Evie Janis

Students in this generation spend more time on the internet than immersing themselves in literature.

Independent reading has significantly decreased since the invention of social media, but is it for the better? Most people wonder how this will affect our future society, with this generation being more interested in their phones than literature.

Many people in this generation are addicted to doom-scrolling endlessly on their phones. Many students at Benilde-St. Margaret’s also have this problem, and most students say that they prioritize other things, such as watching videos online or television, instead of spending that time reading. “I find other sources to be more entertaining,” sophomore Beckett Snook said.

Teachers across BSM also agree that they have noticed that students in the school have been more focused on their screens than on reading. “I think that a lot of students don’t understand what we gained from reading before social media,” AP English teacher Jason Schwalen said.

Teens have more access to technology than ever before, but unfortunately, it seems that because of that, teens aren’t taking advantage of all of the opportunities in literature that they once did. Literature and reading are proven to have significant effects on education and comprehension, therefore, it is a necessary skill to be able to read independently to make it in the world as a well-educated person. “Whether it’s a moral gain or an intellectual gain, for me personally, that [insight] has come … from reading,” Schwalen said.

Many adults wonder why social media has been the new go-to for younger people, but could it be possible that society is moving away from independent literature as a necessary learning tool for education? Some social media users argue that social media is a replacement for reading; anything you could find in a book will be ten times easier to find online. The thought is that reliance on technology will only continue to grow worse in the future. “I think that for social media and for phones, it’s only going to get more invasive, because eventually, even your children or your children’s children, they won’t have an actual phone. It’s going to be something in their head, or something that they wear over their eyes. It will be even more attached to the human being,” Schwalen said.

AP language and composition classes are planning on diversifying their curriculum to fit time for independent reading outside of class, and encourage students to take it on themselves to read independently. The way they are planning on doing this is by having independent reading next year for junior English classes. “It does present a challenge, because we have so much content that we want to give students, so it’s going to take away from that content. At the same time, if I’m asking students to read things, and they don’t have a kind of repertoire or a system for reading or time dedicated to reading, they need that as well,” Schwalen said.

In general, most people would agree that reading outside of school is not the easiest thing to do, but they also agree that independent reading is very beneficial to building intelligence and understanding of the world around them. “Some of the things that I work with students working to be creative writers, is always reading,” Schwalen said.