Do teenagers still read for fun?

A study from the University of Florida and other universities have concluded that the enjoyment taken from reading has dropped over 40% in the past 2 decades; additionally numerous sources have stated that self voluntary reading in those under 18 are at an all time low. When was the last time you truly enjoyed a book?

In this episode we sit down with English teacher Kasey Saari to discuss the falling rates of reading in high school students. We unpack the reasoning from a teacher’s perspective, and Saari’s personal experiences with this predicament.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:12

So, how long have you been teaching English for?

SPEAKER_01 0:15

Great question. I have been at Mount, this is my fifth year at Mount Piscah. I taught previously at two different schools. My total years in the education field are over 15 years.

SPEAKER_00 0:28

And when did you first decide to become a teacher?

SPEAKER_01 0:31

Quite by accident. I um had my real estate license after I graduated from college, and the economy was pretty trash. So I started tutoring students who were struggling and kind of fell in love with that. And then the rest is kind of history. I stumbled into education, I like to say.

SPEAKER_00 0:54

Um, and how did you stumble into English, one could ask?

SPEAKER_01 0:59

Um great question. Because actually I was a history major, and um I don't really actually remember. I'd have to do some soul searching how I exactly ended up here. But um I have always loved to read. That's actually a part of it. And so when I was considering going back into the classroom, I took um I went back to school and got enough undergrad credits to be able to get my master's in English rather than history.

SPEAKER_00 1:30

And when did you first discover that passion for English?

SPEAKER_01 1:34

Um, like I said, I've always had a love for reading since I was a little kid. Um I loved going to the library and looking at covers, and I quite honestly, as a child, chose my books based on the covers. Um and that just that kind of love evolved over time.

SPEAKER_00 1:54

So I, well, when I was younger, I wasn't very into reading. I had pretty bad dyslexia, so I had a hard time reading, and there was like certain books that really got me into it when I would say it was around 11. Um I know the Hungary Angels books were definitely some of those.

SPEAKER_01 2:09

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 2:09

Um, did you have a certain book that kind of got you hooked onto reading?

SPEAKER_01 2:13

Yeah, um, not one in particular. I loved murder mysteries or like just mysteries in general as a child. Um, I actually I um I actually was pretty insecure about reading aloud in class. So it's funny that I'm an English teacher now because my background as a student, like there was a lot of kind of fear associated with being in like language arts types of classes, because back when I was in school, like reading aloud was a common practice, and you know how it is. Like if you know your paragraph's coming, you're reading ahead to try to make sure you know how to pronounce all the words and to make sure you know which one it's exactly. Yeah, I think my trauma is part of the reason I don't ever require students to do that in my class. Um, but I actually had a friend who was always a really gifted student, and I was at her house, and I kind of shared that insecurity with her. And she was the first kind of friend, or I guess teacher, but um, first friend that told me that you could get better at reading aloud with practice. And so we would actually read little chicken soup for the Christian soul stories, and there was just vulnerability and trust that she was going to um to not tease me, and there was safety in that. So I did. I got better at reading aloud based on that experience, but it's kind of interesting being that kind of a learner or having those own thoughts or challenges as a kid, I think has made me a more compassionate educator because there's a lot of stumbling blocks a lot of us have associated with reading that can be overcome with practice.

SPEAKER_00 3:50

I would say that as one of your students, I would say I definitely feel very like comfortable um reading and sharing in your classroom, not that we are forced to read out loud. Yeah, thank you. But um, so you would say that um your childhood friend definitely helped you being able to cultivate that experience.

SPEAKER_01 4:10

Absolutely, because it was around that was in I think fourth grade, and I think my love for reading is directly correlated with the comfort I felt in this, like I said, the safety in doing it. Um I always liked to read on my own, but I just got more comfortable with with you know trying new things after that and realizing wait, you really can improve at this. It's it's a skill, it's not an aptitude. Um, so that that was helpful. Um in terms of books, though, in the seventh grade, I think is my first Harry Potter book where I read book number one, and um I definitely loved that entire series. Um, I love Jane Austen. Um reading reading her books. Um The Odyssey, I I love the classics, to be honest, but um Othello, I love some um Shakespeare and stuff too. I'm I kind of uh I feel like an eclectic taste. Uh rarely will I find a book that I'm like, oh, that's complete trash, unless it's science fiction. I'm gonna go ahead and throw that out there. I'm not a not a huge fan.

