes, not very often, I have to be very interested in reading the book to actually get through it. I find myself reading less since I have my phone that distracts me though.”
One student out of the four interviewed said she actively read and enjoyed the hobby. First-year Emily Stokel spoke about her passion.
“I personally love reading. It was always just something I’ve enjoyed since I was younger,” said Stokel. “It helps me relax and I like experiencing different genres of books, too. I think the number of people reading has definitely gone down. I honestly think that the way we teach kids to read nowadays is not sustainable or enjoyable. I feel like we need to develop a new curriculum or method to get kids more engaged in reading so they don’t feel like they have to resort to phones or iPads for entertainment.”
Maryanne Wolf from Pacific Standard Magazine writes in the article previously mentioned, “They are bright, innovative, confident in their skills on all manner of digital screens and devices: This is Generation Z, many of whom have little notion that they have begun to short-circuit some of the essential cognitive and affective processes that produced the digital world they inhabit.”
Madelyn French can be contacted at
mafrench@kscequinox.com
