The Decline In Reading In Modern Society Essay Sample

How has the use of books decreased and how technology, race, ethnicity and social class have impacted that decline? Reading is extremely beneficial to our education system, among other things. Books are in danger because reading is being diminished in our society today because of numerous reasons, some extremely crucial while others are less of interest. 

One of the main reasons why books are hardly being read is because the cost of publishing a book has increased, which means book prices are also increasing. “The average cost to self-publish a high-quality book is between $2,000 and $4,000” (Dave Chesson). Social class is another major reason; if people are unable to have the proper transportation, they would not be able to go to libraries and bookstores. Another reason is because of race and ethnicity, in a study done by National Endowment for the arts in 2002, the percentage of white readers went down 6.6%, the percentage of African American readers went down 8.5%, and the percentage of Hispanic readers went down 7.5% from 1992-2002 (Page X). which leaves the overall reading rate of white readers at 51.3%, the overall rate of African American readers at 37.1%, and the overall rate of Hispanic readers at 26.5% (page 11). Technology is also an important reason books are declining. 

Technology has impacted the way we read books today. For instance, before computers where common people would have to go to the library to pick up a book regarding the topic they were researching and read the book. Now people open their laptops and type in words or phrases and the information they are researching is easily provided. “One of the key things that have changed as a direct consequence of the advancing technology is our way of obtaining new information. The age of searching through dusty library shelves for books to find one piece of information is long gone. Now, one can access hundreds of resources on almost any subject with just a click of a button and by using search engines” (Erhan Kahraman). Technology has also made it easy to read books. In this day and age, we have the convenience of having books read to us with apps such as audible, half the work is done for you, and you do not even have to have picked up a book. Technology has also changed the way we read in classrooms. 

The decline of books has impacted our education system quite severely especially recently, in an article by Stephen Krashen he says “The 2002 census shows that literary reading is down 10.2% from the 1982 census, which equates to the loss of 20 million potential readers. Even more striking is the numbers reported for young adults. In 1982, 60% of young adults engaged in literary reading, while in 2002, only 43% do.” young adults from the ages of 18–28 year-old are just not motivated anymore, they do not have time to read they might be too preoccupied doing homework, having hobbies, or working full time jobs. Recently due to covid-19 reading levels for students in elementary school are at an all-time low “In the Boston region, 60 percent of students at some high-poverty schools have been identified as at high risk for reading problems — twice the number of students as before the pandemic, according to Tiffany P. Hogan, director of the Speech and Language Literacy Lab at the MGH Institute of Health Professions in Boston.” (Dana Goldstein) 

The prices of books increasing, and social class are significant in why books are declining because most people do not have the money to pay for books or the resources they need. It is shown that race and ethnicity have an enormous impact in why books are declining. Technology is one of the major reasons books are on the decline because of the easy convenience of opening a computer or app than going to the library. Education has also impacted the decline of reading because people need to learn to love reading  

The use of books has declined over the years and major reasons are technology, race and social class along with other minor reasons. The art of literature is going extinct because people are not reading anymore.