Our Kids are Reading Less and Scrolling More
Plus, Why It Matters
Getting lost in a good book played a crucial role in my childhood. I was a highly sensitive child who got in a lot of trouble at home. When I was sent to my room, reading de-escalated my anger. By immersing myself in the world of a fictional character for a few minutes, reading enabled me to return to family life with forgiveness and calm, forgetting what had upset me in the first place.
Recently, I read a statistic reported by Monitoring the Future that reading books is on serious decline in the lives of the generation we’re currently raising. Though I wasn’t surprised (what did we expect would happen with the rise of parents handing personal devices to their kids at young ages?), I was alarmed.
Why? Because reading less and scrolling more has negative implications for the kind of content most often forming the minds and hearts of the next generation.
If you aren’t that into books, you might not think this is a big deal. Maybe you love being “paperless” like my husband and prefer consuming all forms of content electronically, even if just an e-version of a book.
What’s at Stake
But here’s the deal: Consuming media in the form of a book is very different than the kind of media often consumed on a device. Consider and compare the production process of the two media forms:
Most authors confirm that a book takes, at a minimum, two years to complete. In most cases, book production isn’t a solo endeavor. Editors edit; fact-checkers fact-check. In other words, the book’s content has several eyes on it. Many voices speak into it before it becomes the finished product on the bookstore’s physical (or digital) shelf.
Additionally, authors often spend years processing their thoughts and formulating their opinions before coming to a conclusion or stance on their chosen topic and thus writing the book. They’ve researched, changed their minds about certain aspects of the issue at hand, and come to a deeper, more well-rounded understanding of what’s at stake.
Now compare this to the scroll fest of the day’s most viral videos on TikTok, Instagram Reels, or Snapchat’s Spotlights. Most of the content on social media platforms took all of an hour to create, perhaps a week or two festering in the creator’s mind. It requires very little—if any— input from others before posting.
Consuming media in the form of a book is very different than the kind of media often consumed on a device.
This short-form media is much more susceptible to being formed solely by the trends and cultural shifts of our day rather than by truth. And the Bible states that what we focus our minds on matters. Are we filling our minds with truth or with some skewed version the world has come to believe as truth?
Production and Consumption Time
Just as quickly as this short-form media is produced, it is also quickly consumed—in one ear and out the other, on to the next thing. But the algorithm has an answer for that, too. The same general angle or opinion on a topic risks becoming increasingly prevalent in one’s feed, shaping the consumer’s understanding of the world.
On the other hand, a timeless classic, a piece of historical fiction, or even a nonfiction work not only takes longer to produce but also takes longer to consume. Even speed readers would need to sit with a typical 50,000-word book for several hours before reaching the last page, with most readers consuming a piece of literature over the course of several days, weeks, or even months, depending on how regularly the reader picks it up.
Why is this important? Because every time you put a book down after reading a chapter, your mind has a chance to digest what you read. With long-form media, you can process the new ideas you encounter or that character’s motives a little at a time.
Like a ball of metaphorical clay, you can hold the concept in your hands. Roll it around a little. Look at it from all angles. Think on it. Pray about it. Ponder. Question. Then, determine what you’re going to do with it. These valuable reflections allow the content of a book to impact your view of life and the world around you.
Indeed, there is a long list of books, both fiction and nonfiction, that have helped shape me into who I am. They’ve aided in my personal development, encouraged or challenged me in a profound way, or altered my view of God, the world, or myself.
The Bottom Line for Our Kids
If our kids aren’t reading, they are missing out on these opportunities for personal growth afforded by a good book.
To my intrigue, many Eastern cultures rely heavily on story to pass their values and even rules of safety on to their kids, often verbally. In American culture, we acknowledge that the stories told in the form of movies and TV shows have the power to teach us a moral. Most storylines are designed with a lesson to teach us.
If our kids aren’t reading, they are missing out on these opportunities for personal growth afforded by a good book.
And as someone who argues that a movie based on a book rarely outdoes the book itself, stories told through written narrative are irreplaceable in helping form our next generation—or any generation.
If we aren’t immersing our children in all kinds of stories, I wonder if they are learning in the most innately human way. Learning through story is learning that has the potential to cross culture and transcend time. It’s a kind of learning that can speak to the soul in ways that simple information can’t.
Why do you think the latest animated film, Inside Out 2, is taking over the internet through social media posts, reviews, articles, YouTube commentaries, and more? Because its realistic behind-the-scenes look at a girl’s emotional control center during puberty speaks to the deepest things that make us human, like our sense of self. Furthermore, it changes how we talk about puberty and other core issues, like anxiety, in our culture.
Forms of Media and Their Benefits
Sure, stories in the form of TV episodes and movie sequels are great. They follow the above criteria for media that appreciate the long-form nature of content creation and consumption, and it often sticks with you longer than an in-passing reel can.
But all things in moderation, right? I am in no way insinuating that all forms of modern entertainment and screen time are bad. I just highly value the gift of print media and argue that the effects of a book on a person are often longer-lasting than other forms of media.
A concerning reality of fewer young people enjoying reading is that it inevitably equates to an equal disinterest in reading the Bible. Ephesians 6 calls the Word of God “the sword of the Spirit.” But most teenagers have no interest in picking up the only piece of God’s armor that is listed as an offensive piece—an effective weapon for fighting spiritually dark forces that exist in the world.
a lack of reading hinders our kid’s spiritual and character development.
The bottom line is that a lack of reading hinders our kid’s spiritual and character development.
So, how can we reengage and inspire our kids to read? I have a couple of suggestions.
Ideas for Engaging Your Kids in Reading
- Make the library and local bookstore part of your “Summer Fun” bucket list. Help your kids see that reading can be as fun as going to the park or seeing the latest movie. Let them smell the scent of a page right off the press. Find a cozy spot and read the book right there in the store.
- Once you’ve decided on some treasures, have a budget for your kids’ reading habits. Don’t skimp in this category.
- Take a “Stop and smell the roses” philosophy anytime you pass one of those little libraries—you know, the “give one, take one” boxes you can find sporadically placed in most towns. Let your kids see you peep your head inside, like a kid at the candy store. My kids and I have fallen in love with books I picked up at a “little library” that I otherwise would have never been introduced to.
- If your kids or teens need a little prompting, engage with them. One time, I found inside a little library The Help, a historical fiction novel about black maids serving white families in Jackson, Mississippi, in the 1960s. I took it home to my social-justice-inclined, history-loving twelve-year-old daughter.
When she began raving about it, I told her to hurry up so I could read it. As soon as I began reading it, she hurried me along so we could watch the movie together.
In other words, find a book you and your child will both find fascinating. Take turns reading (or get two copies) to talk about it together. It was so fun having my daughter ask, “Have you gotten to the part yet where…?”
Finally, if it’s a book that’s been turned into a movie, use the movie as motivation to finish the book. (Though I find the book better than the movie nearly every time, I still get curious about how the filmmakers will portray the characters on screen versus in the book.)
Through the years, my three kiddos have represented different relationships with reading. Currently, I have one who loves to read, one who used to be a bookworm but doesn’t engage in it much now, and one who has never been inclined to have her nose in a book. No matter how naturally our kids gravitate toward it, reading is a worthy cause to champion in our children’s lives. The internet can never replace the richness and depth of learning afforded in a good book.
Are you parenting in the digital age and feeling the crazy?
SUBSCRIBE to Jenna’s Something Like Scales newsletter to receive once-a-month digital parenting insights and encouragement sent straight to your inbox.
POSTED BY
Leave a Reply
Want to join the discussion?Feel free to contribute!