February 3, 2019 by Philip Lewenstein

Love of Reading: Books with Benefits

My sister recently sent me a picture of her granddaughter, Hannah, a first grader, lying on her stomach, on the floor, reading a thick book. Other books are randomly strewn across the floor, and a bookshelf appears in the background. Like Hannah, I learned to read in the first grade, and reading has been one of my true loves since.

My mother liked to repeat certain stories in her final years. One tale was that my first-grade teacher told her that I was the best reader in the class. The accuracy of this assertion is difficult to ascertain; nevertheless, my passion for reading clearly started in first grade 65 years before Hannah and has continued unabated.

Given my love of reading and appreciation of its benefits, it was disconcerting this fall to see reports that teenagers are no longer reading books. This revelation is particularly disturbing because the benefits of reading are immense.

High school students today are texting, scrolling, and using social media instead of reading books and magazines, according to an August 2018 Washington Post article (“Teens  no longer care to read  a good book” by Hannah Natanson)).

The article refers to research published by the American Psychological Association that found one in three U.S. high-school seniors did not read a book for pleasure in 2016. In the same period, 82 percent of 12^th graders visited such sites as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram every day.

The most important discovery is that in the 1970s about 60-percent of high school seniors reported reading a book, magazine, or newspaper every day, according to one of the study’s authors, Jean Twenge, a professor of psychology at San Diego State University. Four decades later, Twenge says, 16 percent of high-school readers reported doing so.

Twenge’s concern about the decline in reading print media—especially in reading books—is that the skill set and attention it takes to digest concepts in long-form writing are quite different

from glancing at a text message or status update. She notes that reading long-form texts such as books and magazine articles is really important for understanding complex ideas and for developing critical- thinking skills and is excellent practice for students going to college.

The decline in reading rates began in the early 1980s and accelerated quickly after the mid-2000s when smartphones and high-speed internet access became widely available, according to Twenge’s study. Meanwhile, high school students’ screen time, including TV, began to rise, nearly tripling from the late 1970s to the mid-2010s.

According to the study, in 2016, 12^th graders reported devoting about six hours of their free time every day to digital media while 10^th graders reported devoting five hours, and eighth graders devoting four hours. Twenge and her coauthors believe the decline in reading and rise in digital media use are interrelated. Twenge says digital media have displaced the leisure time people once spent on legacy media—books, newspapers, and magazines.

As a child, I enjoyed visiting my school libraries and the old Duluth public library. I recall being up late in my bed reading mysteries; I was a great fan of the Hardy Boys series, which we still have in our house. As a teenager, I liked to visit two bookstores in downtown Duluth, one housing paperbacks (where I purchased every new James Bond book) and the other displaying hard-cover books.

In college, I purchased and read textbooks, and I still have many of them. The college bookstore offered minimal value for one’s used books, and many of these books have lasting value. My parents subscribed to the book-of-the month club, and I spent much of my school breaks reading these selections

Then, as a parent, I found less time to read books, but I enjoyed taking my children to the library and reading to them—Berenstain Bears series, Shel Silverstein books, and, of course, Dr. Seuss. With reduced time for books, I continued to read newspapers, magazines, and professional publications.

Now, retired in my empty nest, I have accelerated and expanded my reading of books as well as newspapers and magazines. I still value the library and sometimes visit Barnes and Noble, but I find it convenient to purchase books on Amazon.

Our house is overflowing with books—history, politics, sports, education, religion, economics, fiction, and much more. Almost every room has one or more bookshelves, many exceeding their capacity. However, parting with my books is not an option. Decluttering may be overdue, but books are sacred.

The benefits of reading are well chronicled. Reading is said to boost one’s vocabulary, sharpen reasoning, and expand intellectual horizons. Reading may also help our mental and emotional health and social wellbeing. The science behind reading for mental health is limited, but researchers are eager to explore the benefits, according to Sarah Begley of Time magazine (“Read a novel: it’s just what the doctor ordered,” November 7, 2016). “Even the greatest novel cannot, by itself, cure clinical depression, erase posttraumatic stress, or turn an egomaniac into a self-denying saint,” Begley writes. “But it might ease a midlife crisis or provide comfort in a time of grief.”

Bill Gates, cofounder of Microsoft and a philanthropist, says that “every book teaches me something new or helps me see things differently. I was lucky to have parents who encouraged me to read. Reading fuels a sense of curiosity about the world, which I think helped drive me forward in my career and in the work that I do now with my foundation.”

