The number of teenagers and adults who read each year is slowly declining. Researchers are trying to determine the reason why people are reading less and less. Studies suggest that technology, the daily workload, and general disinterest are the primary culprits of this phenomenon. Even though reading texts can seem boring and redundant, avoiding this activity can and will have long-term effects.
There are several factors to consider when examining the decline in reading time. Many are just finding different ways to entertain themselves. The rise in cell phones, computers, and gaming devices is taking attention away from reading in one’s free time. People now opt to watch movie or TV show adaptations versus reading the original material. Additionally, it is hard for many, especially teenagers, to keep away from social media because they don’t want to miss their friends’ posts or a new announcement from their favorite artist. Apps like Instagram, X (formerly Twitter), and TikTok give the brain short bursts of dopamine that easily addict people without them realizing it.
While phone addictions can deter people from picking up a book, the workload that students take on from their teachers has a similar effect. Many students spend around 3 hours working on homework. Their workload generally consists of reading instructions, short paragraphs, and math problems. By the time they finish homework that already required reading sentences over and over again, they wouldn’t even think of picking up a book.
There are so many benefits to the brain when you start to read regularly. When you engage your brain in both fiction and nonfiction books, you gain the ability to think critically, easily recall information, and improve your overall writing skills. It is especially important to build these skills when you are still young, as your brain is in the prime stage to learn and retain information. Critical thinking is a skill that makes us analyze information that is given to us. Being able to do this is essential to anybody because we can regularly apply them to situations like simple problem-solving and decision making, or using them when faced with a complex question in order to properly analyze it. Reading can also assist with sharpening your mind as it stimulates your brain. Both your short and long-term memory are engaged when you read because your brain is required to recall information more often as you progress through a book.
Writing skills can also benefit from reading. Reading further familiarizes you with the language in which you are reading, and you learn many different sentence structures and vocabulary that you might not have known before. You are then able to apply this knowledge to day to day life in writing emails, assignments, and personal projects. Reading is integral to our lives because it’s a workout for our brains, and we learn new things from reading more and more.
What many don’t consider is the consequences of not reading regularly. When people are younger, they find it easier to read books as they are generally an easier read and don’t require as many comprehension skills. When people grow older and begin to take on more responsibilities, they find it harder to get into the habit of reading when they already have so much on their plate. Even if you don’t read for at least a few minutes a day, it can hurt multiple areas of your brain and impact how you think. Creativity takes a big hit when you don’t read because your brain is not taking in different ideas and information that you may have otherwise used as inspiration for personal projects.
Your ability to empathize and connect with other human beings is also affected by a lack of reading. National Institutes of Health conducted a study where they asked participants to fill out various scales and written summaries of a text that they read recently and they concluded that when someone reads in the fiction genre and they are “emotionally transported” into the story, their capacity to empathize with the emotions in the stories are translated into how they interact with others. Not having these skills may cause your relationships to be negatively affected or for them to stay at surface level, unable to have deeper conversations to build a better bond.
Reading can also help us gain more knowledge. Even though we have computers and phones that have information that is constantly updating, books can give you a deeper understanding of a topic compared to a simple search. These texts can be in the form of physical books or even blogs, informational videos, and articles like this one! While it may seem hard to pick up a book for a short amount of time everyday, it is important to think about what happens to your brain over time when you don’t engage it in reading.
Memory, creativity, knowledge, and many different sections of the brain get worse when you don’t read. It is hard to get into the routine, but there are methods that can be used to start. Setting a time each day when you read, finding a book that you think suits your taste, and reading short sections can encourage you to get into the habit. Reading should not be seen as a chore, so it’s better when you only do it because you want to better yourself.
