It’s no secret that people are reading less; books and articles have become passe and unstimulating amidst the overwhelming barrage of content that is invariably at our fingertips. Teens and even young children are opting for more short-form online content that can be consumed passively, rather than actively reading books for fun. 

The decline in reading has left children and young adults with smaller vocabularies, shorter attention spans, and lacking basic communication skills. However, literacy rates overall have not necessarily followed the same trend. A study showed the writing and reading that young people do online can improve literacy and produce more confident writers. Even text messaging has proven to be useful writing practice. 

Does this mean that reading is not necessarily required for literacy? Absolutely not. Even if social media can supplement some of the literacy skills that are a product of reading, the skills acquired are marginal. Reading requires the brain to actively construct an understanding of the text, which is what makes the practice so beneficial. When everything is spelled out (literally), as it is for consumers of short form content, the vital process of critically analyzing a text is not executed. Without this, a necessary skill is lost. A skill that can only be obtained through reading. 

Reading in general is advantageous, but reading books has proven to yield even more benefits than shorter works like articles and essays. Reading a book is a significant commitment of time and energy, which is exactly what makes it worthwhile. The act itself can improve attention spans, brain connectivity, mental health, and even physical health. It has even been proven that those who read more earn a higher salary on average. This is all independent of the actual content of the books themselves.

However, when it does come to the content books offer more thorough and trustworthy sources of information than most other streams of information. By reading books in lieu of consuming more easily digestible and consolidated sources of information, like short form videos or articles, you gain a remarkably deeper understanding of whatever it is you are learning about. 

But why are people reading less? Of course there is the obvious answer of phones and social media taking up more and more of our time, but the culture that has emerged around phones has conditioned us to rely on books less and less, and it does not come without a cost. 

Without books, kids cannot develop the indispensable habits and skills that can only be acquired through reading books. Reading to children is imperative to their development- it has been proven to significantly improve literacy. Children who are not read to often fall behind their grade level for reading, and struggle to recover. This is not all the fault of parents though. Because we live in such a fast paced and technology driven world, the importance of reading and spending the time to perform such a tedious and slow task is not taken seriously. As people are required to work more and more hours to make a living wage, parents simply cannot find the time to read to their children. Additionally, it is suggested that parents keep at least 80 books in their home at their children’s disposal for their child to reach a standard level of literacy. Because providing children with books and reading to them consistently can be demanding of time and resources, the issue of low literacy predominantly affects low income children. Low literacy children become low literacy adults, and because reading develops so many skills integral to success, many people who were not exposed to books and reading as children end up in lower wage jobs, perpetuating the cycle.

Reading is an irreplaceable practice, it is integral to all aspects of education and life. Sitting down with a book that you enjoy, whether it’s Dostoyevsky or even Colleen Hoover, is invaluable, and its importance should not be dismissed.