An English teacher reflects on literacy decline, screen culture, and the future of education.

Every few months, another report arrives announcing that American students are reading less, comprehending less, and struggling more.

None of it surprises teachers.

I am not sure whether this is a worldwide phenomenon, but I suspect the epidemic is especially pronounced here in the United States—perhaps because we still are not seriously addressing the problem.

Students, by and large, do not read anymore unless it is required of them, and even then many struggle profoundly. One of the primary reasons, I believe, is the overwhelming preponderance of technology in their lives. This influence exists not only in school, but everywhere outside of it as well.

Adults, too, have fallen prey to the problem. Very few people make time for reading anymore. People find time for countless other activities, but many will not devote even a few quiet moments to sustained reading and reflection. It is therefore not surprising that children and adolescents have succumbed to the same deficit.

READING ON A SCREEN

As a longtime educator, I do not believe that reading on a screen effectively teaches students to become thoughtful, analytical readers.

I currently tutor students for the SAT and PSAT, but much of that work really involves teaching them how to read carefully. When students interact physically with a text—annotating, underlining, questioning, flipping back to previous pages—they become markedly stronger readers.

The ephemeral nature of words on a screen is that they often become unimpactful, less memorable, and more easily misunderstood…then simply forgotten.

Students who read on screens often skim instinctively. They scroll rather than linger. Ask them to return to a key passage ten minutes later, and many cannot locate it again because the text never became physically anchored in memory.

TWO SUGGESTIONS

Teachers

Institute an independent sustained silent reading period for at least thirty minutes once or twice per week. Provide students with access to a full library of high-interest books. Teachers often end up building these libraries themselves through donations, library giveaways, garage sales, and personal expense.

Teach students how to annotate as they read. I have an entire series of annotation lessons available through my Teachers Pay Teachers store. Then, have students keep a BOOK DIARY in which they briefly write about what they have read after each reading session—and yes, grade it, mainly for effort and consistency.

Parents

Reward regular reading. Read aloud together. Play audiobooks if children enjoy them, but encourage them to follow along with the physical book as well.

Discuss books together. Choose every type imaginable: fiction, nonfiction, books about music, sports, art, science, history—anything that sparks curiosity.

Most importantly, get kids away from games and phones occasionally and reconnect them with the slower, richer experience of reading. Take them to bookstores. Bookstores can still feel magical. They smell like possibility, and yes, they usually have excellent blended coffee drinks too.

WHY THIS MATTERS

I do not have children myself, but I have taught students of nearly every age: middle school, high school, college, and adult education. I have witnessed this decline in a massive and frankly terrifying way.

I wrote extensively about these changes in my memoir, Red Pens, Blue Screens: A Teacher’s Life Through Politics, Technology & Cultural Upheaval.

The future of our nation comes down to two things, in my opinion: preserving democracy and promoting education. An educated populace makes better decisions.

Reading does far more than improve test scores. It deepens attention, empathy, imagination, patience, and judgment.

A society that stops reading carefully eventually stops thinking carefully.

And perhaps most importantly, people become happier and more self-actualized when they continue learning throughout their lives. Children who read deeply are often less anxious, less fearful, and less emotionally adrift.

They also tend to become much more interesting at the dinner table.