Why Should We Read for Pleasure?

This site reported that “Fewer Americans are reading for fun.” They based their statement on a “new study finding a “concerning” decline in the number of readers over the last 20 years. “Only 16% of Americans reported reading for fun on a given day in 2023, according to the study, which was published Wednesday in the journal iScience – a 40% drop from a high point of 28% in 2004.” 

The article continued that this is “a sustained, steady decline of about 3% per year,” according to Jill Sonke, one of the authors of the study and co-director of the EpiArts Lab at the University of Florida, in a news release. “It’s significant, and it’s deeply concerning.”

Why Is There a Decline in Reading?

Between 2003 and 2023, researchers conducting the study analyzed more than 230,000 surveys of Americans age 15 and older. Researchers offered some possible reasons for the decline in reading.

One of the most obvious potential culprits is the rise in time spent online, whether on streaming services or social media.

“There’s a correlation between time spent on digital media and reductions in reading time,” Sonke said, according to ABC News. “It does seem logical that the ways in which digital media compete for our time would be a factor in these declines in reading.”

But digital media isn’t the only possible factor. In the news release, Sonke also pointed to “structural issues,” including “limited access to reading materials, economic insecurity and a national decline in leisure time.”

The study noted that highly educated and high-income people were more likely to read than the least educated and low-income individuals in 2023, according to The New York Times.

According to Daisy Fancourt, a co-author of the study and a professor of psychobiology and epidemiology at University College London, “Potentially the people who could benefit the most for their health – so people from disadvantaged groups – are actually benefiting the least,” per the Times.

Why Is Reading Important?

The article stated, “there are a number of benefits that come from reading.” The most important reason given is that “reading for pleasure is actually a health promoting activity” according to Sonke.

“We know that participating in the arts is a health behavior because it statistically results in improved health outcomes including well-being, social cohesion, mental health.”

Reading can reduce stress and promote relaxation, Sonke said, according to CNN. It can also help develop empathy and connection with others.

“Even though reading is often thought of as more of an individual activity, when we read stories, we actually form connections with characters,” Fancourt said, per the Times. “The empathy that we feel for the is actually real, and these connections with characters can be ways that we can feel less alone, that we can feel socially and emotionally validated.”

There are also lots of benefits to children who read with parents or other adults in their lives, including boosting kids’ academic skills. However, the study found that while the number of those who read with children did not change during the 20-year period, it was much less common than reading for pleasure.

“Reading has historically been a low-barrier, high-impact way to engage creatively and improve quality of life,” Sonke said in the news release. “When we lose one of the simplest tools in our public health toolkit, it’s a serious loss.”

The most important reason for reading for pleasure is for health benefits. The second most important reason for adults to read for pleasure is to set a good example for children. Beginning as toddlers, children are great imitators. If they see their parents on their cell phones, they will want to imitate them and do so with all kinds of objects. However, children who see their parents reading for pleasure – either to themselves or to their children, they will pick up books and imitate reading.

How do I know? I am the mother of six children and the grandmother of nineteen grandchildren. My children were small before cell phones were created, so they did not have an opportunity to watch me focus on a cell phone. However, they did see me reading for pleasure as well as for knowledge. Books became important to them at young ages, and all six of them read for pleasure in adulthood. They each received a book for Christmas as children and teens, and they still receive a book from me as adults. Most of their children enjoy reading for pleasure, and some of them are seldom seen without a book in their hands.

This site gives five reasons why reading is critical for academic success. “The American Pediatrics Association reports that reading when young – even infants being read to by their parents – increases academic success down the road.” 

According to the article, “many children enter kindergarten without the skills needed to read well.” Therefore, trained elementary school teachers are critical in “the development of young minds in this vital area.” Student literacy impacts a child’s mind in the following ways:

·         Self Esteem

This might be the most important area of all. The sooner students develop reading skills, the more they gain ground in the areas listed below. That leads to more assurance in how they speak and write, as well as giving them the confidence of an expanded knowledge base. When students start at an early age to read about diverse people, distant places, and historical events, they become more creative and open. Also, those who have read a lot will naturally be asked to answer more questions – another confidence builder for a young student.

·         Improved Concentration

An emphasis on reading and student literacy helps develop higher levels of focus and concentration. It also forces the reader to sort things out in their own mind – including topic that might not be familiar to them at all (Paris at the end of World War II, for example, or another planet in a science fiction novel). This type of concentration on one topic – rather than trying to do many things at once – leads to better focus even after the book is put down.

·         Critical and Analytical Thinking Skills

The classic here is when a young reader becomes absorbed with a mystery book – Hardy Boys or Nancy Drew were examples for generations of Americans – and manages to solve the mystery in her head before the books reveal it. That’s a simple example of how reading helps students develop better critical and analytical skills, something that carries over even after they have put the book down.

 

 

·         Stronger Memory Skills

Think about reading. Even an elementary age child with a relatively simple book must keep in mind a group of characters, the setting, and past actions. Reading helps to strengthen memory retention skills. That’s a powerful tool for young students – and older adults, as well.

·         Expanded Vocabulary

How many times do we all search for just the right word to express what we’re trying to say? Readers do that less. They have a larger vocabulary, and the words that young readers learn in a book will eventually make their way into their speech.

How to Read More Books

Since reading is so important to adults as well as children, what are some effective ways to start reading more? The article on the study made the following suggestions. 

·         Set a goal to read for a certain number of minutes per day. Start with five, ten, or twenty-five minutes every day to form a new habit.

·         Track your reading in an app like Goodreads or in “a reading journal where you can record your thoughts.”

·         Try a new genre. Switch from fiction to nonfiction or read a thriller instead of a romance to “reboot your excitement for reading.”

·         Join a book club. Reading with a group can bring “a greater sense of accountability.”

·         Don’t be afraid to quit. If you do not enjoy reading a chosen book, put it away for a time and read another book.