SPEAKER_00 5:14

To switch gears onto our main topic, a study from the University of Florida and other universities have concluded that the enjoyment in re taken from reading as a hobby has dropped 40% over the past two decades. Additionally, numerous sources have stated that volunteer reading in those 18 and under are at an all-time low. I was wondering if I could get your perspective on that.

SPEAKER_01 5:37

Yeah, I actually just went to a conference that spoke about how um when we read on our computer or other devices, um it were it ends up leading to us being skimmers, not readers. So I think going actually from the print to digital is one of the causes of that. Um based on the neuroscientist that was uh leading the conference, um or being a he was a keynote speaker, he had a lot of um information about how the correlation between technology and the um decrease in our students' kind of like ability when it comes to reading. I think also um the fast-paced world that we live in. So reading requires you to slow down, pause, and become absorbed in something kind of outside of this world. And I think we're all so busy that it's sometimes hard to find time to pause and really read. I mean, when I was a kid, there was less to do, right? So um oftentimes you found boredom, I mean, unless my TV show was on, like if it wasn't four, if it was on at 4 p.m. and I missed it, I missed it. And so if there was nothing else available on the television, right, then we didn't have things to stream. And so you kind of went to a book because it provided an escape from your boredom. With less boredom comes less desire to read. Um, or at least I kind of believe there's a correlation there.

SPEAKER_00 7:08

As a teacher, and one could argue an English specialist could uh do you have any ideas on how we could help with that statistic?

SPEAKER_01 7:17

Yeah, I think um what Mr. Hilton's doing in his class and the rest of us are kind of taking his lead and trying to incorporate um this idea into our curriculums in our classes uh as other English teachers, um, what that idea is, is um more choice novels and like the workshop model, which gives students time in class to read a novel of their choice. Um it carves out kind of a routine, a structure. So if every class students are beginning with reading something of their choice, it kind of builds that stamina. And honestly, like getting started with reading is half the battle. So if we can kind of eliminate that barrier to reading by saying, hey, we are going to give you time inside of this 50 minutes to read and not read something that we've decided for you is is is interesting. Like I said, like if a teacher had assigned me a science fiction book, I would have been like, ugh, right? But it's the fact that I could read what I wanted to. Um, honestly, like in high school, I didn't connect with a lot of the stories we read because it it feels different when you don't feel like you're the one choosing it, right? Like, oh, this is something I have to do. Versus when you pick your own novel, it's like, oh, this is what I want to read. I mean, I see you pull out your book, you know, sometimes in class too, right? Where you're excited when when you have the opportunity to read something that you want to read. So I think bringing that back into the classroom and realizing that today's learner needs more choice and assigning whole class novels is maybe not helping um the 21st century learner or the the modern learner.

SPEAKER_00 8:56

I have um some friends in um Mr. Hilton's class, and I've definitely seen them. I'm not saying they had any problem of reading before, but I've definitely seen them get very into these books that they're able to choose and become even more passionate about reading.

SPEAKER_01 9:12

Right. So I think that's a great first step, something that we as educators can look to do that's tangible, that it honestly it's easy, right? Like it's easy to um give kids choice. Like it doesn't take a lot of, you know, uh it doesn't take a huge shift in what we're doing. So um I think if we can adopt that, and then I think if um we can just share the the books that we're reading, and if we read something that we feel like up, Claire, if I like read something, I'm like, oh Claire, I think you would like this. Um, you know, it that's that's maybe a good good strategy as well. Um, I think you've even talked about wanting to start like a book book club.

SPEAKER_00 9:48

Yeah, me and Ella Doran.

SPEAKER_01 9:50

Yeah. Um, and so I think that's a great idea too, right? Just to invite people into um to the joy of reading. It really is. I think I've told you this before, Claire, about um for me at different times in my life, it's been a nice outlet for kind of escaping from my current, you know, hardships or circumstances and just to absorb my absorb myself into a new world. And I almost feel like I'm with the characters, experiencing what they're experiencing, and it's it's just a nice kind of escapism from the grind of daily living sometimes.

SPEAKER_00 10:27

Well, I'm very glad I got to talk to you and hear your perspective. This has been Beyond the Bell. I'm Claire Farmer, and this is I'm Mrs.

SPEAKER_01 10:33

Sorry!

unknown 10:34

Yep, and I'll catch us next time.