I came across an article that read: It is believed that in the United States, teen reading is on the decline, especially among the young. With technology changing so fast and new gadgets evolving each day, I began to wonder what affect this had on Teens and reading. Were teens seeing reading as a chore? Were technological gadgets distracting teens from reading? Was teen reading really on the decline? I did some research and this is some of the information I found:•A study from the Pew Internet & American Life Project showed that on the average 8-18 year olds spend 6 hours and 21 minutes per day using technology including TV, DVDs, video games, audio media, computers, and print media.
•This same study, from the Pew Internet and American Life Project, reported that 71% of teens use the Internet as their primary source for completing school projects.
•According to another study done by Harris Interactive in 2005, 86% of youth aged 8-18 have a computer in their home, and 74% have Internet access in their home.
Many experts stated that reading is far from dead for adolescents, and is actually on the rise in many ways. It just depends on how you look at it. Richard Beach, a professor in the literacy education program at the University of Minnesota says: “When people express concern about kids not reading, they don’t realize that they’re really reading all the time. It’s just what they’re reading and how they’re using media that’s changing. They’re on the forefront of an evolution in how reading is being redefined.”
Teens have become adept at using technologies to communicate with each other, find information, and connect with new people. Teens now spend more time online (often while in front of the TV) than just watching TV.
“Reading online involves a different set of conventions—for example, the non-linear process of selecting buttons or links on a website as opposed to a left-to-right linear reading of print texts,” Beach says. “What we need to understand better is how to make connections between different kinds of text.”
Libraries are helping increase teen reading by increasing their collections of print and online zines, manga, and comics. At St. Paul’s Highland Park Library, the use of games has prompted many kids to check out books that relate to what they’re playing. Anime and manga have even started a wave of interest in Japanese history and culture.
“If teens are excited about a game or anime, they’ll explore those subjects in different mediums like Web pages or books,” Lowry says. “The important thing is not to say books are better than games, or that they should be reading the classics.”
Sometimes librarians or teachers tend to develop groups based on what they think teens should be reading, rather than what they actually like, resulting in empty discussion tables. On the other hand, technology provides more ways to stay connected to friends were the conversation never ends.
The good thing is that there are many teachers who are integrated blogging, wiki writing, podcasts, and writing in gaming-based simulations into their courses. And as more technological tools are introduced, they will continue to offer different venues for teens to read. Whether it’s by a computer, eBook, iPhone, iPod, or some other type of hand-held, teen reading is far from being on the decline, it just depends on how you look at it.
This is great info. Although teens still read books, they are reading even more information online. I was listening to National Public Radio last weekend and the radio host (can't remember their name) said that a new study stated it shouldn't matter too much what gets a child to read, but that they start reading at all. It was more important creating the reading habit than it was to give them the classics first. After creating the reading habit then give the student the classics. its nice that libraries are changing their media to better serve the different age communities. So if a child starts reading a book because a video game came out first is it really that important that they started with the game first as opposed to just reading the book. In the long run they would have read the book anyways.
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