Since the times of the Sumerians and the later invention of the printing press literature had been the premier pastime of humans everywhere, however the advent of smartphones seemed to make print books and stories obsolete. However, with the PCD ban students are turning back the clock and returning to the classics, (and the modern.)
“The phone ban has affected my reading a lot,” said senior Micahel Baley senior. ”I used to not read in class, like at all, but now I’m without my phone I find myself reading a lot when I have free time.”
Baley however was not a fan of literature as a kid, only starting to read recently at school and even more his senior year.
“I picked it up three years ago,” he said. “I didn’t really read, but now I find myself reading long novels and books above 500 pages.”
Recent studies have shown that teenagers are reading nearly 50% less compared to 40 years ago, the leading factor being that the entertainment provided by paper and ink to many doesn’t compare to the short form satisfaction they can get from the screen.
Senior Ben Williams found himself in this same position last year
“I started reading mostly because of the phone ban,” Williams said. “As a kid, I was only into YouTube and video games.”
Williams, like many others, would simply sit on his phone and scroll during class downtime. Now that it is no longer an option, Williams has switched to opening a good book.
“I’ve been wanting to get back into reading since last year, but I think this was a good excuse to do it,” Williams said. “You know, reading more traditional forms of novels.”
Classes not only serve as a time for students to start reading when not doing schoolwork, but in the case of courses like AP Lang and even on level English, students can be introduced to classics that they otherwise wouldn’t have had the chance to know.
“Last year in on-level English, all the books were classics that we got to choose from,” senior Sophia Sopczyak said. “I decided to read ‘Catcher in the Rye’ and that was sort of my gateway into reading more books, and since then I’ve been reading more often.”
It’s not just the classics that students may be introduced to in their studies but many modern books as well.
“My English 1 teacher Mrs. Neel, she introduced me to ‘Project Hail Mary,’” sophomore Beatrix Terrell said. “And quickly it became one of my favorite books of all time, influencing me to read other novels by Andy Weir like ‘The Martian.’”
But even so, the PCD ban has not been a complete net positive on literature intake for students.
“I used to read a lot of books on my phone, I could find a lot of books I couldn’t get at the library,” Terrell said. “Without that I wouldn’t say I read as much.”
Some students may even be reading less at school without the utility of their PCD present
“I read a lot more at home now,” senior Quinn Early said. “I can read anything at home on my phone.”
Ultimately, the phone ban has been instrumental in affecting the reading habits of the student body.
Early said, “It seems like a lot of people have been getting back into literature, because what else are you going to do, you know?”
