[Krashen] A decline in teen reading? (Published in School Libr Journal)

[Krashen at sdkrashen.com]

Published in The School Library Journal, June, 2005
(vol 51,6: 13)

A Decline in Teen Reading?

Last fall, a widely quoted report, Reading at Risk,
announced that reading was in a decline in the US, and
the decline was especially serious among young people.
In my letter in the School Library Journal (November,
2004), I argued that this “decline” was probably not
real. Recent evidence confirms this and even suggests
that teenagers in the US, as a group, are very heavy
readers.

In January, 2005, The Gallup organization asked 1078
teenagers, ages 13-17, about the books they read for
pleasure over the last six months: 82% said they had
read at least one book.

Reading at Risk informed us only about book reading
over a year, which should be more than reading over
six months:  In 2002, 57% of the public read at least
one book during the last year, down from 61% in 1992
and 86% in 1985.  

Current teenagers thus report more reading than the
general public in 2002, in 1992, and even in 1946 (66%
for the last six months, 71% for the last year). The
82% reported by teenagers for six months is probably
higher than the 86% reported by the public for a full
year in 1985.  Also, teenagers in the US report more
reading than adults in Sweden, the best-read country
in Europe: 72% of adults in Sweden said they had read
at least one book during the last year. 

The main focus of Reading at Risk was not general
reading, but “literature.”  Today’s teenagers are
reading good books.  The most popular include Harry
Potter, The Lord of the Rings, and To Kill a
Mockingbird.

These reports continue, however, to ignore the real
problem: Those who come from low-income families have
little chance to read, because of the lack of books in
the home, the community, and the school. 

Stephen Krashen
Professor Emeritus
University of Southern California