For most millenials, or the new generation per say, reading is no longer a leisurely activity. Not a lot of teenagers sit down with a book and simply read for hours at a time anymore. I personally try to read as much as I can. However, my mind always starts to wonder and I begin to crave my phone, my laptop and the television. Why is that?

A major reason is that reading feels like a chore, a sort of responsibility if you will, for teenagers. A student has been required to read something for their English class, probably starting from elementary school. At first, it does not seem much. I mean, we would just read something interesting and record it in our book log, right? But gradually, these reading assignments begin to burn students out. Teachers start to assign novels that are long and boring, and students begin to see reading not as a leisure activity, but as a demanding assignment they are required to complete. As we know, perspective is everything, and when our view on something changes our response to that something will change.

Another reason may be that reading requires brain power. Millennials, or anyone who was born in a modern environment, are usually used to just aimlessly using technology. If you go anywhere—restaurants, cafes, amusement parks, the mall—you would witness people just staring at their phone as they go about their day. This practice of just scrolling through your device has caused us to get used to not thinking. So, when we read, which requires knowledge and concentration, we feel uncomfortable.

Next, reading uses time. The modern generation is always on the go, whether it be for work, school, or family. This is evident from the increasing number of people living in the city, close to their work. From the increasing number of sales for fast food. From the rising number of people using public transport for more convenient traveling. So, reading, for some, eats up too much time (That is why the number of podcast users is increasing as well).

Now disclaimer, I am not saying that the entire modern generation does not read. There are plenty of avid readers in this world; there are people who are passionate about reading and writing, those who love curling up on the couch with a book, those who practically live at bookstores. However, the number of people who do not read is a fairly big amount.

The fact that people do not read as much anymore can transform our society. Who knows, there may be less authors in the future. The number of publishing journalists may dwindle. It is just a fact that visual or auditory news and stories are becoming more and more popular, but literary works are not as popular anymore. So, the question is this: Will the lack of reading affect our society in a massive scale?