Reading Is a Vice

"This decline is only getting steeper. Over the past decade, American students' reading abilities have plummeted, and their reading habits have followed suit. In 2023, just 14 percent of 13-year-olds read for fun almost every day, down from 27 percent a decade earlier. A growing share of high-school and even college students struggle to read a book cover to cover."

"Now some are trying a new tactic: If people won't read books because they enjoy it, perhaps they can be persuaded to do it to save democracy. The International Publishers Association, which represents publishers in 84 countries, has spent the past year promoting the slogan "Democracy depends on reading, arguing that "ambitious, critical, reflective reading remains one of the few spaces where citizens can rehearse complexity, recover attention and cultivate the inner freedoms that public freedoms require.""

Book reading in America has declined steadily for decades, with fewer than half of adults reading a book in the prior 12 months and only 38 percent having read a novel or short story. A study found daily reading for pleasure fell about 3 percent each year from 2003 to 2023. Student reading ability and habit declines are pronounced: only 14 percent of 13-year-olds read for fun almost every day in 2023, down from 27 percent a decade earlier. Some organizations promote reading as essential to democracy, while critics say civic appeals misunderstand why people become readers.

Read at The Atlantic