Dive into a thought experiment on extinguishing kids' love for reading. Discover how classroom policies, like mandatory reading logs and assigned books, turn literature into a chore. Explore the debate around social media's role in declining reading rates and why phonics-first instruction can kill motivation. Learn how test prep prioritizes assessments over enjoyment and why fostering community rather than isolation is key. Lastly, get practical tips to rekindle a child's enthusiasm for books.
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insights INSIGHT
Backwards Thinking Reveals Harmful Practices
Approaching problems backwards reveals common harmful practices by naming what not to do.
Alfie Kohn uses this reverse method to expose how schools unintentionally kill interest in reading.
insights INSIGHT
Reading For Pleasure Is Declining
Reading for pleasure has declined steadily among adults from 2003 to 2023.
By 2023 only 16% of adults reported reading for pleasure on the previous day, averaging 16 minutes overall.
insights INSIGHT
Kids' Daily Reading Has Fallen Sharply
Children's self-reported daily reading for fun has fallen sharply over a decade.
NAEP shows nine-year-olds dropped from ~50% to 39%, and thirteen-year-olds from 27% to 14%.
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January 15, 2026
How to Kill Kids' Interest in Reading
Surveys reveal that fewer children and adults are reading for pleasure. This might be due partly to social media, but certain classroom strategies and school policies likely play a role. In this episode we come at the issue backwards: What would teachers do if their goal was to extinguish kids' enthusiasm about books? Well, they would adopt a "fonix fetish" when teaching young children. They would require older students to read for a certain length of time -- and keep a log to prove they complied. They would assign books rather than letting kids choose, test them on the content, and offer rewards for reading. These and other traditional practices are extremely effective...at leading kids to regard reading as an activity to be endured rather than enjoyed.
RESOURCES:
Jessica K. Bone et al., "The Decline in Reading for Pleasure Over 20 Years...," iScience, 2025: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12496190/
Teresa Cremin, "Reading for Pleasure," Language and Education, 2024: https://tinyurl.com/376jcra8
Katherine Marsh, "Why Kids Aren't Falling in Love with Reading," The Atlantic, March 2023: https://tinyurl.com/mrxyfdpd
Alfie Kohn, "A Closer Look at Reading Incentive Programs," excerpt from Punished by Rewards (1993/2018): https://www.alfiekohn.org/article/reading-incentives/
For a list of sources debunking claims of the "Science of Reading" campaign about phonics instruction, see note 11 of A. Kohn, "The Siren Song of 'Evidence-Based Instruction," 2024: https://tinyurl.com/24nyam6y.
Seth A. Parsons & Joy Dangora Erickson, “Where Is Motivation in the Science of Reading?“, Phi Delta Kappan, 2024: https://tinyurl.com/mus7vn5p
Michael Becker et al., “Intrinsic and Extrinsic Reading Motivation as Predictors of Reading Literacy,” J of Educational Psych, 2010: https://tinyurl.com/3z34ctdd
Linda M. Pavonetti et al., “Accelerated Reader: What Are the Lasting Effects...?", J of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, 2002/2003: https://tinyurl.com/yj8dfnwb
Barbara A. Marinak & Linda B. Gambrell, “Intrinsic Motivation and Rewards,” Literacy Research & Instruction, 2008: https://tinyurl.com/2yc3zrjp
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