Reading has been around since the beginning of time and occupies humans’ everyday routines from reading texts to articles but for many people reading books for pleasure is not a part of their everyday routine. However, the introduction of ‘BookTok’ might be changing this. Many different factors in life can make an impact on society’s reading levels.
Most recently the 2020 pandemic has made an impact on reading in many different ways. The New York Times article “It’s ‘Alarming’: Children Are Severely Behind in Reading” explained statistics about reading skills in young children after the pandemic.
“As the pandemic enters its third year, a cluster of new studies now show that about a third of children in the youngest grades are missing reading benchmarks, up significantly from before the pandemic,” the New York Times article says.
Encouraging young kids to read outside of school especially during a pandemic can be challenging. As for adults and young adults their reading levels varied.
“I think on the one hand, people that were already more inclined to read, we’re probably reading more because you’re inside all the time. But at the same time, if you’re not interested, if you don’t have that, like information or the like, belief that reading is good for you and feasible, then you’re not going to do it.” Howell High School English teacher Michaela Sheridan says.
Although for some former non-readers it inspired and motivated them to pick up a book to fill the time.
“I finally read a book cover to cover during the pandemic because I had the time to I think that made me feel definitely more like I completed some thing and more like I actually did something rather than just sit around and I think that’s what it was for a lot of people but for me personally, I think it kind of sparked that love that I now have for books,” Sophomore Natalie Strickland says.
In the new age of social media being a vital influence in everyone’s daily lives. Now, many can turn to social media for reading inspiration, book recommendations, and just overall discussion about different books. This phenomenon is known as ‘BookTok’ , a hashtag located on the popular app, TikTok, with millions of creators sharing their love for certain books, authors, or tropes. This format has attempted to make reading more marketable and interactive and for some it has worked.
This positive attitude seen on social media regarding books is a stark contrast to the lack of interest seen in English classes. The spread of books on social media has been successful. Although, still many people are not reading as much as recommended.
“There has been an increase like I’ve heard Barnes and Nobles opening more brick and mortar stores as people are reading more, but I think everybody needs to be making a more concerted effort,” Sheridan says
Regularly picking up a book is not easy for everyone.
“I think a lot of it has to do with the way that school tackles reading, the way that it kind of makes it feel more as like a task than something you can do for fun and I feel that makes it more negative for people,” Strickland says.
The attitude and culture of reading going from a task to a hobby can be a vital marketing strategy in reintroducing reading for fun to young adults.
“High school and through college. I like stopped reading for fun just because I was really stressed. I had a lot of stuff going on, a lot of mental health issues. And I was like this I don’t have time for it. But at the beginning of this school year, Ms. Nolan was saying how great celebrating had been in classes and she’s like, you only need fifteen minutes. And it changed my perception of like the time investment that goes into reading and so I started reading a lot more again just because of that conversation,” Sheridan says.
Some Howell High School English teachers have changed the way they tackle reading to make it feel less like something that is forced on the students.
“Well, I have a reading library. We do SSR in class, so I always want kids to read what they want and never assign what is read outside of things that are required by the district. And that’s really the only way to foster is to get people into what they want to read,” Howell High School English teacher Joseph Miller says.
The books chosen to read, however, does beg the question whether or not these are the most quality choices young students can be making. Howell High School English teachers continue to implement silent student reading, SSR, into their classes in ways they see best fit for their students.
“Starting with that 15 minutes because that can be very overwhelming to like, try to jump in and think about finishing a book like set a reasonable goal for yourself, whether it’s a chapter or whatever, and only set it to like set a timer and read for 15 minutes,” Sheridan recommends.
