Young people aren’t reading books enough. Here’s one way to change that.

Gabriel Logan, 17, and Rhys Logan, 18, return books at the Lincoln Park Library in 2020. As teachers we must do more to encourage young people to read independently, an educator writes.

A lot of teachers I know and work with sent students home this summer with fun and extensive reading lists. While some kids are cruising through those titles, or enjoying their own picks, others are having a little more trouble getting off screens and into books. 

It shouldn’t come as a surprise. A survey accompanying the latest Nation’s Report Card shows just 14% of 13-year-olds read on their own for fun most days, down from previous years. We’ve got to reverse this trend. Independent reading has a host of academic and other benefits.