Kids are spending less time reading

Question

Over the years there has been a noticeable decline in kids reading books, and spending more time on their phones. "Fewer Americans are opening a book for fun each day, with reading for pleasure in the United States down 40% over the past 20 years, a new study finds." this quote from Dr. Raihan El-Naas, shows how there is a significant percent less reading then there was 20 years ago. This study made and effort to also show how lower income Americans are more effected by this, due to the lack of resources. 

   This is a big blow to the public school systems and America in general. This is because with the less reading it takes a toll on other things like well being, and literacy. there is a lot of good that reading provides, studies show that even 10 minutes of reading a day can improve well being. 

Answer 1

Based on the investigation, the claim that kids (and Americans in general) are spending significantly less time reading for pleasure is true. A major study published in the journal iScience in August 2025 by researchers from University College London and the University of Florida found that the proportion of Americans who read for fun daily has dropped by approximately 40% over the last 20 years. The data, which analyzed over 236,000 individuals, revealed that reading engagement fell by about 3% annually between 2003 and 2023. This decline is particularly steep among certain demographics, including Black Americans and those from lower-income backgrounds, often due to structural issues like limited access to materials or economic insecurity. While the study noted that "reading with children" hasn't decreased in frequency, the overall shift toward digital media and screens has drastically reduced the amount of time dedicated to reading for enjoyment, which experts warn can negatively impact literacy, empathy, and overall well-being.

Sources:

• https://abcnews.go.com/Health/americans-spend-time-reading-fun-time-screens-study/story?id=124807367

• https://news.ufl.edu/2025/08/reading-for-pleasure-study/

• https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/aug/20/reading-for-pleasure-study

• https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/reading-for-pleasure-has-declined-by-a-deeply-concerning-40-percent-over-the-past-two-decades-180987228/

• https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/publisher-news/article/98435-study-finds-20-year-drop-in-reading-for-pleasure.html

Answer 2

This claim is misleading. While the rise of electronics in today's generation makes it seem true, and reading the article, surface level, it does too, upon doing more research, it seems to be exaggerated. The article uses the source iScience, but the study does not mention all populations that were studied and only uses the lower numbers to their advantage. The source uses fewer children and more adults in their study. It is flawed to only use a piece of the information and not correctly show the whole sample of children and how reading among them has averaged to be about the same.

Source:https://www.cell.com/iscience/fulltext/S2589-0042(25)01549-4