In a recent podcast episode with Debbie Millman, writer and editor, Spencer Bailey said, “We’re now all on a McDonald’s fast food diet when it comes to our media consumption.” Millman talked about the dip she felt when media platforms began sharing “how many minutes” it’ll take to read. This overbusy, always on the edge lifestyle is not meaningful. Like the push toward clean food, the rise of slow reading may become essential in our culture.

Our personal reading habits have undergone a significant shift from the 1980s through to the present. Busy lives infiltrated by technology and TikTok vibes are shaking things up. Yet, when it comes to addressing poor reading scores for children or the dip in reading for fun, we seem to be looking for solutions elsewhere.

The research for this post was supported by Diksha Sharma.

How Do We Encourage Reading For Fun?

Remember when reading meant flipping pages under a blanket with a flashlight? Fast-forward to today, and it’s a toss between sleep and Instagram reels on your phone.

1980s: Peak Page-Turners Everywhere

In the ’80s, about 60% of young adults (18-24) dove into literature for fun. Kids read daily, too. Nine to thirteen-year-olds hit high “fun reading” rates, with 33% of 10th-graders reading newspapers every day. Gallup polls showed folks averaging 15+ books a year, fueled by libraries without screens.

Early 2000s: The Big Slide Begins

By 2002, literary reading fell to 46.7% of adults (down from 54% in ’90s), with 18-24s plummeting 17 points to 43%. Gallup averages held with 15 books/year till 2016, but voracious readers (10+ books) faded. Attention fell toward emails, early social media, and Harry Potter hype not sticking post-peak.

75% of US adults read something last year (steady since 2011), but the average number of books went down – the lowest since 1990. 8th-graders proficient in reading slipped to 27% (from 29% in 2019); daily fun reading was at record lows. One in three teens skips pleasure reading yearly. Gallup blames fewer binge-readers and notes a big drop in college students.

It is also worthwhile to note that on social media, reading feels like an exercise for aesthetics (on Bookstagram) and for viral views (on booktok). Both of these, while encouraging reading, do not encourage slowing down or reading consistently. There is also a proliferation of creators who share reviews when it seems clear that they’ve likely not read the books they’ve reviewed.

What Solutions Do We Have?

Governments seem to be hyper-focused on schools and teaching staff. A House committee in Michigan advanced a bill to require additional teacher training for improving literacy results. All this while big tech and the government in India is ready to test AI programs to help teachers plan lessons. Better reading eras existed before tech. So, what can we do?

We have some ideas:

Changes in classrooms likely to help

Screen access scaled during the pandemic. Tech-enabled classes do not always improve outcomes. Scandinavian classrooms are cutting back on digital learning. Reduced screentimes and banning of phones in classrooms has a significant impact in improving attention spans. Some initial results are promising.

Changes at home that may help

Children learn by observation. If they don’t see a parent or an adult with a book, they’re likely to question it when asked to read. With TV, internet, and smartphones, attention spans have moved from deep dives to 30-second dopamine hits. Parents and adults are scrolling more, reading just headlines. We believe this has a significant impact on children’s reading and literacy. To change this, adults, pick a book, even one!

A Summer Reading Game: Ypsilanti and Ann Arbor District Libraries have summer games encouraging reading. You get points to read, review, and visit the library. It’s something that can be done in ANY neighborhood. And is a great way for parent-child bonding too.

Slow reading clubs for everyone

We’ve loved how reading clubs (sit quietly to read) have cropped up in cities globally. This along with free libraries (see Bento #7 for the story on it) and silent reading clubs, like this one in India can help us heal and reclaim time. At Peerbagh, our volunteers come together to read one book every month and discuss it. This is easy and free for anyone to join, and helps build accountability for reading regularly.

Your ideas

Reading has incredible benefits for our brain development and social life. Please share your ideas in how we can encourage more readers everywhere. We’re listening. And importantly, we believe that we owe our nervous systems and our children a better, calmer future. It’s starts with us.