It’s more than likely that during the next generation of LPHS, as well as the other schools all over the world, students will never hold a book made from paper in their hands. A book as a source of entertainment, knowledge and information is disappearing, leaving space for movies, surfing the internet and playing video games.

According to statistics, 26% of twelfth graders cannot read at the basic level, 58% of the US adult population never reads another book after high school and 70% of US adults have not been in a bookstore in the last five years. This clearly shows that the culture of reading is slowly dying in today’s society.

But what’s so awful about not reading books? Why do English teachers insist on looking for some meaning in letters put together on the paper? Movies can be just as entertaining, informative, emotional and artistic.

“Reading increases your IQ and intelligent level. I think books are awesome, and people should read more,” junior Cory Hatfield said.

Humans learned how to read five thousand years ago. The human brain was formed more than one hundred thousand years ago. So from the perspective of evolution, the ability to read is a much more complicated process than existing functions of the brain. When reading, the major zones of the  brain are involved which makes reading the best possible exercise for keeping the brain in “working conditions.”

The brain of a person who knows how to read works in much more complicated way than the ones who don’t. Stanislas Dehaene observed 63 volunteers from Portugal and Brazil. Ten of them did not know how to read, twenty-two learned as adults and the other thirty-one had a regular school education in their childhood. During the experiment, the volunteers did different test assignments, which included recognition of objects, faces, oral messages, written sentences and math problems.

Those who knew how to read from childhood showed better indicators, few of brain zones activated.

LP students agree that reading should be more common.

“People who read books are usually smarter than those who don’t. We all should read more books, even though I’m not a big reader,” junior Raffe Ruengprach, exchange student from Thailand, said. “Not only Americans ignore reading though; people in different countries, including Thailand, do too.”