Gone are the days when reading a book was the preferred means to knowledge, replaced by the rapid consumption of digital media and the allure of screen-based entertainment. This phenomenon is growing in America, and it is pronounced among our youth.
One consequence is that we appear to be reading less these days, and while our attention span does not (yet) rival that of the much-maligned goldfish (eight seconds), it is getting discernibly shorter.
First, is this thinking true? And, second, do our technological gadgets predispose us to this phenomenon? Are we sacrificing something important, turning from books to bots? The truth is in the numbers.
Research suggests that we are reading less and less about more and more. The research suggests that we read less and less about more and more, moving rapidly from one topic to another within shorter and shorter time increments. And our technological prowess (especially our beloved smartphones) is fostering this, along with attention spans that are shrinking as we “speak” (or, in our case, read).
More and more Americans are not reading books. Nearly half of all U.S. adults (46 percent) did not read a book in 2023. That continues a 10-year trend reflecting serious deterioration in our reading habits.
The reading problem is not limited to our adult population. With the advent of the Internet, Americans seem to be reading more, but not necessarily with depth; books no longer seem to be a primary source of our “edification.” And the problem is not limited to our adult population.
Indeed, there appears to be a generational shift in the reading habits of young people, including some from Gen Z who don’t view reading as important at all.
Social psychologist Jean Twenge offers perspective on “Gen Z,” those born between 1996 and 2010. “Zoomers,” as they are sometimes called, grew up with the Internet and smartphone. But this experience has created problems for many Zoomers now in college: They struggle with the intellectual stamina required to read book-length material.
In educational contexts, there’s an increasing emphasis on digital literacy and multimedia learning, often at the expense of traditional reading. Simultaneously, there’s a noticeable preference for content that entertains rather than educates.
Students are increasingly using individual computers at school, where they’re reading a variety of short, digital texts rather than the longform classics. Research shows that reading from a screen can have consequences. It interferes with in-depth learning.
“Reading stamina must be built often,” says Gloria Mark, attention researcher at UC-Irvine. “So, if students aren’t learning how to read entire books at home or school, that habit often carries into adulthood.”
What counts as actual reading is also part of the problem. Adults and students alike seem to equate reading something quickly on a phone or tablet with reading a book, when, in fact, the former often means skimming and scanning information or stories. Professor Maryanne Wolf says that “skimming is the new normal, and it is affecting society profoundly.”
Moreover, the science on “paying attention” is clear. Mark continues, noting that attention spans are getting shorter and not just on the Internet. In 2003, “attention spans averaged about two-and-a-half minutes on any screen before people switched. In the last five, six years, they’re averaging 47 seconds on a screen.”
The College Experience
The combination of the loss of book-length reading stamina and shorter attention spans has conspired to produce college students ill-equipped to handle the reading demands of university curricula.
College students now seem increasingly incapable of reading whole books, a problem professors say is becoming the norm, even at some of the nation’s most elite colleges.
College students now seem increasingly incapable of reading whole books, a problem professors say is becoming the norm. Literature professor Nicholas Dames at Columbia University says his students now seem bewildered by the thought of finishing multiple books a semester. His colleagues have noticed the same problem. “Many students no longer arrive at college—even at highly selective, elite colleges—prepared to read books,” Dames says. “It’s not that they don’t want to do the reading. It’s that they don’t know how. Middle and high schools have stopped asking them to.”
Gen Z was “raised” on the Internet, smartphones, and social media. The pandemic and increased online schooling accelerated the movement away from reading whole texts. Moreover, Gen Z is now of college age and was “raised” on the Internet, smartphones, and social media. These sources offer quick and easy access to information without requiring the reading stamina needed for book-length media.
Clarity, Relevancy, and Accessibility Encourage Reading
At the inception of my career in academia, I taught philosophy for two years at the community-college level. As is the case today, many of the students then were insufficiently prepared for college work, especially lacking reading stamina and an ability to organize their thoughts, often reflected in their writing.
In an effort to better enable my students to handle the vocabulary, concepts, and length of the assigned reading, I instituted the following regimen with favorable results. Clarity, relevancy, and accessibility were always at the forefront. As long as students understood precisely what was required and that I was not trying to make the material more difficult but rather more accessible, they made the effort. That is what any academic should do for, and want from, his or her students.
Simply put, it is we the professors who have to put in the work up front (and as the course progresses) if “students reading more” is our priority. Course material must be clear, relevant, and accessible. Consider the following suggestions:
1) Develop a course syllabus with a clear statement about required readings and their benefit to the student—how they will be used in course discussions and assessments (exams and assignments).
2) Refer students to specific material in the textbook, such as graphs, key words, and concepts, that demonstrate relevance to lecture material and assessments.
3) Illustrate (graphically and in-person) the “big picture” of the course, beginning to end. Provide an overview and introduction to the textbook and other required readings before students get started. Provide relevancy.
4) Encourage students to write in the text. Demonstrate how to annotate: to circle key ideas, highlight concepts, and make notes about them in the margins or on paper. Illustrate how to better organize what one is learning. (Science is done differently than the humanities.)
5) Require students to bring their assigned reading to class, then use it for discussions and activities.
6) Explain that just scanning a text or glancing over college readings once will not be enough. Illustrate the point.
Explain that just scanning a text or glancing over college readings once will not be enough. Illustrate the point. 7) Develop a course packet that illustrates how and where the lectures and texts correlate. Students need to know “where they are” as the course progresses so they don’t get lost along the way.
8) Do not summarize or lecture the readings; students will be less motivated to complete the assigned reading if the professor covers it in detail within a lecture.
9) Make reading the text relevant to students. Supplement required readings by introducing current events and supportive material from popular media. Keep them interested.
Our focus on technology as a Promethean entity has brought unwanted consequences. 10) Encourage students to come to the professor’s office and talk. Students often feel isolated and alone when they engage with unfamiliar material.
Technological advancements in education have been, and will continue to be, exceedingly beneficial. But there is no substitute for developing reading stamina, along with the vocabulary and organized thought attendant to it. That happens only if one engages longer-length readings.
Jennifer Frey, University of Tulsa philosophy professor, says that reducing course content or “excerpting assigned reading” seems disrespectful to the intelligence of students. She says such moves represent the “tyranny of low expectations.” “It is actually incredibly important that students just read a massive amount. […] Reading widely and deeply is incredibly important … in terms of building the skills that are necessary, no matter what you’re going to go on to do.”
Our focus on technology as a Promethean entity bearing the gift of immediate knowledge has brought unwanted consequences. Now that we know this, how shall we proceed? The freedom to speak, read, and write is essential to our democracy. The less we exercise the former, the less we will have of the latter.
Andrew Wolf, Jr., is director of the Fulcrum Institute, a new organization of current and former scholars in the humanities, foreign affairs, and philosophy. He has contributed essays to the American Spectator, the American Thinker, Academic Questions (National Association of Scholars), and other venues.
Author
F. Andrew Wolf, Jr.
