Among the many changes in society as a result of COVID-19 is an increase in reading as 35% of people in the world have read more books during the pandemic. On Wednesday, those numbers could go slightly higher for National Read Across America Day. 

“Authors write to share their ideas and perspectives about the world around us,” English teacher Carolyn Synatschk said. “Reading is a skill that enhances our daily lives in various ways, so we should look for ways to improve the amount and quality of our reading often.”

Individuals like Synatschk believe reading is important in enhancing the quality of our daily lives.

“For example, with fiction specifically, we read about the characters having similar challenges as us to reinforce our beliefs or help us feel like we are like others or are not alone in our troubles in life,” Synatschk said. 

Reading stories or books allows some to feel a connection to others regarding emotions or experiences. 

“All authors write for different reasons and readers read for different reasons,” senior Sreya Suresh said. “But the general idea is to explore concepts or even a world that we are unfamiliar with.”

According to the  National Endowment for the Arts, the percentage of Americans reading literature has dropped in the last 20 years.

“There are definitely a lot fewer readers now than, say 20 years ago, because of the rise of technology,” senior Jeremy Monroe said. “Instead of getting a whole book or watching TV for entertainment, we can just go on our phones and use social media. I guess people consider reading on those, like texting people, like reading.”

Along with new technology, other sources continue to drive attention away from reading stories towards other forms of entertainment.

“With inventions such as video games, Siri, and Google, and more, I do believe that our society is much more driven by instant feedback, entertainment, and information-seeking activities,” Synatschk said. “So, our younger generations don’t read as often or in as much depth as previous generations.”

However, students like Suresh believe reading books is a valuable skill that should continue to be developed.

“It’s important to constantly improve our reading skills to ensure that we can fully understand the context of the different circumstances,” Suresh said. “Whether that’s through reading science journals or binging the Harry Potter series, there should be more focus on reading books in general as each one tells us a different story. I think we should practice this skill more often.” 

Through reading, Suresh says students can become more well-rounded. 

“There should definitely be more of a focus on reading books pertaining to heavy material so that we can become more aware as young readers,” Suresh said. “The world has too many glaring issues for us to protect or hide our kids from such topics. By learning and reading more about these mature stories from younger ages, we can focus on developing into a more well-rounded, open-minded young adult.”

Despite less than 20% of teens saying they read daily, and 80% claiming to use social media every day, Monroe thinks there could be a better balance. 

“In the end, we need to keep reading,” Monroe said. “We need more readers, and we need to make sure we are keeping up with reading literature, stories, or books in general. It’s an important skill we should further develop. It’s like, we should make sure we are always trying to move forward in society, but we shouldn’t forget the things that helped us get there, such as reading.”