BY: Mike DiMatteo

My wife and I were out to dinner not long ago at one of our favorite haunts. Not far from our table was a nice family also enjoying a night out. What was peculiar was that there was no conversation among them. The parents were talking, but the three kids, all under fifteen, were completely disengaged. Two of the three were locked into their phone screens, and the smallest had her nose embedded in her iPad.

Of course, the dormant spirit of a retired educator almost immediately sprang to life. I sat there discreetly hoping each of them was so engrossed in a great novel or a montage of sports stories via books-turned-ebook like Greatest Baseball Teams that they forgot they were out with their parents. I chuckled to myself, knowing I was far off the mark; X, Instagram, Snapchat, or some mind-numbing game on the iPad was far more likely.

I sighed and returned to the conversation with my wife, along with our wonderful meal. But I couldn’t stop thinking about it.

Screens, screens, and more screens. That’s what we’ve done, and along with them comes the erosion of the wonder, joy, and satisfaction of reading. For me, closing a finished book is one of the best feelings in the world. Satisfying is the word that comes to mind—whether it’s the thud of a hardcover or the “finished” tag on an ebook.

Today’s students barely read. Some do, but numbers are falling rapidly, and there are measurable reasons for it. According to the National Assessment Governing Board, reading for pleasure has dropped sharply among youth and adolescents. Fewer than a third of students nationwide are working at the NAEP Proficient level in reading. That lack of proficiency contributes not only to lower rates of pleasure reading but also to declining reading ability and comprehension.

When reading becomes a chore—mostly because the act itself is difficult—students simply will not read.

A long-term NAEP study found that thirty-nine percent of 9-year-old students reported reading for fun almost every day in 2022, a figure fourteen points lower than in 1984. Thirty-nine percent. And that number is shrinking.

Why Is This Happening?

Several factors are working against reading. Research is extensive, yet the practical reality in classrooms I’ve worked in for thirty-five years points to something straightforward: reading is not a priority at the grade school level. Screens are.

The demise of reading groups, once used to tailor instruction to slower and faster readers, and the removal of phonics and spelling lists from many classrooms (to avoid making students “feel bad” when they fail) have also contributed to declining reading skills—and declining reading overall.

Alternatives like video games, social media, and digital entertainment siphon attention away from books, often reinforced by schools and parents who accept screen time as necessary. Evidence shows this correlation clearly: each additional hour of screen time is linked to 9–10% lower odds of higher reading achievement, according to a JAMA Network Open prospective cohort study (2025). Higher parent-reported screen time, TV, and digital media usage were all associated with lower reading and math achievement.

Schools and parents are daily enablers of this dynamic, buying into the idea that screens are essential. Too often, teachers become facilitators of screen-based programs rather than instructors of reading.

Research increasingly confirms that screens are inferior for reading comprehension compared to paper. Delgado, in Educational Research Review (2018), documented that the “screen inferiority effect” has increased over the past eighteen years—the gap between paper and screen reading has only widened. Screens do not merely replace books; they alter how reading is processed and retained.

Crowded Out – The Displacement Effect

“Why would I read a book when I can watch the movie?” said more than one of my students. “It’s too much work, and I don’t have the time.”

That last part struck me. “I don’t have the time.” Children are overloaded with activities—gymnastics, dance, and even organized sports at age five chasing the D1 dream. School itself often gets crowded out.

“Johnny won’t be in class this week; he has a hockey tournament in Saskatchewan.”
“Jane won’t be in class this week; she has a volleyball tournament in California, and scouts will be there.”

All this crowds out reading—a deliberate, solitary endeavor where one can get lost in a book and imagine the story in one’s mind. Add in video games and streaming, and reading falls behind like the slowest car in a NASCAR race. Books aren’t rejected—they’re crowded out.

Foundational Skill Erosion

When foundational skills weaken or are not effectively taught, reading becomes harder, and avoidance follows. Many districts and parents have forgotten this simple equation, leading to the precipitous decline in reading.

The National Reading Panel found that “systematic phonics instruction produced significantly greater growth than non-phonics instruction” and that students taught phonics outperformed those taught whole language approaches. The Institute of Education Sciences emphasized that handwriting, spelling, and sentence construction are basic writing skills, and deficits in these areas impact the quality of writing.

Yet many schools abandoned these practices. Why? They’re not exciting. They can’t compete with screens, gamified classrooms, or collaborative digital learning. Attention spans aren’t cultivated; patience has become a liability. Phonics, handwriting, reading—all take time, and when neglected, vocabulary and comprehension suffer.

The Institute of Education Sciences recommends explicit instruction in writing conventions, but this takes class time often lost to standardized test prep or ignored homework.

What About Parents?

Parental involvement matters. Reading with children, providing books, and cultivating reading habits at home are all critical. The American Academy of Pediatrics notes, “Reading with young children supports language, cognitive, and social-emotional development.”

Targeted reading groups in schools are also essential. Students placed in ability-matched groups benefit from tailored instruction, increasing reading ability and comprehension. Yet parents sometimes resist this, insisting their child be placed above their level, which denies the student the structured help needed. Flexibility, encouragement, and recognition of growth are key.

Moving Forward

Students face significant challenges in reading. To improve outcomes, we must reduce screen time both at home and in schools, and parents must actively encourage reading, especially during formative years. Reading before bedtime, providing books, and fostering a reading-friendly environment are critical. Schools must also prioritize foundational instruction—phonics, spelling, grammar—and resist the urge to gamify or over-digitize classrooms at the expense of real skills. Finally, students need time to be present and engage in reading as a deliberate, solitary activity, cultivating imagination and critical thinking. By doing so, we give students a fighting chance to rediscover the joy of reading and rebuild essential literacy skills.