The United States is currently at its lowest literacy levels since 1992. Research has linked this trend to the COVID pandemic and the growth of technology use in teenagers. In September 2024 the National Assessment of Educational Progress results showed the growing distance in reading abilities between the highest scoring and lowest scoring students. Research has shown that the amount of time teens spend on screens is affecting concentration, sleep, academic performance and even relationships.
“The phone is a lot more entertaining for me, and I think that’s because of the normalization of consuming really short form content, which also shortens attention span,” said Ollie Fairben, a junior. “It’s harder for me to get really into a book and actually be able to finish it.”
Fewer students are taking pleasure in reading, instead turning to screens to pass the time. In recent years less than 20% of teens are reading books, newspapers and magazines; instead, 80% are on social media nearly every day.
“We know screen use of certain kinds is particularly attractive and sticky for the human brain,” said Hillary Montuori, NWA’s Learning Specialist. “This can vary from habitual distraction all the way to true addiction. So, it is easy for screen use to distract us.”
Studies show that the issue with screen addiction isn’t necessarily the amount of time looking at a screen, but how that time is spent. Watching a movie or documentary is significantly less harmful to the brain than scrolling through short form content.
“All of the content that is constantly being created on the internet for teens to engage with is a competing form of content with books, I think primarily because of Internet culture and the way the Internet culture asks for the constant creation of content,” said Humanities IV teacher Jada Pierce.
A popular way for students to access books is through technology like a phone or a Kindle.
Digital reading became more popular during the COVID pandemic, when schools transitioned to online learning. The wider impacts of this shift are still unknown, but studies show that increased reading on screens has had a negative impact on students’ comprehension of the material. When reading digital media, brain processing is shallower, which affects comprehension of complex or abstract words and topics.
“I personally have always de-emphasized online resources,” said Pierce. “I will send a film review or a film essay occasionally by email, but generally speaking, even if it’s something from The Atlantic that I want my students to read, I’m printing it out for them. I want them reading it in their hands, and in class, I don’t want them on the screen.”
Humanities II teacher Katie Staggers believes that while there are occasional difficulties with the distraction of phones and screens at NWA, students are usually conscientious of the fact that screens can be distracting. According to Staggers, students are aware of the benefits of reading on paper. Staggers allowed students to choose between reading a 40–page packet online or physically. She was surprised by the amount of students that chose a physical copy over the digital version.
“Almost everyone recognized that they would do better work reading from the physical copy,” said Staggers. “Researchers and studies have shown that we read more slowly and methodically on the page than we do on the screen. I know that’s true for me, and I think a lot of students recognize that in themselves.
Humanities III teacher Kyle Wiggins thinks that the concern around teens reading–while based in reality–is the latest moral panic around adolescent media consumption. According to Wiggins the media coverage is often overexaggerated. He also stresses that while it is represented as an adolescent problem, screen addiction affects adults as well.
“[People underestimate teens’ literary abilities] in multiple ways, all offensive,” said Wiggins. “[Teens] can be really attentive readers. They can see language and sort of identify nuance in the multiple meanings that are colliding within a single sentence or a phrase. People have often been discounting the capabilities of youth, but [now] they have a cultural fear that we are in a post post literate age.”
Wiggins believes that school curricula has played a role in teens’ struggles with reading. In recent years, schools have been assigning fewer books and long form reading, opting for audiobooks and summaries of texts. Wiggins attempts to counter this in his classes by assigning demanding reading and facilitating difficult discussions.
“[NWA is] trying to demonstrate the value of reading in an immersive way, reading long books that stretch our minds,” said Wiggins. “[We believe] that students are capable of so much more than they’re often given credit for, so our school is trying to create opportunities for students to read the kinds of texts that will push them as thinkers. It’s our iconoclastic gesture towards a humanistic education.”
Wiggins and Staggers believe that while digital devices have been harmful to reading, the narrative that they have ruined teens’ reading comprehension and critical thinking skills is misleading.
“I think that we’re all capable of deep thinking and attention, and I know that it can be hard, and it can be a challenge, but I don’t think it’s anything that’s outside of our capabilities as humans in 2026,” said Staggers. “I feel like there’s this overarching narrative that’s being fed to us, that we can’t think about anything anymore. I don’t know if I believe that.”
While some students believe reading is uncommon among young people, others are more hopeful. Caroline Barr, a junior, says that while there has been a shift in the types of literature that are popular–genres such as Romance and “Romantasy” being examples–people still read and are passionate about books. Barr herself is an enthusiastic reader, and has been a member of NWA’s Library Club since her freshman year.
“I don’t think reading is endangered or dying out by any means,” said Barr. “I do think it’s definitely being impacted by just how our attention span has changed when screens were introduced into the equation. I do think at Northwest Academy, students read more for leisure than students elsewhere.”
Reporting by Leora Mellor and Signe Miner
I love this.
Great article and insight into reading and Northwest Academy’s culture. Truly, adults have trouble with concentration as well of late, due to our devices, just as much as teens. There is nothing like a good read to calm you down and make you think!