{"id":10913,"date":"2026-08-02T07:56:34","date_gmt":"2026-08-02T07:56:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/humorsidehub.com\/?p=10913"},"modified":"2026-08-02T07:56:38","modified_gmt":"2026-08-02T07:56:38","slug":"teacher-reveals-the-really-obvious-reason-teens-no-longer-read-its-not-just-the-phones","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/humorsidehub.com\/?p=10913","title":{"rendered":"Teacher reveals the \u2018really obvious\u2019 reason teens no longer read. It\u2019s not just the phones."},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A high school teacher\u2019s TikTok sparked a serious conversation about screen time, low expectations, and the surprising role BookTok is playing in the literacy crisis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Studies show that kids are spending a lot less time reading these days. In 2020, 42% of nine-year-old students said they read for fun almost daily, down from 53% in 2012. Fourteen percent of 13-year-olds read for fun daily, down from 27% in 2012. Among 17-year-olds, 19% reported reading for fun in the last year data was collected, down from 31% in 1984.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s safe to say that modern technology is a big reason why kids aren\u2019t reading as much. A recent report found that teenagers spend an average of eight hours and thirty-nine minutes per day on screens, compared to five and a half hours for pre-teen children. So, it\u2019s no wonder they don\u2019t have any time left to crack open a book. In December 2024, Ms. C, a high school teacher on TikTok who goes by the name @stillateacher, brought the topic up with her class and learned they stopped reading for fun at the end of middle school.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why are kids stopping?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSo, even those who are like avid readers of the Percy Jackson<\/em> series in fourth and fifth grade fall off,\u201d the teacher says. \u201cHonestly, there are many reasons to stop reading recreationally, like increased pressure inside and outside of school, a desire to spend more time socializing, and, of course, the phones.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But the teacher says there\u2019s an obvious reason \u201cright in front of our faces\u201d: the adults. \u201cAdults have lowered the bar for how much you should read as a teenager so far that the bar cannot be found,\u201d she continued. \u201cThere are many educators who have the mindset that you shouldn\u2019t teach whole books because kids just won\u2019t read them.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019ve taught at schools where teaching novels is actually discouraged,\u201d she continued. \u201cAnd I have conversations with teachers in other content areas who say that they themselves never read books, that they don\u2019t think it\u2019s important for students\u2019 long-term success. All this said, it is not entirely surprising that high schoolers don\u2019t wanna read.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How does reading benefit kids?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"kids,<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The significant decrease in the number of children who read for fun means that many will miss out on the incredible benefits of regularly curling up for a good book. Studies show that children who read for pleasure enjoy improved cognitive performance, language development, and academic achievement. Reading is also linked to fewer mental health problems, less screen time, and more sleep. Findings suggest that kids get the optimal benefits of reading when they do it for around 12 hours a week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou forgot empathy,\u201d one commenter added. \u201cPeople who read are better at empathizing because they have been able to put themselves in the shoes of others and learn about different perspectives, people, cultures, experiences.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And @stillateacher has seen these incredible benefits first-hand. \u201cBut I\u2019m telling you, the handful of kids I teach who do read are built different. Kids who read have stronger critical thinking skills, more success across all academic areas, and, honestly, just a stronger sense of self. Because reading helps you figure out who you are as a person,\u201d the teacher said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The case for BookTok<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The decline in young people\u2019s reading is a serious problem that must be addressed. So, it\u2019s terrific that the teacher used her platform on TikTok to bring it to the public\u2019s attention. Interestingly enough, she says that TikTok is one of the few platforms encouraging kids to read.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAnd honestly, thank goodness for BookTok because I think it is one of the only drivers of adolescent reading that still exists,\u201d she concluded her post. \u201cIsn\u2019t that sad? Like, the schools aren\u2019t doing it, TikTok\u2019s doing it. We gotta start a movement here.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A high school teacher\u2019s TikTok sparked a serious conversation about screen time, low expectations, and the surprising role BookTok is playing in the literacy crisis.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":10914,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10913","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/humorsidehub.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/760536889_2246541212786921_1208487192472240706_n.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/humorsidehub.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10913","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/humorsidehub.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/humorsidehub.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/humorsidehub.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/humorsidehub.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=10913"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/humorsidehub.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10913\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10915,"href":"https:\/\/humorsidehub.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10913\/revisions\/10915"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/humorsidehub.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/10914"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/humorsidehub.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=10913"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/humorsidehub.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=10913"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/humorsidehub.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=10913"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}