Reading For Fun
Why it’s normal for kids to avoid recreational reading—and when it’s actually worth worrying about
Parents often sound ashamed and worried when they confess that their child doesn’t read for fun. I get it. Really. Reading is incredibly important. It’s how kids build vocabulary, cultural knowledge, and abstract thinking. It’s how they practice holding ideas in working memory and imagining perspectives beyond their own. For all those reasons and more, reading is so closely linked to success in school—and in life—that it feels like an absolute necessity. If your kid isn’t voluntarily devouring chapter books in their free time, something must be wrong.
That said, while this worry is understandable, it is often misplaced.
I don’t want to sound blasé here. I care deeply about literacy. I just think we need to stop framing recreational reading as an essential predictor of success in life.
Most people don’t unwind by doing a gentler version of their job. No matter how much we enjoy our careers, we get home and we want to do something—anything—other than what we do for work. I imagine Michael Phelps probably enjoys swimming, but I doubt he ends his training days by jumping back in the pool just because he feels like it.
Likewise, for students, reading is work. Kids spend hours decoding unfamiliar words, writing responses, underlining evidence, figuring out what the author really means in their figurative language on page 37. By the end of the day, their tank is empty. After reading all day long, they just don’t always want to read for pleasure. Sometimes they want a terrible reality show and a blank stare at the wall.
It’s important to remember that reading well and reading voluntarily are not always the same thing. Now, of course there are times when a kid’s resistance to reading is something to pay attention to. If they actively avoid reading because it’s difficult—if they’re falling behind or showing signs of real struggle—that’s worth investigating.
The same goes for kids who don’t want to do anything except passive screen time. If all their unstructured time is spent watching TV or scrolling, and they resist any form of active or imaginative engagement, that’s not just about books; that’s a broader withdrawal, and it deserves care.
But let’s not jump to worst-case scenarios every time a kid reaches for their phone instead of a novel.
Instead, we can try creating low-pressure, low-demand opportunities to read. The slow moments—weekends, long car rides, summer mornings before the day ramps up—are perfect for this. And let kids pick what they read. Graphic novels, comic strips, audiobooks, even re-reading the same book over and over all counts. Reading doesn’t have to look a certain way to be valuable.
And when reading is required for school, make sure it’s actually happening. Some kids need more support than others to get through assigned texts. That’s okay—it’s just a sign they might need scaffolding, structure, or a different pace.
But if your kid doesn’t read for fun every afternoon, don’t panic. Of course you should keep offering books. Keep modeling curiosity and engagement. But know that recreational reading isn’t the only sign of a healthy reader. And, some nights, zoning out in front of a screen instead of curling up with a novel might just mean that, like you, they’re tired.
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Sort of funny that they left this whole thing out of the documentary!