What is the result of an entire generation, utterly addicted to mindlessly doomscrolling while being unable to read? Imagine graduating from high school, unable to read a newspaper, fill out a job application, or finish a sixth-grade-level novel? For an alarming number of American students, this became the new reality.
Recent reading test results published by the NAEP, long considered the leading standardized testing organization in the USA, were the worst scores since 1992. The results showed that one in three students tested could not read at a basic skill level, and only 35 percent tested at a proficient level.
According to the NAEP, a basic reading level includes being able to tell the main idea of a persuasive essay or recognize meanings or words used in an opinion text.
The recent poor scores have been attributed to the pandemic and the disruption of students during lockdown. However, data has shown that reading scores have been rapidly declining since 2013, long predating the pandemic.
Other scapegoats for poor scores have been students with disabilities and non-English speaking immigrants, however, pointing the finger at already disadvantaged demographics only furthers the stigma and does a disservice to other students in need of help.
In a conversation with Chris Smith, an instructional specialist at Cleveland High School and a teacher for 29 years, Smith cited multiple reasons for reading scores plummeting, including a lack of reading stamina, online distractions, and a sharp decline in Americans who read for pleasure.
One of the determining factors affecting reading scores is that students lack strong reading stamina. When Smith first began educating students, it was common to assign longer works, with challenging novels and pieces of literature being commonplace on high school English curricula. Now, these literary works are supplanted with shorter, less challenging texts.
According to Smith, “Nobody really complained at all if I was assigning 40, 50 pages to read before the next class.” Now, he says, students show up to class having skipped doing the required reading. Detrimental behaviors like this are not only allowed but encouraged by shortening required reading. Why read a 300-page book when you can read a 100-page novella?
The value or importance of literature is not diminished because it’s short, nor enhanced because it’s long. However, reading stamina is affected by the number of pages they read. When students are required to read very little text, it’s impossible for them to build and develop the reading skills that are essential on standardized tests.
However, low reading stamina not only affects standardized test scores; it makes reading straightforward pieces of text grueling and unenjoyable. Difficulty when reading leads to a vicious cycle: reading becomes a laborious task, so students read less, and the act of reading is even more difficult.
Reading scores are also determined by how often students read for pleasure. In August, the University of Florida and University College London published a study on pleasure reading in the USA for the last 20 years, with data showing an enormous decrease from 2003 to the present.
In 2003, 28 percent of Americans were reading literature for pleasure, but by the end of the survey in 2023, that number had crashed to a measly 16 percent. Researchers estimate that the decline in reading was 3 percent annually, with the total number of responders who read for pleasure dropping by 40 percent.
With the number of Americans reading for pleasure consistently dropping, the US is seeing the shocking, but expected effects of not reading.
According to Ivy Phillips, a Cleveland sophomore,”why I hate reading is because it sounds literally like English to a non-Native speaker.”
According to the NAEP testing data, 32 percent of high school seniors are functionally illiterate. These students, lacking basic reading skills, have long-term effects on the American economy, elections, and social issues.
Data shows that low literacy among Americans costs our country’s economy $2.2 trillion annually. Another issue is that around $20 billion in additional taxpayer dollars are wasted annually because of low literacy. Additionally, the US GDP could be boosted by 10 percent, per the Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy, if it were ensured that all Americans are functionally literate.
Aside from economic issues, elections have been greatly affected by literacy rates among voters. With traditional news being overtaken by social media, misinformation has become much more prominent. Without proper literacy skills to fact-check information using reputable sources, voters, especially younger or newer voters, are more susceptible to falling for misinformation and subtle propaganda.
Misinformation has been shown to greatly sway voters in radical directions. Without proper literacy skills it becomes very difficult to differentiate between legitimate statistics and grossly misrepresented data.
When students read less, they lose the irreplaceable benefits of reading, which include a more developed sense of empathy, growing social skills, critical thinking, and a stronger memory.
When reading a book, you become entranced with the story, the plot, the setting, and most important, the characters. The characters could be someone you deeply relate to, or someone who leads a life that could not be more opposite from yours.
When you read you see the emotional tumult of the characters and witness heartbreak and success to the wildest of extremes. You cannot help but feel elated when they win the soccer tournament or devastated when their dog of 10 years dies. All of this leads to stronger empathy because your brain is practicing empathizing with the characters’ rollercoaster of emotions.
Reading also develops essential critical thinking skills, necessary for everyday analysis or winning a debate. Reading forces you to make inferences and predictions using what you know based on the text given. Doing this frequently builds stronger critical thinking abilities and will help when solving real-world problems.
Research from institutions such as the American Academy of Neurology has shown that when you partake in mentally stimulating activities such as reading, it can slow cognitive decline in old age. Brains essentially run on the principle of use it or lose it, and stimulation from reading uses key parts of the brain. According to researchers at Columbia University, a lack of reading leads to a much higher chance of dementia.
With illiteracy becoming a shocking trend, what can you do to stay literate?
The first thing is to read! Read before bed or when you are taking the bus. Start slow, 20 minutes a day. Reading is also not limited to novels, but also to newspaper and magazine articles, which are very easy to consume in a short period.
Next is to write your own answers for assignments. Reading and writing are interlinked, and strong writing skills are enhanced by strong reading skills and vice versa. Writing also provides the same benefits as reading: stronger critical thinking skills, and heightened memory.
“Once you learn to read, you will be forever free.” Frederick Douglass wrote this after he escaped slavery in 1838. Douglass was a famous abolitionist who learned to read while enslaved, then used his literary skills to escape, and he viewed reading as the key to freedom and liberation.
Literacy is a shield, protecting you from manipulation and misinformation. Reading is the pathway to better social skills and empathy, slow cognitive decline, and a better understanding of how the world works. These test scores should not become the new normal, and the next generation of students can prevent it by reading again.