Minneapolis businessman, author, and Star Tribune columnist Harvey Mackay says that our lives are changed in two ways—by the people we meet and the books we read. “Books are the ticket to places you can only dream of,” he says. “A good read can stretch your imagination and spark your creativity. Books inspire, comfort, teach, and entertain.”

Statistics show that the average person reads just three books a year, according to Mackay. One hundred percent of first graders are interested in reading, but 80 percent of graduating high- school seniors tells us they will never again voluntarily read another book, he adds.

“Read books to expand your mind, for fun…read because you are interested in something and read to become more interesting,” Mackay says. “You will never waste your time if you are reading.”

Writing consultant Stephen Wilbers says that “when you read books, you learn to be a better writer, a better communicator, a better team member, a better boss, and a better person.” As a writing instructor, I always emphasized the interrelationship among reading, thinking, and writing. One cannot write well until he or she reads first and thinks critically about the subject. Unfortunately, I discovered that many of my students in writing and communication classes don’t read. Further, poor reading skills impede success in writing.

Laurie Hertzel, Star Tribune senior editor for books, says that “all of the cliches and platitudes about reading are true. It does help you cope with your own life. It does show you how huge and diverse the world is. It does make you more empathetic. It does entertain you. It does teach you all kinds of new things. It does inspire you.”

Hertzel summarizes several ways to encourage reading including seeding your house with books, taking your child to the library at an early age, and encouraging reading of all books including graphic novels. Her readers offered several ideas: bring back bookmobiles, visit the library regularly, hire more school librarians, read to your children, read in front of your children, and publish more-diverse books.

Reading also can add healthy years to people’s lives, according to an article in the January/February 2019 AARP Bulletin (“99 Ways to Add Healthy Years to Your Life”). The  98^th way is to dust off that library card. According to author Mike Zimmerman, a study of 3,635 older adults found that book readers had a 23-month survival advantage and 20 percent lower mortality risk compared with nonreaders. Reading was protective regardless of gender, education, or health.

If teenagers are not reading much, part of reason may be social media, but another reason may be effectiveness of reading instruction. Reporter Erin Hinrichs of Minn Post points out that according to the latest state assessments, only 56 percent of fourth graders tested proficient in reading (“Minnesota educators continue to grapple with one of the most critical—and politicized—education issues: reading instruction,” November 1, 2018).

The number has remained relatively stagnant for years, Hinrichs notes. The proficiency rates are even more alarming when broken down by race and special status. Only 32 percent of black students are proficient in reading, and only 37 percent of students who qualify for free-and-reduced-price lunch, an indicator of poverty, are proficient in reading.

Hinrichs highlights a major issue: the disconnect between how kids learn to read and how many of their teachers are trained to deliver reading lessons.

“A bounty of scientific research tells us that kids cannot simply learn to read through exposure to books and story time,” Hinrichs says. “Rather, they need to be taught how to decode words. It’s a skill that requires a strong foundation in phonics—being able to connect sounds with letters.

“It sounds pretty straightforward. But reading instruction has a lot of political baggage. Nearly four decades ago, the so-called ‘reading war’ had taken center stage, overshadowing the science behind learning how to read.”

The debate, Hinrichs explains, “characterized proponents of explicit phonics-based instruction as conservative, pitting them against more left-leaning educators who believed this level of detail threatened to quash students’ budding passion for reading. Instead guided by the thought that literacy would come naturally, the ‘whole language’ supporters prioritized exposure to good books and reading practice.”

Hinrichs adds that phonics gained widespread status as an essential component of reading instruction. “The debate, however, pivoted to how much phonics instruction was necessary to develop strong readers” she says. “The ‘whole language’ approach morphed into the ‘balanced literacy’ approach, with educators incorporating bits and pieces of phonics instruction—still reluctant to drill students with word rules.”

In Minnesota, Hinrichs says, people from professors and teachers to parents and education consultants remain divided over how, and to what extent, phonics instruction should be delivered. And, she continues, no consensus exists over whether explicit phonics-based curricula should be delivered to the whole class, or reserved as an intervention tool for struggling readers.

The Winter 2018-2019 issue of American Educator, a quarterly journal of educational research and ideas published by the American Federation of Teachers, focuses on the importance of literacy education in early childhood. The issue adds to the discussion of reading instruction with articles on the power of read-alouds, first steps toward literacy (what effective pre-K instruction looks like), and avoiding instructional missteps in teaching letter-sound relationships.

Regardless of one’s views on the most effective approach to reading instruction, the benefits of reading support the importance of cultivating a love of reading at an early age and sustaining this love over a lifetime despite competition from digital social media. I am confident that first grader Hannah will build on her early love of reading and reap its many benefits.