Why Read For Fun?

Modern society has witnessed a nearly unprecedented explosion in literacy levels.  We are members of the most highly literate generation in history, where reading and writing competency is widely expected, and the expanded use of digital communication has led to radical social and political shifts.

However, this literacy belongs to a newly bred variety; students are still required by schools to read great works–one hopes–yet Facebook and news media are the typical “literature” widely generated and consumed on the internet today.  These venues, while still reading in the technical sense, are often coldly utilitarian: a sterile exchange of public information, punctuated by Twitter pictures of your latest lasagna endeavor (it was quite lovely…and tasty).

Proud display of culinary skills aside, what are the educational and cultural side-effects when reading traditional literature for pleasure is replaced by scrolling through our daily social deluge?  Or when great writers are shelved for various forms of media entertainment?  A recent study by the University of London’s Institute of Education (IOE), found evidence of significant influence stemming from one’s personal readings.

According to the IOE, children who read for pleasure are likely to perform at a much higher academic level than their peers.  The research was conducted by Dr. Alice Sullivan and Matt Brown, who analyzed the reading behavior of 6,000 young participants in the 1970 British Cohort Study.  They found that children who read for pleasure made stronger progress in math, vocabulary, and spelling between the ages of 10 and 16 than their peers who read rarely.

Despite its obvious benefits, current numbers indicate that such pleasure reading is on the decline among the modern youth.  Dr. Sullivan explained that, “there could be various reasons for this, including more time spent in organized activities, more homework, and of course more time spent online.”

The study’s results, in my interpretation, demonstrate an attitude shift towards traditional understandings of literature.  Written communication has been simplified to the text and the tweet, while the novel and the poem have been progressively neglected as forms of leisure.

Josef Pieper wrote that leisure serves as the basis and foundation of culture.  The manner in which we spend this time, therefore, shapes our cultural experience and expression.  Leisure characterized by Miley Cyrus videos and Facebook gossip will create a far different culture than that fostered by the reading of C.S. Lewis and Shakespeare.  In this sense, every individual holds the power to affect significant change through the insignificant choices of time…so, how are you spending your evening tonight?