Put Down the Devices and Pick Up a Book

Literacy rates are falling. Parents aren’t reading to their children. Children and adults aren’t reading for pleasure. Books are no longer a go-to source for knowledge. But, why?

Tablets and smartphones have replaced books as a form of entertainment and as a mode of learning. Content on devices dish out short-form videos, games, and shows to entertain the masses. Hot takes and philosophical sound-bites give the illusion that consumers are getting an education, receiving bits of wisdom from their favorite YouTube or TikTok creator. The allure of smartphones and tablets, and all that they offer, has captivated the minds of children and adults alike. Meanwhile, books are falling out of favor across age groups. Setting aside books and choosing not to read is an easy decision for children when adults are making the same choice. Although picking up a device over a book has negative consequences for adults, the decline in reading for entertainment and learning is particularly damaging to children.

Literacy rates among school-age children are falling

One cause for alarm is declining literacy rates among America’s children. The Nation’s Report Card—the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP)—has shown a steady downward trend in literacy rates among children in recent years. The 2024 NAEP results, released last year, showed that proficiency in reading is declining. As NPR reported, “in 2019, 35% of fourth-graders scored at or above the test’s reading proficiency standard. That figure dropped to 33% in 2022 and, further, to 31%, in 2024.” The cause for the decline is often attributed to school closures due to the COVID-19 lockdowns, but fourth-grade reading scores began falling around 2015. Martin West, a professor of education and academic dean at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, noted a similar trend among twelfth-graders: “Twelfth grade reading scores … hit a recent peak in 2009 and fell significantly over the following decade.”