Reading and writing have been a vital means of communication and learning for humans since written language was invented. Studies have shown that reading for pleasure, especially in early childhood, leads to higher rates of empathy, cognition, and happiness. But lately, experts have expressed concern that students are losing the ability to read.

More than half of American adults read below a sixth-grade level, and 21% are considered illiterate (though this statistic also includes non-English-speaking Americans). According to the national report on student test scores, the average reading scores significantly decreased just from 2022 to 2024. This change occurred in both elementary and middle grades; this fall, this drop was the highest since 1992. While some of these shifts are credited to remote learning during the pandemic, these scores have been on a decline for much longer. These statistics reveal an underlying problem in the way literacy is taught and the accessibility of the necessary reading materials.

What exactly does literacy mean? It is widely accepted by researchers that there are five main components to literacy: phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension. Phonemic awareness is the ability to recognize different sounds in words (such as syllables and rhymes). Phonics is the correlation between letters (and letter groups) and spoken sounds. Fluency means being able to read a text quickly and accurately. Vocabulary is the ability to recognize certain words and their meanings. Lastly, comprehension is the actual processing of a text in order to understand its meaning. When students receive instruction in all of these areas, and they see people like them reflected in school materials, they are more likely to be engaged and avid readers.

During the 1980s and 1990s, the Whole Language Approach led to a decrease in the rate of phonics teaching in schools. This approach focused on teaching words as a whole—similar to how children first learn to speak—and ignored the phonetic system, suggesting that students would naturally learn to read if they were interested in the content. This theory was widely disproven, and it has been shown that most students need more explicit instruction and phonics teaching to actually understand what they are reading. As a result, in 2002, President Bush’s No Child Left Behind Act was very phonics-heavy, yet literacy teaching still hasn’t completely recovered, and many adults taught during the ’80s and ’90s still struggle to decipher new words.

With the popularity and accessibility of short-form content, there have been concerns about willingness to read and reading stamina. Picking up a book feels like much more of a chore, and people are less frequently sitting down to read for an extended period of time. In the late 1970s, 60% of 17–18 year olds read a book or magazine every day, but by 2016, that number had decreased to 16%. Ms. Hesseltine shared her thoughts: “I think, in some ways, students are reading more every day, but it’s just coming in the form of texts and websites … students find it more tedious to like, get through Frankenstein now than they did in the past. … But I think, because that extra step [of carrying around physical books] feels cumbersome to students, they’re, like, well, if I get bored on the subway, I’ll just look at my phone.”

Another primary concern is a decline in the final component of literacy: comprehension. Reading comprehension is the ability to understand the meaning and intention of a text. This entails drawing connections, making inferences, understanding subtle shifts in tone and word choice, the ability to recall and summarize information, and many other skills learned built through experience reading. According to the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), in 2024, less than a third of fourth and eighth graders nationwide were working at the NAEP Proficient level in reading (which means “consistently understanding written text and interpreting its meaning”). For 12th graders, the average NAEP reading level has been steadily decreasing since 1992, and those at a “below basic” level of comprehension have gone from 20% to 32%. Without comprehension, a reader cannot meaningfully engage with, enjoy, or learn from a text.

Students are losing critical thinking and analysis skills with the rise of AI due to its ability to summarize difficult texts. As Ms. Hesseltine said, “technology in general has kind of reduced reading to just the transaction to get information.” This is a point also made by Neil Gabler, a writer at the New York Times, who argued that we live in a “post-idea world.” “Courtesy of the Internet, we seem to have immediate access to anything that anyone could ever want to know,” Gabler said. “In the past, we collected information not simply to know things … We also collected information to convert it into something larger than facts and ultimately more useful—into ideas that made sense of the information.” Reading and writing are more frequently thought of as tedious tasks rather than ways to understand more about the world, and, through the use of AI, many students choose to avoid them. But, through the process of soulless summary, the author’s nuance and care is lost, contributing to flat, black-and-white understandings of literature. These understandings of media and literature bleed into our interpretation of the real world. Ms. H continued, “anybody can use [AI] to kind of cheat their way and get the summary and digest of a text, but to have your life changed by the text, you’re still gonna have to move your eyes around the page on your own.”

In a time with so much misinformation, the implications of a decrease in literacy rates extend beyond comprehension to critical thinking and compassion and compassion. A decrease in reading can also lead to a loss of empathy. There are many studies on the effect of fiction reading, showing a strong positive correlation between the reading of fiction and a tendency to be more empathetic and caring people. Ms. Hesseltine worries that “if we use the crutch of AI to replace reading, we will become less empathetic people, and I feel like the world can already be kind of a harsh and unrelenting place, and so that scares me a little.”

Additionally, theorists like Eric Havelock argue that literacy is the foundation upon which all advanced human thought is built. Havelock compared the use of copulas (words that connect subjects and their complements, typically verbs such as “to be”) in transcribed oral literature and early written works from Ancient Greece, and he noticed that their use increased drastically as the alphabet spread. Copulas are often considered “existential” verbs—that is, verbs that define existence and form identity; think of Descartes’ principle: “I think, therefore I am.” The inception of literacy, Havelock argued, allowed for complex philosophical thought to flourish because people were able to access and map concepts that they previously could not. Without literacy, we would not have such rich history, community, philosophy, and culture.

Throughout history, literacy has also been weaponized as a tool of discrimination. Anti-literacy laws criminalized teaching reading and writing to African Americans until 1834. Of course, some, such as Frederick Douglass, took their education into their own hands in order to escape enslavement, embodying the age-old adage, “Knowledge is power.” Following the 15th Amendment, loopholes were created in the form of near-impossible literacy tests, which were used as a way to keep African Americans from voting. Literacy allows people the ability to make educated decisions and express their opinions freely. This raises questions about how a decrease in literacy rates will affect civil rights today.

Even today, illiteracy disproportionately affects students of color, low income students, multilingual learners, and students with disabilities. This is connected to the accessibility of books and reading to lower income students, as well as the lack of diverse representation in many books, leading students to identify less with the characters. According to a study done by Reading Is Fundamental, “About 80% of children living in economically disadvantaged communities will lose reading skills over summer breaks.” As reading has been shown to lead to higher test scores, fewer mental health issues, improved memory, and better understanding of social cues, the lack of access to literature in underserved communities can only exacerbate health and income inequality.

Declining literacy is not inevitable. The U.S. currently ranks 36th globally in literacy. As reading skills decline, so does the ability to analyze arguments, evaluate sources, and think critically. So what can we do to stop this?

Increase representation in the books read in school and available to students to foster a love of reading. Next time you need an activity to do on the train or before school, consider checking out a book from the dungeon (C5) library. Ms. Hesseltine said, “Shameless plug for the book club; anything that you can do that pairs reading [with] the experience of a great story alongside your peers I think is important.”

Increasing enthusiasm for reading and a connection to your peers through literature are ways to increase the role of literacy in our lives. Reading is vital for building connections, empathy, and being able to better understand the world around us.