Let’s not talk about tariffs.
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| That's what I want to see more of. Credit: Microsoft Designer |
Let’s not talk about the stock market, either. Both topics are way too depressing these days, for related reasons. Let’s talk instead about one of my favorite things, reading. Alas, though, I have to warn you: the news here is not all good either.
A new
NPR/Ipsos poll had some intriguing insights into how Americans feel about
reading. Two-thirds of us claim we’ve read or listened to a book in the past
month (half had read a book, physical or electronic, and the rest had listened
to audiobook). Ninety-eight percent of us want our children to develop a love
of reading. About two-thirds of us say we have a collection of books in our
homes, and want to be better readers.
All encouraging
stuff.
But: forty-three
of us say reading is low on our priority list. Slightly less than forty percent
think they read more now than they did a few years ago, or when they were kids.
We like reading in principle, but many of us spend our time doing other things.
Interestingly
enough, readers reported slightly more time streaming, being on social
media, or watching short-form videos like on YouTube or TikTok, so those activities
don’t necessarily need to keep non-readers from reading. Similarly, readers
were more likely to say they didn’t read more because of work or other life
activities, including kids’ activities. Readers were less likely to say they
just preferred other forms of entertainment, but the difference was not large. So
it’s really not quite clear why more don’t read.
Here's a
clue: a 2023 survey from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES)
found that 28% of U.S. adults read at the lowest literacy level. In 2017, that comparable
statistic was 17%. And, oh-by-the-way,
our scores on numeracy were even worse (34%). When asked about the reasons for
the decline, then NCES Commissioner Peggy Carr said:
“It’s difficult to say.” She has, of course, been
let go by President Trump, who is not particularly known for any love of
reading.
Many of us
may not read because, well, we’re not very good at it.
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| Percentage of U.S. adults aged 16-65 at selected proficiency levels. Credit: NCES |
Similarly,
new
statistics from the National Assessment of Educational Progress found that
33% of eighth graders were reading at “below basic” levels, the lowest it has
been in the thirty year history of the survey. For fourth graders, it was even
worse, with 40% at “below basic” levels, the lowest in twenty years. “Our
lowest performing students are reading at historically low levels,” said
Commission Carr.
Evidently
all those people who claimed to want their children to develop a love of
reading are not succeeding.
Writing last fall in Vox, Anna North highlighted what she thinks the problem with kids’ reading is:
What has plummeted, however, is how much kids read, especially outside of school. In 1984, the first year for which data is available, 35 percent of 13-year-olds reported reading for fun “almost every day,” according to NAEP. By 2023, that figure was down to 14 percent, and 31 percent of respondents said they never read for fun at all.
By the
way, the NPR/Ipsos survey found that, among those with K-12 children, 82% think
their child reads at or above their grade level, 79% think their child is
interested in reading, and 69% thinks their child reads for pleasure. A lot of
parents are kidding themselves.
In the
NPR/Ipsos poll, 82% of us think reading is a way to learn about the world
(which, of course, it is). Unfortunately, our children may not be learning how
to learn that way. Catherine
Snow, a professor of cognition and education at Harvard Graduate School of
Education, told Ms. North (referring to children): “they’re not reading in the
ways that they need to read in order to be prepared for the tasks of learning
and critical thinking.”
Christina
Cover, who leads the Project for
Adolescent Literacy at the nonprofit Seek Common Ground, added: “These are
our voters. These are people that are really going to be taking us into what’s
next for our country and for our world.”
Their not
reading does not bode well for our future.
Let’s
track back to that seemingly encouraging statistic that two-thirds of us have
read or listened to a book in the last month. A 2023
YouGov survey found that 46% of us didn’t finish any books in the
last year. Another five percent read only one book, so just over half of
us read one or fewer books in the entire year.
If you
read five books – five books! – you’re in the upper third of all
Americans. While I’m at it, half
of us rarely or never visit a library, with those over 45 least likely to
(even though they are most likely to be readers). Don’t even get me started at
the increasing
efforts to ban books.
Our
literacy is very much at risk…which put our society at risk.
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There’s significant
research that indicate our attention span is getting shorter, even when
just online, so it probably shouldn’t come as a surprise that reading an actual
book is a commitment that many of us won’t undertake; heck, reading to the end
of this article is probably a stretch.
Maybe
reading books is just old-fashioned, like printing presses in a e-book world.
Maybe short form content, be it YouTube videos or X posts, is how we like to
get our information. On the other hand, (print) book sales rose 6.5% in 2024, according
to Publishers Weekly, so maybe not all hope is lost.
I grew up
in a family of readers. I grew up with weekly trips to the library. There was
never a time in my life when I wasn’t a voracious reader. My wife teases (I
think) me about how many books we have in our house. So I am very much prejudiced
about the importance of reading and of reading books in particular.
I fear
that it’s not just children who aren’t reading in ways that help them learn
about the world and to think critically about information. Reading at most one
book a year is not going to do it. And I fear that is leading us to a society
where ignorance triumphs, truth loses meaning, and progress stalls or even
reverses.
So pick up
a book – preferably one that challenges you to learn something new– or, better
yet, read one with your kids.
