This is a portion of an op-ed which appeared in the USA Today newspaper .

"Another school year, another season of hope, but our society faces a nagging educational reality: Students' reading scores continue to sink to worrisome levels. And a love of books has become for many of our young people as outdated as rotary phones.

The pandemic may have something to do with the decline in scores, but the source of the problem surely goes well beyond any virus now or to come. There are many possible culprits: book bans, smartphones, the internet, the valuing of fame over accomplishment, the cluttered landscape of information and disinformation that clogs the collective brain. As the new school year starts, we should think deeply about how to help our children find the path back to a love of reading. "

Here are my thoughts :

There will always be those few kids who seem to be born to be readers. However, I feel there are so many more "exciting" options out there for kids that reading a book is a boring experience by comparison. They live in a fast lane of information and entertainment. Any info they want can be found instantly , papers are written using AI apps, games are so real they transport the child to another world ( as books used to do ). I wonder, do middle school and high school kids bother to crack a book any more ?

What are your thoughts ?