https://thebluebanner.net/16810/arts-features-2/students-are-reading-less-and-they-say-its-because-of-schools/

Flannery Scallan, Contributor

March 14, 2024

College students say their reading habits have been obscured as they age, and it might be because of technology-focused education in primary and secondary school.

“Who knows, maybe if I wasn’t as exposed to so much technology when I was younger in schools, I’d still enjoy reading,” said music production student, Maria Gonzalez.

Gonzalez said she does not enjoy reading now, but did enjoy it as a kid. She said once high school started, the joy of reading lessened and she fell out of the habit.

“I liked reading those Dork Diaries books as a kid. But after that, I couldn’t find anything I liked,” Gonzalez said.

According to Gonzalez, middle and high schools have implemented technology into their classrooms over a few years, and students are noticing its effects in retrospect.

“Ever since middle school, we’ve been using computers to do our school work,” Gonzalez said. “I think it was high school when reading became troublesome to do. I spent so much time reading off of a screen that reading off an actual paper seemed harder.”

Gonzalez said she and her friends do not actively read, but she does not think reading is becoming obsolete. It is just changing mediums.

“I don’t think it will ever become obsolete. Reading is the only way to learn about the past. Unless we just collectively decide to just stop learning, I think we’ll always be reading,” Gonzalez said. “If anything, it’ll just be changed to technology, which like who cares? Who the hell wants to carry around a book anyway?”

According to Jackson Anderson, an English student at UNCA, other students defy this trend, and regularly enjoy reading for entertainment instead of digital media.

Anderson said he loves reading, and it is his main form of entertainment both growing up and now.

“Reading was very big in my house growing up. I started reading Goosebumps books in like the fifth grade,” Anderson said.

Anderson said his school implemented laptops in fifth grade, and in high school, all of his essays had to be written on a computer.

“I definitely got out of the habit of reading while I was in high school, for a long time. I was so focused on doing everything on the computer and trying to adapt to that. I think it messed up my habits for a few years,” Anderson said.

Anderson said reading habits can also be environmental. He says some students, like himself, are luckier because they get better teachers or were more immersed in reading culture.

“I know people who never read,” Anderson said. “Personally I grew up with a lot of books in my house, but some didn’t. They had a computer, a TV and a phone. I know people who had really bad English teachers. It all depends.”

Anderson said he understands where the disconnect with reading comes from and has been guilty of occasionally favoring digital platforms. He said current digital platforms have affected people’s attention spans which makes reading more difficult.

“We have access to so many different things. You can watch 50 TikToks in like five minutes and get that same dopamine hit over and over again. That’s a lot easier when you’ve gotten to that point than just sitting down and reading a book,” Anderson said.

But while students struggle to adapt to learning with electronics, teachers struggle to adapt to a new way of teaching.

According to Laura Parnell, a high school guidance counselor at South Caldwell High School and former teacher, technology’s prevalence has made teaching students more challenging.

“Keeping students’ attention has become more and more difficult. Teaching students traditionally, like standing up and lecturing and asking them to practice what they’ve learned, you just can’t do that anymore,” Parnell said.

According to Parnell, the “standard” way of teaching does not resonate with today’s generation of students. She says trying to facilitate learning with children requires a lot more interactive approaches to keep their attention.

“I use a lot more ice breakers now and different activities. Getting the students moving is so important. I have to get them out of their seats some of the time, or else it just won’t work,” Parnell said.

Parnell says that while technology has been a big distraction in the classroom, she does see some positive impacts of using technology in schools.

“In my current role as a counselor, we do a lot of career and interest inventory, which is all technology based. It’s so wonderful because you get results immediately, students don’t have to wait on results and I don’t have to hand grade them,” Parnell said.

Parnell said that while technology can be useful in schools, she said she doesn’t think schools and teachers are using it in the right way. She says teaching both students and teachers how to utilize it to their advantage is the difference between a successful generation and a struggling one, especially because technology is not going to leave the classroom anytime soon.

“Students don’t know how to use Excel. They don’t know how to use Microsoft Word or PowerPoint. Even for my grad students, they really struggle with it. We should be teaching our kids how to use the technology we are throwing at them. We have to take that leap and teach them real skills,” Parnell said.